This product line offers two distinct sets
of software features and a range of
configurations to allow small, midsized,
and enterprise branch offices to select
the right combination for the network edge.
The SI software offers Cisco IOS functionality
for basic data, video, and voice services.
For networks with requirements for additional
security, advanced quality of service (QoS),
and high availability, the Enhanced
Image (EI) software delivers intelligent
services such as rate limiting and
security filtering for deployment at the
network edge.
The Catalyst 2950SX-24, 2950-12, and 2950-24
switches are only available with the SI
software for the Catalyst 2950 Series.
- Catalyst
2950SX-24 Switch—24 10/100 ports
with 2 fixed 1000BASE-SX uplinks
- Catalyst
2950-24 Switch—24 10/100 ports
- Catalyst
2950-12 Switch—12 10/100 ports
These switches provide customers with a
choice of connectivity options. While the
Catalyst 2950-12 and 2950-24 provide 12
and 24 10/100 ports for edge connectivity
respectively, the Catalyst 2950SX-24 provides
24 10/100 ports and 2 integrated 1000BASE-SX
ports for gigabit uplink connectivity over
fiber. With these integrated ports, customers
get an extremely cost-effective solution
for delivering gigabit speeds using fiber.
Dual ports also provide redundancy and increased
availability, as well as provide a cost-effective
means for cascading switches and managing
them as a cluster. This switch is ideal
for education and government segments, where
fiber uplinks are a requirement.
The Catalyst® 2950 Series
Intelligent Ethernet Switches with EI Software
are also part of the Catalyst 2590 Series
switches. These fixed-configuration, stackable
models bring intelligent services,
such as advanced QoS, enhanced security,
and high availability to the network edge—while
maintaining the simplicity of traditional
LAN switching. When a Catalyst 2950 Intelligent
Ethernet Switch is combined with a
Catalyst 3550 Series Switch, the solution
enables IP routing from the edge to
the core of the network. Refer to the Catalyst
2950 Series EI Data Sheet for more information.
Network Availability with Wire-Speed Performance
in Connecting End-Stations to the LAN
With a switching fabric of 8.8 Gigabits
per second (Gbps) and a maximum forwarding
bandwidth of 4.4 Gbps, these Catalyst 2950
switches deliver wire-speed performance
on all ports in connecting end-stations
and users to the company LAN. Catalyst 2950
switches with basic services support performance-boosting
features such as Fast EtherChannel®—offering
up high-performance bandwidth between Catalyst
switches, routers, and servers.
Network Security
The Cisco Catalyst 2950 Series switches
offer enhanced data security through a wide
range of security features. These features
allow customers to provide network security
based on users and/or MAC addresses. The
security enhancements are available free-of-charge
by downloading the latest software release
for the Catalyst 2950 switches.
Private VLAN Edge isolates ports on a switch,
ensuring that traffic travels directly from
the entry point to the aggregation device
through a virtual path and cannot be directed
to another port. In addition, for authentication
of users with a Terminal Access Controller
Access Control System (TACACS+) or a RADIUS
server, 802.1x provides port-level security.
SNMPv3 (non-crypto) monitors and controls
network devices as well as manages configurations,
performance, collection of statistics, and
security.
With the Catalyst 2950SX-24, 2950-24, and
2950-12 switches, network managers can implement
high levels of port and console security.
Media Access Control (MAC) address-based
port-level security prevents unauthorized
stations from accessing the switch. Multilevel
access security on the switch console and
the Web-based management interface prevents
unauthorized users from accessing or altering
switch configuration, and can be implemented
using an internal user database on each
switch, or a centrally administrated TACACS+
or RADIUS server. 802.1x in conjunction
with a RADIUS server allows for dynamic
port-based user authentication. In addition,
802.1x can co-exist with port security on
a per port basis. Deploying security can
be done through Cisco CMS Software Security
Wizards, which ease the deployment of security
features that restrict user access to a
server or portion of the network, or to
restrict the applications used in certain
areas of the network.
