WS-C2960XR-24PS-I Cisco Catalyst L3 24 Ports Ethernet Switch New

The Catalyst 2960 X Series. With its 24 ports, Gigabit Ethernet capabilities, and Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) technology, this rack-mountable managed switch offers a versatile and efficient solution for various networking needs. In this detailed review, we'll delve into the key features, specifications, and benefits of the Cisco WS-C2960XR-24PS-I, providing you with valuable insights into its capabilities.

• The Cisco WS-C2960XR-24PS-I is equipped with 24 ports, providing ample connectivity for various devices in your network. These ports support Ethernet speeds of 10/100/1000 Megabits Per Second (MBPS), ensuring fast and reliable data transfer.

• Featuring 4 x Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) Gigabit ports, this switch enables high-speed data transmission over fiber-optic connections. SFP technology offers flexibility in connecting to different types of networks and provides scalability for growing network demands.

• As a part of the Catalyst 2960 X Series, the WS-C2960XR-24PS-I embodies Cisco's commitment to delivering cutting-edge networking solutions. The 2960 X Series is known for its advanced features, reliability, and scalability, making it a preferred choice for businesses of all sizes.

• The switch is designed to be rack-mountable, allowing for easy integration into standard network racks or cabinets. This space-saving design is ideal for data centers and network rooms where efficient use of space is crucial.

• The WS-C2960XR-24PS-I is a managed switch, providing administrators with greater control over network operations. Management capabilities include monitoring, configuration, and optimization, allowing for a tailored and efficient network setup.

• With Gigabit Ethernet technology, this switch ensures high-speed data transfer, making it suitable for bandwidth-intensive applications. Whether you're streaming multimedia content or transferring large files, the WS-C2960XR-24PS-I delivers reliable performance.

• The switch supports Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs), enabling network segmentation for enhanced security and efficient traffic management. VLAN support is crucial for creating isolated networks within a larger infrastructure.

• Featuring Power over Ethernet (PoE) capabilities, the switch can deliver power to connected devices such as IP cameras, VoIP phones, and wireless access points through the Ethernet cables. This eliminates the need for separate power sources and simplifies device deployment.

• With Layer 3 support, the WS-C2960XR-24PS-I can perform advanced routing functions. This includes support for dynamic routing protocols like OSPF and RIP, providing a scalable and adaptive solution for routing within the network.

• The switch incorporates a range of security features, including Access Control Lists (ACLs), SSH support, and port security. These features enhance network security by controlling access and protecting against unauthorized activities.

• Administrators can remotely manage the switch using various protocols such as SNMP, Telnet, and SSH. This flexibility enables efficient monitoring and configuration from a central location.

• Quality of Service (QoS) features prioritize network traffic, ensuring that critical applications receive the necessary bandwidth and resources. This is vital for maintaining optimal performance in environments with diverse application requirements.

• Cisco EnergyWise technology enhances energy efficiency by monitoring and controlling power consumption across network devices. This not only contributes to cost savings but also aligns with environmental sustainability goals.

• The WS-C2960XR-24PS-I is equipped with a 600 MHz processor, providing the necessary processing power for efficient network operations. With 512 MB of RAM and 128 MB of flash memory, the switch can handle the demands of modern networking environments.

• The switch offers a range of interfaces, including 24 x 1000Base-T RJ-45 ports, 12 ports supporting Power over Ethernet (PoE+), 4 SFP uplink ports, and various console and management interfaces. The presence of expansion slots allows for further customization and scalability.

• Boasting an impressive MTBF of 321,290 hours, the WS-C2960XR-24PS-I demonstrates high reliability. This metric indicates the average time the switch operates before a potential failure, highlighting its durability and robust design.

• While the internal power supply provides 640 Watts of power, the switch also offers optional power redundancy. This feature ensures continuous operation even in the event of a power supply failure, contributing to overall network reliability.

• The switch is designed to operate within a temperature range of 23 °F to 113 °F, with a humidity range of 10% to 95% (non-condensing). These parameters make it suitable for deployment in a variety of environments, from climate-controlled data centers to more challenging industrial settings.

• For storage, the WS-C2960XR-24PS-I can withstand temperatures ranging from -13 °F to 158 °F, with the same humidity range as during operation. This flexibility in storage conditions ensures the switch remains operational even during periods of non-use.

• The switch is designed with environmental considerations in mind, earning the "Environmentally Friendly" designation. This signifies Cisco's commitment to producing products that align with eco-friendly practices and standards.

• The WS-C2960XR-24PS-I holds RoHS certification, indicating compliance with European Union directives on the restriction of hazardous substances. This certification underscores Cisco's dedication to environmental responsibility and sustainable manufacturing.

