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on the Web-based management interface provide the ability to give different levels of configuration
capabilities to different administrators.
Intelligent PoE Management
The Cisco Catalyst 2960 PoE models support Cisco IP phones and Cisco Aironet
access points, as well as any IEEE 802.3af-compliant end device.
Cisco Discovery Protocol version 2 allows the Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series Switch to
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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 you to set different
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power level thresholds.
Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP and LLDP-MED) adds support for IEEE 802.1AB link
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layer discovery protocol for interoperability in multivendor networks. Switches exchange
speed, duplex, and power settings with end devices such as IP phones.
Availability and Scalability
The Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Base Series is equipped with a large set of features that allow for
network scalability and higher availability through multicast filtering as well as a complete suite of
Spanning Tree Protocol enhancements aimed to maximize availability in a Layer 2 network.
Voice-aware 802.1x port security disables the offending data VLAN when a violation is detected
without affecting Voice VLAN on the same switch port. Enhancements to the standard Spanning
Tree Protocol, such as Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus (PVST+), UplinkFast, and PortFast help
maximize network uptime. PVST+ allows for Layer 2 load sharing on redundant links to efficiently
use the extra capacity inherent in a redundant design. UplinkFast, PortFast, and BackboneFast all
greatly reduce the standard 30- to 60-second Spanning Tree Protocol convergence time. Flexlink
provides bidirectional, fast convergence in less than 100 milliseconds. The Loopguard and bridge
protocol data unit (BPDU) guard enhancements provide Spanning Tree Protocol loop avoidance.
Advanced QoS
The Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Base Series offers superior multilayer QoS features to help ensure
that network traffic is classified and prioritized and that congestion is avoided in the best possible
manner. Configuration of QoS is greatly simplified through automatic QoS (Auto QoS), a feature
that detects Cisco IP phones and automatically configures the switch for the appropriate
classification and egress queuing. This optimizes traffic prioritization and network availability
without the challenge of a complex configuration.
The Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Base Series can classify, reclassify, police, mark, queue, and
schedule incoming packets and can queue and schedule packets at egress. Packet classification
allows the network elements to discriminate between various traffic flows and enforce policies
based on Layer 2 and Layer 3 QoS fields.
To implement QoS, the Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Base Series Switch first identifies traffic flows or
packet groups, then classifies or reclassifies these groups using the differentiated services code
point (DSCP) field or the 802.1p class of service (CoS) field. Classification and reclassification can
be based on criteria as specific as the source or destination IP address, source or destination
MAC address, or the Layer 4 TCP or UDP port. At the ingress, the Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Base
Series also polices to determine whether a packet is in or out of profile, marks to change the
Data Sheet
®
wireless LAN
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