Network Control
The Catalyst 2950SX-24, 2950-24, and 2950-12
switches deliver LAN-edge QoS, supporting
two modes of reclassification. One mode—based
on the IEEE 802.1p standard—honor the
class-of-service (CoS) value at the ingress
point and assigns the packet to the
appropriate queue. In the second mode, packets
can be reclassified based on a default CoS
value assigned to the ingress port by the
network administrator. In the case of frames
that arrive without a CoS value (such as
untagged frames), these Catalyst 2950 switches
support classification based on a default
CoS value per port assigned by the network
administrator. Once the frames have been
classified or reclassified using one of
the above modes, they are assigned to the
appropriate queue at the egress. These Catalyst
2950 switches support four egress queues,
which allow the network administrator to
be more discriminating and granular in assigning
priorities for the various applications
on the LAN. Strict Priority Scheduling
configuration ensures time-sensitive applications,
such as voice, always follow an expedited
path through the switch fabric. Weighted
Round Robin (WRR) scheduling, another significant
enhancement, ensures that lower-priority
traffic receives attention without comprising
the priority settings administered by a
network manager. These features allow network
administrators to prioritize mission-critical,
time-sensitive traffic, such as voice (IP
telephony traffic), ERP (Oracle, SAP, and
so on), and CAD/CAM over less time-sensitive
applications such as FTP or e-mail (SMTP).
Network Availability
To provide efficient use of resources for
bandwidth-hungry applications like multicasts,
the Cisco Catalyst 2950 Series switches support
Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP)
snooping in hardware. Through the support
and configuration of IGMP snooping via the
Cisco CMS Software, these Catalyst 2950
Series switches deliver outstanding performance
and ease of use in administering and managing
multicast applications on the LAN.
The IGMP snooping feature allows the switch
to "listen in" on the IGMP conversation
between hosts and routers. When a switch
hears an IGMP join request from a host for
a given multicast group, the switch adds
the host's port number to the Group Destination
Address (GDA) list for that group. And,
when the switch hears an IGMP leave request,
it removes the host's port from the Content
Addressable Memory (CAM) table entry.
Multicast VLAN Registration (MVR) is designed
for applications using wide-scale deployment
of multicast traffic across an Ethernet
ring-based service provider network (for
example, the broadcast of multiple television
channels over a service-provider network).
MVR allows a subscriber on a port to subscribe
and unsubscribe to a multicast stream on
the network-wide multicast VLAN.
Per VLAN Spanning-Tree Plus (PVST+) allows
users to implement redundant uplinks while
also distributing traffic loads across multiple
links. This is not possible with standard
Spanning-Tree Protocol implementations.
Cisco UplinkFast technology ensures immediate
transfer to the secondary uplink, much better
than the traditional 30 to 60 second convergence
time. This is yet another enhancement of
the Spanning-Tree Protocol implementation.
An additional feature that enhances performance
is Voice VLAN. This feature allows network
administrators to assign voice traffic to
a VLAN dedicated to IP telephony—simplifying
phone installations and providing easier
network traffic administration and troubleshooting.
Network Management
The Cisco CMS is Web-based software that
is embedded in Catalyst 3550, 2950, 3500
XL, 2900 XL, and 2900 LRE XL switches.
Through Cisco Switch Clustering technology,
users access Cisco CMS Software with any
standard Web browser to manage up to 16
of these switches at once, regardless of
their geographic proximity—with the
option of using a single IP address for
the entire cluster if desired. With the
addition of the Catalyst 3550 switches,
Cisco CMS Software can now extend beyond
routed boundaries for even more flexibility
in managing a Cisco cluster.
Cisco CMS Software supports standards-based
connectivity options such as Ethernet,
Fast Ethernet, Fast EtherChannel, Gigabit
Ethernet, and Gigabit EtherChannel connectivity.
Because Cisco Switch Clustering technology
is not limited to a single stack of switches,
Cisco CMS Software expands the traditional
cluster domain beyond a single wiring closet
and saves time and effort for network
administrators.