Efficient network management of the WS-C2960XR-24PS-I Cisco Catalyst 2960 X Series 24-Ports Managed Ethernet Switch involves a combination of best practices, tools, and processes. Here are a few ways to improve the efficiency of managing this switch:

• Use network management software such as Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) or Cisco Prime Infrastructure to manage multiple switches from a single interface. This can save time and effort by allowing you to make changes to multiple switches at once, rather than having to log into each switch individually.
• Use Cisco's command-line interface (CLI) to automate tasks and configure multiple switches at once using scripts. This can be useful for making changes to multiple switches at once, and for automating repetitive tasks.
• Configure a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) to monitor and manage the switch remotely. This can be useful for monitoring the switch's performance and troubleshooting issues from a remote location.
• Use Access Control Lists (ACLs) to control network access and improve security. This can help improve security by limiting access to only authorized users and devices.
• Regularly update the switch's firmware to ensure it has the latest security patches and features. This can help fix bugs and improve performance.
• Use a Network Configuration Management (NCM) tool to version control and automate changes to your network configurations.
• Implement a monitoring and alerting system to monitor the switch and other network devices, this will help to detect and resolve issues quickly.
• Make use of Cisco's Smartports which are pre-configured templates that simplify the configuration of specific network topologies. Smartports can be a time-saver for common network topologies.
• Implement network documentation, to keep track of the network devices, IP addresses, VLANs, and other important information.

Implementing these best practices, tools, and processes can help improve the efficiency of managing the WS-C2960XR-24PS-I Cisco Catalyst 2960 X Series switch and the overall network.

The WS-C2960XR-24PS-I Cisco Catalyst 2960 X Series 24-Ports Managed Ethernet Switch is a Layer 2 switch, which means it is primarily designed to handle data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model and does not have full routing capabilities of a Layer 3 switch. However, it does support some Layer 3 functionality such as Routing Information Protocol (RIP) and Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) routing protocols, IP version 4 and IP version 6 static routing, and Quality of Service (QoS) for prioritizing different types of network traffic.

To achieve advanced routing and switching capabilities with this switch, you can consider the following options:

• The WS-C2960XR-24PS-I switch supports stacking, which allows you to connect multiple switches together to form a single logical switch with increased port density and redundancy. This can help to increase the advanced routing and switching capabilities.

• Connect the WS-C2960XR-24PS-I switch to a Layer 3 switch which has more advanced routing capabilities, such as support for multiple routing protocols, VLAN routing, and support for advanced routing protocols like BGP, EIGRP, etc.

• Connect the WS-C2960XR-24PS-I switch to a router, which will handle the routing tasks, allowing the switch to handle the switching tasks.
• Implementing Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF) which allows to create multiple routing tables on the same device, and isolate different routing domains.

It should be noted that the above options will require additional hardware and software, and may require additional configuration and management.

The WS-C2960XR-24PS-I Cisco Catalyst 2960 X Series 24-Ports Managed Ethernet Switch has some Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities to help prioritize different types of network traffic. Here are a few key QoS features of the switch:

• The switch supports various traffic classification methods, such as port-based, VLAN-based, and IP-based, to identify different types of traffic.

• The switch supports various queuing methods, such as weighted round-robin (WRR) and priority queuing, to prioritize different types of traffic.

• The switch supports rate limiting on ingress and egress traffic, which can be used to control the rate of traffic and prevent network congestion.

• CBWFQ allows to assignment of different bandwidth limits and priorities for different types of traffic.

• LLQ is a type of queuing that provides strict priority for delay-sensitive traffic such as VoIP and video conferencing, making sure that these types of traffic are sent first.

• The switch supports QoS groups that allow you to assign different priority levels to different types of traffic.

• LFI allows to fragment large packets and interleaving them with smaller packets, reducing the delay and jitter on low-bandwidth links.

The switch's QoS capabilities are configurable through CLI, Cisco Network Assistant (CNA) and Cisco Prime Infrastructure, which allows you to fine-tune the settings to meet the needs of your network.

It should be noted that the switch's QoS capabilities are limited to the switch and does not extend to the end devices, for a more robust and end-to-end QoS, you may need to also configure QoS on the end devices such as IP phones and cameras.

