Cisco Catalyst 2960-S and 2960 Series Switches Enable Cisco Borderless Network
Borderless Networks, a Cisco architecture, deliver the new workspace experience, connecting anyone, anywhere, using any device, to any resource securely, reliably, and transparently. Cisco?s 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, sustainability, EnergyWise and ease of operations for increased productivity and operational efficiency. When network access is intelligent, it knows the identity of the user, as well as where the user is on the network. It knows what is connecting to the network, to automatically provision the network for QoS and delivery. It becomes services-aware to optimize user experience. Only with intelligent access network, your enterprise can go borderless securely and transparently. Your business can save energy, simplify operations with better business efficiency, and have an optimized total cost of ownership.

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

– Sustainability
– EnergyWise
– 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 enterprise wide 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 50percent 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 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 savings, 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-S PoE models support the latest PoE+ devices including Cisco IP phones and Cisco Aironet WLAN access points providing up to 30W 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
– Per port PoE power sensing measures actual power being drawn, enabling more intelligent control of powered devices
– 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
– The PoE MIB provides proactive visibility into power usage and allows customers to set different power-level thresholds
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.
– Cisco Smart Configuration provides a single point of management for a group of switches and in addition adds the ability archive and backup configuration files to a file server or switch allowing seamless zero touch switch replacement.
– Cisco Smart Troubleshooting is an extensive array of debug diagnostic commands and system health checks within the switch, including Generic Online Diagnostics (GOLD) and Onboard Failure Logging (OBFL).