Catalyst 2950 switches can be configured
either as command or member switches in
a Cisco switch cluster. Cisco CMS also allows
the network administrator to designate a
standby or redundant command switch, which
takes the commander duties should the primary
command switch fail. Other key features
include the ability to configure multiple
ports and switches simultaneously, as well
as perform software updates across the entire
cluster at once, and clone configurations
to other clustered switches for rapid network
deployment. Bandwidth graphs and link reports
provide useful diagnostic information and
the topology map gives network administrators
a quick view of the network status.
In addition to CMS, Cisco Catalyst 2950
switches provide extensive management tools
using Simple Network Management Protocol
(SNMP) network management platforms such
as CiscoWorks for Switched Internetworks.
The Cisco Catalyst 2950 Switches delivers
a comprehensive set of management tools
to provide the required visibility and control
in the network. Managed with CiscoWorks2000,
Catalyst family switches can be configured
and managed to deliver end-to-end device,
VLAN, traffic, and policy management. Coupled
with CiscoWorks2000, Cisco Resource Manager
Essentials, a Web-based management tool,
offers automated inventory collection, software
deployment, easy tracking of network changes,
views into device availability, and quick
isolation of error conditions.
Features
| Feature
|
Benefit
|
| Availability |
|
Superior Redundancy for Fault Backup
|
- IEEE
802.1D Spanning-Tree Protocol support
for redundant backbone connections
and loop-free networks simplifies
network configuration and improves
fault tolerance.
- Support
for Cisco Spanning-Tree Protocol
enhancements such as UplinkFast,
BackboneFast, and PortFast technologies
ensure quick fail-over recovery
enhancing overall network stability
and availability.
- Support
for Cisco's optional, 300-watt redundant
AC power system provides a backup
power source for up to four units
for improved fault tolerance and
network uptime.
- Provides
unidirectional link detection (UDLD)
and Aggressive UDLD for detecting
and disabling unidirectional links
on fiber-optic interfaces caused
by incorrect fiber-optic wiring
or port faults.
|
|
Integrated Cisco IOS Features for
Bandwidth Optimization
|
- Bandwidth
aggregation through EtherChannel®
technology enhances fault tolerance
and offers higher-speed aggregated
bandwidth between switches, to routers
and individual servers. Port Aggregation
Protocol (PAgP) is available to
simplify configuration.
- Per-port
broadcast, multicast, and unicast
storm control prevents faulty end
stations from degrading overall
systems performance.
- Per
virtual LAN (VLAN) Spanning-Tree
Plus (PVST+) allows for Layer 2
load sharing on redundant links
to efficiently utilize the extra
capacity inherent in a redundant
design.
- VLAN
Trunking Protocol (VTP) pruning
limits bandwidth consumption on
VTP trunks by flooding broadcast
traffic only on trunk links required
to reach the destination devices.
Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP)
enables dynamic trunk configuration
across all ports in the switch.
- IGMP
snooping provides for fast client
joins and leaves of multicast streams
and limits bandwidth-intensive video
traffic to only the requestors.
MVR, IGMP filtering and fast-join
and immediate leave are available
as enhancements.
|
| Security |
|
Network-Wide Security Features
|
- A
private VLAN edge provides security
and isolation between ports on a
switch, ensuring that voice traffic
travels directly from its entry
point to the aggregation device
through a virtual path and cannot
be directed to a different port.
- Support
for the 802.1x standard allows users
to be authenticated regardless of
which LAN port they are accessing,
and provides unique benefits to
customers who have a large base
of mobile (wireless) users accessing
the network.
- 802.1x
with voice VLAN to permit an IP
phone access to the voice VLAN
irrespective of the authorized
or unauthorized state of the port.
- 802.1x
with port security for authenticating
the port and managing network
access for all MAC addresses,
including that of the client.
- Port
Security secures the access to a
port based on the MAC address of
a user's device. The aging feature
removes the MAC address from the
switch after a specific timeframe
to allow another device to connect
to the same port.
- MAC
Address Notification allows administrators
to be notified of new users added
or removed from the network.