• Manufacturer: Cisco
• Part Number or SKU# WS-C2960XR-24PS-I
• Product Line: Catalyst
• Product Series: 2960-XR
• Product Model: 2960XR-24PS-I
• Type: Networking
• Product Type: Ethernet Switch

• Total Number of Network Ports: 24
• Number of PoE (RJ-45) Ports: 12
• Number of PoE+ (RJ-45) Ports: 12
• Port/Expansion Slot Details:
  • 24 x Gigabit Ethernet Network Ports
  • 4 x Gigabit Ethernet Expansion Slots

• Number of Total Expansion Slots: 4
• Expansion Slot Type: SFP
• Number of SFP Slots: 4

• Media Type Supported: Twisted Pair
• Ethernet Technology: Gigabit Ethernet
• Network Technology: 10/100/1000Base-T

• Layer Supported: 3

• Manageable: Yes

• Virtual interfaces (VLANs): 1023
• Jumbo Frame Support: 9216 bytes
• Max Units In A Stack: 8
• Routing Protocol: OSPF, RIP-1, RIP-2, HSRP, VRRP, PIM-SM, PIM-DM, PIM-SSM, policy-based routing (PBR), RIPng
• Remote Management Protocol: SNMP 1, SNMP 2, RMON 1, RMON 2, RMON 3, RMON 9, Telnet, SNMP 3, SNMP 2c, HTTP, TFTP, SSH, CLI
• Authentication Method: Kerberos, Secure Shell (SSH), RADIUS, TACACS+
• Compliant Standards: IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3u, IEEE 802.3z, IEEE 802.1D, IEEE 802.1Q, IEEE 802.3ab, IEEE 802.1p, IEEE 802.3af, IEEE 802.3x, IEEE 802.3ad (LACP), IEEE 802.1w, IEEE 802.1x, IEEE 802.3ae, IEEE 802.1s, IEEE 802.3ah, IEEE 802.1ab (LLDP), IEEE 802.3at, IEEE 802.3az, IEEE 802.1AX

• Layer 2 switching, power over Ethernet (PoE), auto-negotiation, ARP support, Cisco Fast EtherChannel, VLAN support, auto-uplink (auto MDI/MDI-X), IGMP snooping, Intrusion Detection System (IDS), Broadcast Storm Control, IPv6 support, Multicast Storm Control, Unicast Storm Control, Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) support, Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP) support, DHCP snooping, Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP) support, Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP) support, Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) support, Access Control List (ACL) support, Quality of Service (QoS), RADIUS support, SSH support, Jumbo Frames support, MLD snooping, Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI), PoE+, Cisco EnergyWise technology, Uni-Directional Link Detection (UDLD), Rapid Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus (PVRST+), IPv4 support, Shaped Round Robin (SRR), Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), MAC Address Notification, Remote Switch Port Analyzer (RSPAN), layer 3 load balancing, Per-VLAN Rapid Spanning Tree (PVRST), NetFlow, Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) support, Energy Efficient Ethernet, Multicast VLAN Registration (MVR), Strict Priority Queuing (SPQ), Class of Service (CoS), Cisco FlexStack Plus

• Processor: 600 MHz
• RAM: 512 MB
• Flash Memory: 128 MB

• Interfaces:
  • 24 x 1000Base-T 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T - RJ-45 - RJ-45
  • 12 ports (PoE+) / 24 ports (PoE) - 30 W
  • 1 x console console - RJ-45 - RJ-45
  • 1 x mini-USB console - mini-USB Type B - Type B management
  • 2 x USB Type A
  • 1 x 1000Base-TX 10Base-T/100Base-TX - RJ-45 - RJ-45 management
  • 4 x SFP (mini-GBIC) - SFP uplink
• Expansion Slots: 1 (total) / 1 (free) x Stacking Module slot

• MTBF: 321,290 Hours

• Power Source: Internal Power Supply
• Power Redundancy: Optional
• Power Provided: 640 Watt
• Voltage Required: AC 120/230 V
• Frequency Required: 50/60 Hz

• Min Operating Temperature: 23 °F
• Max Operating Temperature: 113 °F
• Humidity Range Operating: 10 - 95% (non-condensing)
• Min Storage Temperature: -13 °F
• Max Storage Temperature: 158 °F
• Humidity Range Storage: 10 - 95% (non-condensing)

• Environmentally Friendly: Yes
• Environmental Certification: RoHS

Outline, the Cisco WS-C2960XR-24PS-I Catalyst 2960 X Series 24-Port Ethernet Switch is a versatile and powerful networking solution. With its Gigabit Ethernet capabilities, SFP technology, and advanced features like VLAN support and PoE functionality, it caters to the diverse needs of modern networks. The switch's managed capabilities, security features, and environmental certifications further solidify its position as a reliable and sustainable choice for businesses seeking a robust networking infrastructure.

Whether deployed in data centers, enterprise networks, or industrial settings, the WS-C2960XR-24PS-I offers the performance, flexibility, and scalability required to meet the demands of today's dynamic and ever-expanding digital landscape. Cisco's commitment to innovation and quality shines through in this member of the Catalyst 2960 X Series, making it a valuable asset for organizations looking to optimize their network infrastructure for efficiency and reliability.