Cisco Catalyst 2960-S and 2960 Series Switches Enable Cisco Borderless Network
The Cisco Borderless Network Architecture delivers the new workspace experience, connecting anyone, anywhere, using any device, to any resource securely, reliably, and transparently. The Cisco Borderless Networks architecture addresses primary IT and business challenges to help create a truly borderless experience by bringing interactions closer to the employee and customer.

Borderless experience is only possible with intelligent network elements designed and architected to meet the needs of a global workspace. Cisco Network Access is a primary component of this architecture, enabling various borderless network services such as mobility, security, EnergyWise, and ease of operations for increased productivity and operational efficiency.

Cisco Network Access for Borderless solution focuses on the following primary areas:

– Sustainability
– Ease of operations
– Borderless security
– Borderless experience
Sustainability
Cisco Catalyst switching solutions enable greener practices through measurable power efficiency, integrated services, and continuous innovations such as Cisco EnergyWise, an enterprisewide solution that monitors and conserves energy with customized policies. Together, Cisco EnergyWise technology and Cisco Catalyst switches reduce greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions and increase energy cost savings and sustainable business behavior. Sustainability features in the Cisco Catalyst 2960-S and 2960 Series Switches include the following features sets:

– Cisco EnergyWise technology
– Efficient switch operation
– Intelligent power management
Cisco EnergyWise Technology

Cisco EnergyWise is an innovative architecture, added to fixed configuration switches, promoting companywide sustainability by reducing energy consumption across an entire corporate infrastructure and affecting more than 50 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions created by worldwide building infrastructure, a much greater effect than the 2 percent generated by the IT industry. Cisco EnergyWise enables companies to measure the power consumption of network infrastructure and network-attached devices and manage power consumption with specific policies, reducing power consumption to realize increased cost savings, potentially affecting any powered device.

EnergyWise encompasses a highly intelligent network-based approach to communicate messages that measure and control energy between network devices and endpoints. The network discovers Cisco EnergyWise-manageable devices, monitors their power consumption, and takes action based on business rules to reduce power consumption. EnergyWise uses a unique domain-naming system to query and summarize information from large sets of devices, making it simpler than traditional network management capabilities. Cisco EnergyWise?s management interfaces allow facilities and network management applications to communicate with endpoints and each other using the network as a unifying fabric. The management interface uses standard Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) or TCP to integrate Cisco and third-party management systems.

Efficient Switch Operation

Cisco Catalyst 2960-S and 2960 Series Switches, designed and engineered by Cisco, provide optimum power saving, low power operations for industry best-in-class power management, and power consumption capabilities. The Catalyst 2960-S ports are capable of reduced power modes so that ports not in use can move into a lower power utilization state.

Intelligent Power over Ethernet Management

The Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series PoE models support the latest PoE devices including Cisco IP phones and Cisco Aironet WLAN access points providing up to 15.4W of power per port, as well as any IEEE 802.3af-compliant end device.

– Per port power consumption command allows customers to specify maximum power setting on an individual port.
– Cisco Discovery Protocol Version 2 allows switches to negotiate a more granular power setting when connecting to a Cisco powered device such as IP phones or access points than what is provided by IEEE classification.
– PoE MIB provides proactive visibility into power usage and allows customers to set different power-level thresholds.
– IEEE 802.3af and Cisco prestandard PoE support comes with automatic discovery to detect a Cisco prestandard or IEEE 802.3af endpoint and provide the necessary power without any user configuration. Per-port PoE power sensing measures the actual power being drawn, enabling more intelligent control of powered devices.

Ease of Operations
The Cisco Catalyst 2960-S and 2960 Series Switches help reduce the operating costs through:

– Cisco Catalyst Smart Operations
– Easy to use deployment and control features
– Advanced, intelligent network management tools
Cisco Catalyst Smart Operations

Cisco Catalyst Smart Operations is a comprehensive set of capabilities that simplify LAN deployment, configuration, and troubleshooting. Cisco Catalyst Smart Operations enable zero-touch installation and replacement of switches, fast upgrade, as well as ease of troubleshooting with reduced operational cost.

Cisco Catalyst Smart Operations is a set of features that includes Smart Install, Auto Smartports, Smart Configuration, and Smart Troubleshooting to enhance operational excellence:

– Cisco Smart Install is a transparent plug-and-play technology to configure the Cisco IOS Software image and switch configuration without user intervention. Smart Install utilizes dynamic IP address allocation and the assistance of other switches to facilitate installation providing transparent network plug and play.
– Cisco Auto Smartports provide automatic configuration as devices connect to the switch port, allowing auto detection and plug and play of the device onto the network.
Easy to Use Deployment and Control Features

– Auto-negotiation on all ports automatically selects half- or full-duplex transmission mode to optimize bandwidth.
– Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP) facilitates dynamic trunk configuration across all switch ports.
– Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP) automates the creation of Cisco Fast EtherChannel groups or Gigabit EtherChannel groups to link to another switch, router, or server.
– Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) allows the creation of Ethernet channeling with devices that conform to IEEE 802.3ad. This feature is similar to Cisco EtherChannel technology and PAgP.
– Automatic media-dependent interface crossover (MDIX) automatically adjusts transmit and receive pairs if an incorrect cable type (crossover or straight-through) is installed.
– Unidirectional Link Detection Protocol (UDLD) and Aggressive UDLD allow unidirectional links caused by incorrect fiber-optic wiring or port faults to be detected and disabled on fiber-optic interfaces.
– Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) autoconfiguration of multiple switches through a boot server eases switch deployment.
– Switching Database Manager (SDM) templates for access, routing, and VLAN deployment allow the administrator to easily maximize memory allocation to the desired features based on deployment-specific requirements.
– Local Proxy Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) works in conjunction with Private VLAN Edge to minimize broadcasts and maximize available bandwidth.
– Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) Snooping for IPv4 and IPv6 MLD v1 and v2 Snooping provide fast client joins and leaves of multicast streams and limit bandwidth-intensive video traffic to only the requestors.
– Per-port broadcast, multicast, and unicast storm control prevents faulty end stations from degrading overall systems performance.
– Voice VLAN simplifies telephony installations by keeping voice traffic on a separate VLAN for easier administration and troubleshooting.
– Cisco VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) supports dynamic VLANs and dynamic trunk configuration across all switches.
– Switch Port Analyzer (SPAN) allows administrators to monitor ports in a Layer 2 switch network from any other switch in the same network.
– For enhanced traffic management, monitoring, and analysis, the Embedded Remote Monitoring (RMON) software agent supports four RMON groups (history, statistics, alarms, and events).
– 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 intranet switches.
– Cisco Emergency Responder (CER) enhances emergency calling from Cisco Unified CallManager. It helps assure that Cisco Unified CallManager sends emergency calls to the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) for the caller’s location.
Advanced, Intelligent Network Management Tools
The Cisco Catalyst 2960-S and 2960 Series Switches offer both a superior CLI for detailed configuration and Cisco Network Assistant software, a PC-based tool for quick configuration based on preset templates. In addition, CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution (LMS) supports the Cisco Catalyst 2960-S and 2960 Series Switches for networkwide management.

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. Cisco Network Assistant uses Cisco Smartports technology to simplify both initial deployment and ongoing maintenance. This application also features an intuitive GUI where users can easily apply common services across Cisco switches, routers, and access points, such as:

– Configuration management
– Troubleshooting advice
– Inventory reports
– Event notification
– Network security settings
– Password synchronization
– Drag-and-drop Cisco IOS Software upgrades
– Secure wireless