Chapter 1 Product Overview
Front Panel
Management and Console Port
You can connect the switch to a host such as a Windows workstation or a terminal server through the 10/100/1000 Ethernet management port or the console port. The 10/100/1000 Ethernet management port connection uses a standard RJ-45 crossover or straight-through Ethernet cable. The console port connection uses a RJ-45-to-DB-9 female cable.
The Ethernet management port operates in any combination of 10, 100, or 1000 Mb/s, and its traffic is isolated from the other ports. See Table 1-7for descriptions of the Ethernet management port LEDs. See the “10/100/1000 Ethernet Management Port” section on page B-3for pinout information.
For console port and adapter pinout information, see the “Console Port Adapter Pinouts” section on page B-8.
10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet Ports
The 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports use standard RJ-45 connectors with Ethernet pinouts. The maximum cable length is 328 feet (100 meters). The 100BASE-TX and 1000BASE-T traffic requires Category 5, Category 5e, or Category 6 unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable. The 10BASE-T traffic can use Category 3 or Category 4 UTP cable.
The autonegotiation feature is enabled by default. The switch ports configure themselves to operate at the speed of attached devices. If the attached device does not support autonegotiation, you can explicitly set the switch port speed and the duplex parameters. To maximize performance, either let the ports autonegotiate both speed and duplex, or set the port speed and duplex parameters on both ends of the connection.
For simplified cabling, the automatic medium-dependent interface crossover (auto-MDIX) feature is enabled by default. The switch detects the required cable type for copper Ethernet connections and configures the interface accordingly. You can use either a crossover or a straight-through cable for connections to a switch 10/100/1000 Ethernet port, regardless of the type of device on the other end of the connection.
SFP+ and SFP Modules
The switch 10-Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ modules are used for connections to other devices. These transceiver modules are field-replaceable, providing the uplink interfaces when inserted in an SFP+ module slot. You can use any combination of SFP+ or SFP modules. The SFP+ modules have LC connectors for fiber-optic connections. The SFP+ module slots support SFP+ and 1000BASE-X SFP modules. The SFP+ module slots do not support 100BASE-X and 1000BASE-T modules.
Use only Cisco SFP+ or SFP modules on the switch. Each Cisco module has an internal serial EEPROM that is encoded with security information.
Cisco ME 3800X and ME 3600X Switch Hardware Installation Guide