- Multilevel
security on console access prevents
unauthorized users from altering
the switch configuration.
- Trusted
Boundary provides the ability to
trust the QoS priority settings
if an IP phone is present and disable
the trust setting in the event that
the IP phone is removed, thereby
preventing a rogue user from overriding
prioritization policies in the network.
- TACACS+
and RADIUS authentication to enable
centralized control of the switch
and restrict unauthorized users
from altering the configuration.
- SNMPv3
(non-crypto) monitors and controls
network devices, manages configurations,
statistics collection, performance,
and security
- Cisco
CMS Software Security Wizards ease
the deployment of security features
for restricting user access to a
server, a portion of the network,
or access to the network.
|
| QoS
|
|
Layer 2 QoS
|
- Support
for reclassifying frames based either
on 802.1p CoS value or default CoS
value per port assigned by network
manager.
- Four
queues per egress port supported
in hardware.
- The
WRR scheduling algorithm ensures
that low-priority queues are not
starved.
- Strict
priority queue configuration via
Strict Priority Scheduling ensures
that time-sensitive applications
such as voice always follow an expedited
path through the switch fabric.
|
| Management
|
|
Superior Manageability
|
- SNMP
and Telnet interface support delivers
comprehensive in-band management,
and a command-line interface (CLI)-based
management console provides detailed
out-of-band management.
- An
embedded Remote Monitoring (RMON)
software agent supports four RMON
groups (history, statistics, alarms,
and events) for enhanced traffic
management, monitoring, and analysis.
- A
SPAN port can mirror traffic from
one or many ports to another port
for monitoring all nine RMON groups
with an RMON probe or network analyzer.
- Trivial
File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) reduces
the cost of administering software
upgrades by downloading from a centralized
location.
- Network
Timing Protocol (NTP) provides an
accurate and consistent timestamp
to all switches within the intranet.
- Layer
2 traceroute eases troubleshooting
by identifying the physical path
that a packet takes from the source
device to a destination device.
- Multifunction
LEDs per port for port status, half-duplex/full-duplex,
10BASE-T/100BASE-TX/1000BASE-T indication,
as well as switch-level status LEDs
for system, redundant power supply,
and bandwidth utilization provide
a comprehensive and convenient visual
management system.
- Crash
Information support enables switch
to generate a crash file for improved
troubleshooting.
- Show-interface-capabilities
provides information on configuration
capabilities of any interface.
- RTTMON-MIB
allows users to monitor network
performance between a Catalyst switch
and a remote device.
|
|
Cisco CMS
|
- Cisco
CMS Software allows the user to
manage up to 16 inter-connected
Cisco Catalyst 3550, 2950, 3500
XL, 2900 XL, and 2900 LRE XL switches
without the limitation of being
physically located in the same wiring
closet, and with the option of using
a single IP address for the entire
cluster if desired. Full backward
compatibility ensures any combination
of the above switches can be managed
with a Cisco Catalyst 2950 switch.
- Cisco
Architecture for Voice, Video and
Integrated Data (AVVID) Wizards
use just a few user inputs to automatically
configure the switch to optimally
handle different types of traffic:
voice, video, multicast, and/or
high-priority data.
- One-click
software upgrades can be performed
across the entire cluster simultaneously,
and configuration cloning enables
rapid deployment of networks.
- Cisco
CMS Guide Mode assists users in
the configuration of powerful advanced
features by providing step-by-step
instructions.
- Cisco
CMS provides enhanced online help
for context-sensitive assistance.
- Easy-to-use
graphical interface provides both
a topology map and front panel view
of the cluster.
- Multi-device
and multiport configuration capabilities
allow network administrators to
save time by configuring features
across multiple switches and ports
simultaneously.
- Ability
to launch the Web-based management
for a Cisco Aironet Wireless Access
Point by simply clicking on its
icon in the topology map.
- User-personalized
interface allows users to modify
polling intervals, table views,
and other settings within CMS and
retain these settings the next time
they use CMS.
