Product Overview

The Cisco^® Catalyst^® 2960-S Series Switches are fixed-configuration Gigabit Ethernet switches (Figure 1) that provide enterprise-class Layer 2 switching for campus and branch access applications. They enable reliable and secure business operations with lower total cost of ownership through a range of innovative features including FlexStack, Power over Ethernet Plus (PoE+), and Cisco Catalyst SmartOperations.

Product Highlights

Cisco Catalyst 2960-S switches feature:

● 24 or 48 Gigabit Ethernet ports

● 1G Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) or 1G/10G SFP+ slots

● Cisco FlexStack stacking with 20 Gbps of stack throughput (optional)

● IEEE 802.3at-compliant PoE+ for up to 30W of power per port

● Up to 740W of combined PoE/PoE+ budget

● USB interfaces for management and file transfers

● LAN Base or LAN Lite Cisco IOS^® Software feature set

● SmartOperations tools that simplify deployment and reduce the cost of network administration

● An enhanced limited lifetime hardware warranty (E-LLW), providing next-business-day replacement

Applications and Benefits

The Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series is ideal for:

● Deploying cost-effective wired connectivity in traditional desktop workspace environments

● Implementing quality of service (QoS) to provide priority treatment of voice and critical business applications

● Enforcing basic security policies to limit access to the network and mitigate threats

● Reducing total cost of ownership through simplified operations and automation

Switch Configurations

Table 1. Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series Switches Configurations

Cisco FlexStack

Cisco FlexStack provides stacking of up to four 2960-S switches through an optional module (Figure 2).

The FlexStack stack module is hot-swappable and can be added to any Cisco Catalyst 2960-S switch with LAN Base software. Switches connected to a stack will automatically upgrade to the stack’s Cisco IOS Software version and transparently join the stack without additional intervention.

Cisco FlexStack and Cisco IOS Software provide true stacking, with all switches in a stack acting as a single switch unit. FlexStack provides a unified data plane, unified configuration, and single IP address for switch management. The advantages of true stacking include lower total cost of ownership and higher availability through simplified management and cross-stack features including EtherChannel, SPAN, and FlexLink. Note that cross-stack features must be disabled before removing the stack module from an active stack member switch.

FlexStack also allows mixed stacking: 2960-S and 2960-SF switches can be combined to provide a combination of Gigabit and Fast Ethernet ports in a single switch stack.

Power over Ethernet Plus - PoE+

Cisco Catalyst 2960-S switches support both IEEE 802.3af Power over Ethernet (PoE) and IEEE 802.3at PoE+ (up to 30W per port) to deliver lower total cost of ownership for deployments that incorporate Cisco IP phones, Cisco Aironet^® wireless access points, or other standards-compliant PoE/PoE+ end devices. PoE removes the need to supply wall power to PoE-enabled devices and eliminates the cost of adding electrical cabling and circuits that would otherwise be necessary in IP phone and WLAN deployments. Table 2 shows the total PoE/PoE+ power available in each 2960-S model.

Table 2. Switch PoE and PoE+ Power Capacity

Network Security

The Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series Switches provide a range of security features to limit access to the network and mitigate threats, including:

● Features to control access to the network, including Flexible Authentication, 802.1x Monitor Mode, and RADIUS Change of Authorization

● Cisco SXP to simplify security and policy enforcement throughout the network

● Threat defense features including Port Security, Dynamic ARP Inspection, and IP Source Guard

● IPv6 First-Hop Security to protect against rogue router advertisements, spoofing, and other risks introduced by IPv6

For more information about Cisco security solutions, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/trustsec.

Enhanced Quality of Service

The Cisco 2960-S Series Switches offers intelligent traffic management that keeps everything flowing smoothly. Flexible mechanisms for marking, classification, and scheduling deliver superior performance for data, voice, and video traffic, all at wire speed. Primary QoS features include:

● Four egress queues per port and strict priority queuing so that the highest priority packets are serviced ahead of all other traffic

● Shaped Round Robin (SRR) scheduling and Weighted Tail Drop (WTD) congestion avoidance

● Flow-based rate limiting and up to 64 aggregate or individual policers per port

● 802.1p class of service (CoS) and differentiated services code point (DSCP) field classification, with marking and reclassification on a per-packet basis by source and destination IP address, MAC address, or Layer 4 TCP/UDP port number

● Cross-stack QoS to allow QoS to be configured across a stack of 2960-S switches

Cisco Catalyst SmartOperations

Cisco Catalyst SmartOperations is a comprehensive set of capabilities that simplify LAN planning, deployment, monitoring, and troubleshooting. Deploying SmartOperations tools reduces the time and effort required to operate the network and lowers total cost of ownership (TCO).

● Cisco Smart Install enables zero-touch deployment by providing automated Cisco IOS Software image installation and configuration when new switches are connected to the network.

● Cisco Auto Smartports enables automatic configuration of switch ports as devices connect to the switch, with settings optimized for the device type.

● Cisco Smart Troubleshooting is an extensive array of diagnostic commands and system health checks within the switch, including Smart Call Home.

For more information about Cisco Catalyst SmartOperations, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/smartoperations.

Cisco EnergyWise

Cisco EnergyWise empowers IT teams to measure and manage the power consumed by devices connected to the network, providing measurable energy savings and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. EnergyWise policies can be used to control the power consumed by PoE-powered endpoints, desktop and data-center IT equipment, and a wide range of building infrastructure. EnergyWise technology is included on all Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series Switches.

For more information about Cisco EnergyWise^™, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/energywise.

Network Management

The Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series Switches offer a superior CLI for detailed configuration and administration. 2960‑S switches are also supported in the full range of Cisco network management solutions.

Cisco Prime Infrastructure

Cisco Prime^™ network management solutions provide comprehensive network lifecycle management. Cisco Prime Infrastructure provides an extensive library of easy-to-use features to automate the initial and day-to-day management of your Cisco network. Cisco Prime integrates hardware and software platform expertise and operational experience into a powerful set of workflow-driven configuration, monitoring, troubleshooting, reporting, and administrative tools.

For detailed information about Cisco Prime, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/prime.

Cisco Network Assistant

A PC-based network management application designed for small and medium-sized business (SMB) networks with up to 250 users, Cisco Network Assistant offers centralized network management and configuration capabilities. This application also features an intuitive GUI where users can easily apply common services across Cisco switches, routers, and access points.

For detailed information about Cisco Network Assistant, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/cna.

Software Features

Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series Switches are available with the LAN Base and LAN Lite feature sets. LAN Lite models provide reduced functionality and scalability for small deployments with basic requirements.

Note that each switch model is tied to a specific feature level; LAN Lite models cannot be upgraded to the LAN Base feature set.

For more information about the features included in the LAN Base and LAN Lite feature sets, refer to Cisco Feature Navigator:http://tools.cisco.com/ITDIT/CFN/jsp/index.jsp.

Technical Specifications

Table 3. Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series Hardware

Table 4. Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series Performance

Table 5. Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Series Forwarding Performance

Table 6. Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Mechanical and Environmental Specifications

Table 7. Connectors and Interfaces

Table 8. Management and Standards Support

Table 9. Voltage and Power Ratings

Table 10. Power Consumption