- Alarm
notification provides automated
e-mail notification of network errors
and alarm thresholds.
|
|
Support for CiscoWorks
|
- Manageable
through CiscoWorks network management
software on a per-port and per-switch
basis providing a common management
interface for Cisco routers, switches,
and hubs.
- SNMP
v1, v2, and v3 (non-crypto) and
Telnet interface support delivers
comprehensive in-band management,
and a CLI-based management console
provides detailed out-of-band management.
- Cisco
Discovery Protocol (CDP) Versions
1 and 2 enable a CiscoWorks network
management station to automatically
discover the switch in a network
topology.
- Supported
by the CiscoWorks 2000 LAN Management
Solution.
|
|
Ease of Use and Ease of Deployment
|
- Auto-configuration
eases deployment of switches in
the network by automatically configuring
multiple switches across a network
via a bootp server.
- Auto-sensing
on each port detects the speed of
the attached device and automatically
configures the port for 10- or 100-operation,
easing the deployment of the switch
in mixed 10- and 100BASE-T environments.
- Auto-negotiating
on all ports automatically selects
half- or full-duplex transmission
mode to optimize bandwidth.
- Link
Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP)
allows the creation of Ethernet
channeling with devices that conform
to IEEE 802.3ad. This is similar
to Cisco's EtherChannel and PAgP.
- Cisco
CDP Versions 1 and 2 enable a CiscoWorks
network management station to automatically
discover the switch in a network
topology.
- Cisco
VTP supports dynamic VLANs and dynamic
trunk configuration across all switches.
- Support
for dynamic VLAN assignment through
implementation of VLAN Membership
Policy Server (VMPS) client functionality
provides flexibility in assigning
ports to VLANs.
- Voice
VLAN simplifies telephony installations
by keeping voice traffic on a separate
VLAN for easier network administration
and troubleshooting.
- The
default configuration stored in
Flash ensures that the switch can
be quickly connected to the network
and can pass traffic with minimal
user intervention.
|
Specifications
| Feature
|
Description
|
|
Performance
|
- 8.8-Gbps
switching fabric
- Catalyst
2950-12: 2.4-Gbps maximum forwarding
bandwidth
- Catalyst
2950-24: 4.8-Gbps maximum forwarding
bandwidth
- Catalyst
2950SX-24: 8.8-Gbps maximum forwarding
bandwidth
(Forwarding Rates based on 64-byte
packets)
- Catalyst
2950-12: 1.8-Mpps wire-speed forwarding
rate
- Catalyst
2950-24: 3.6-Mpps wire-speed forwarding
rate
- Catalyst
2950SX-24: 6.6-Mpps wire-speed forwarding
rate
- 8-MB
packet buffer memory architecture
shared by all ports
- 16-MB
DRAM and 8-MB Flash memory
- Configurable
up to 8000 MAC addresses
|
|
Management
|
- BRIDGE-MIB
- CISCO-2900-MIB
- CISCO-BULK-FILE-MIB
- CISCO-CDP-MIB
- CISCO-CLASS-BASED-QOS-MIB
- CISCO-CLUSTER-MIB
- CISCO-CONFIG-COPY-MIB
- CISCO-CONFIG-MAN-MIB
- CISCO-ENVMON-MIB
- CISCO-FLASH-MIB
- CISCO-FTP-CLIENT-MIB
- CISCO-IMAGE-MIB
- CISCO-IPMROUTE-MIB
- CISCO-MAC-NOTIFICATION-MIB
- CISCO-MEMORY-POOL-MIB
- CISCO-PAGP-MIB
- CISCO-PING-MIB
- CISCO-PROCESS-MIB
- CISCO-PRODUCTS-MIB
- CISCO-RTTMON-MIB
- CISCO-SMI
- CISCO-STACKMAKER-MIB
- CISCO-STP-EXTENSIONS-MIB
- CISCO-SYSLOG-MIB
- CISCO-TC
- CISCO-TCP-MIB
- CISCO-VLAN-MEMBERSHIP-MIB
- CISCO-VTP-MIB
- ENTITY-MIB
- IANAifType-MIB
- IF-MIB
(RFC 1573)
- OLD-CISCO-CHASSIS-MIB
- OLD-CISCO-CPU-MIB
- OLD-CISCO-INTERFACES-MIB
- OLD-CISCO-IP-MIB
- OLD-CISCO-MEMORY-MIB
- OLD-CISCO-SYSTEM-MIB
- OLD-CISCO-TCP-MIB
- OLD-CISCO-TS-MIB
- RFC1213-MIB
(MIB-II)
- RFC1398-MIB
(ETHERNET-MIB)
- RMON-MIB
(RFC 1757)
- RS-232-MIB
- SNMPv2-MIB
- SNMPv2-SMI
- SNMPv2-TC
- TCP-MIB
- UDP-MIB
|
|
Standards
|
- IEEE
802.1x support
- IEEE
802.3x full duplex on 10BASE-T and
100BASE-TX ports
- IEEE
802.1D Spanning-Tree Protocol
- IEEE
802.1p CoS prioritization
- IEEE
802.1Q VLAN
- IEEE
802.3 10BASE-T specification
- IEEE
802.3u 100BASE-TX specification
- IEEE
802.3ad
- IEEE
802.3z 1000BASE-X specification
|
|
Y2K
|
|
|
Connectors and Cabling
|
- 10BASE-T
ports: RJ-45 connectors, two-pair
Category 3, 4, or 5 unshielded twisted-pair
(UTP) cabling
- 100BASE-TX
ports: RJ-45 connectors; two-pair
Category 5 UTP cabling
- 1000BASE-SX
ports: MT-RJ connectors, 50/125
or 62.5/125 micron multimode fiber-optic
cabling
- Management
console port: 8-pin RJ-45 connector,
RJ-45-to-DB9 adapter cable for PC connections;
for terminal connections, use RJ-45-to-DB25
female data-terminal-equipment (DTE)
adapter (can be ordered separately
from Cisco, part number ACS-DSBUASYN=)
|
|
MT-RJ Patch Cables for Catalyst
2950SX-24 Switch
|
Type of Cable, Cisco Part Number
- 1-meter,
MT-RJ-to-SC multimode cable, CAB-MTRJ-SC-MM-1M
- 3-meter,
MT-RJ-to-SC multimode cable, CAB-MTRJ-SC-MM-3M
- 5-meter,
MT-RJ-to-SC multimode cable, CAB-MTRJ-SC-MM-5M
- 1-meter,
MT-RJ-to-ST multimode cable, CAB-MTRJ-ST-MM-1M
- 3-meter,
MT-RJ-to-ST multimode cable, CAB-MTRJ-ST-MM-3M
- 5-meter,
MT-RJ-to-ST multimode cable, CAB-MTRJ-ST-MM-5M
|
|
Power Connectors
|
Customers can provide power to a switch
by using either the internal power
supply or the Cisco Redundant Power
System (RPS) 300. The connectors are
located at the back of the switch.
Internal Power Supply Connector
- The
internal power supply is an auto-ranging
unit.
- The
internal power supply supports input
voltages between 100 and 240 VAC.
- Use
the supplied AC power cord to connect
the AC power connector to an AC
power outlet.
Cisco RPS Connector
- The
connector offers connection for
an optional Cisco RPS 300 that uses
AC input and supplies DC output
to the switch.
- The
connector offers a 300-watt redundant
power system that can support six
external network devices and provides
power to one failed device at a
time.
- The
connector automatically senses when
the internal power supply of a connected
device fails and provides power
to the failed device, preventing
loss of network traffic.
- Attach
only the Cisco RPS 300 (model PWR300-AC-RPS-N1)
to the redundant-power-supply receptacle.
|
|
Indicators
|
- Per-port
status LEDs: link integrity, disabled,
activity, speed, and full-duplex
indications
- System
status LEDs: system, RPS, and bandwidth
utilization indications
|
|
Dimensions and Weight
|
