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Catalyst 3560 Switch Software Configuration Guide
OL-8553-06
Chapter 1 Overview
Features
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Applying actions to multiple ports and multiple switches at the same time, such as VLAN and
QoS settings, inventory and statistic reports, link- and switch-level monitoring and
troubleshooting, and multiple switch software upgrades.
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Viewing a topology of interconnected devices to identify existing switch clusters and eligible
switches that can join a cluster and to identify link information between switches.
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Monitoring real-time status of a switch or multiple switches from the LEDs on the front-panel
images. The system, redundant power system (RPS), and port LED colors on the images are
similar to those used on the physical LEDs.
Note The Network Assistant must be downloaded from cisco.com/go/cna.
• Switch clustering technology for
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Unified configuration, monitoring, authentication, and software upgrade of multiple,
cluster-capable switches, regardless of their geographic proximity and interconnection media,
including Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Fast EtherChannel, small form-factor pluggable (SFP)
modules, Gigabit Ethernet, and Gigabit EtherChannel connections. For a list of cluster-capable
switches, see the release notes.
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Automatic discovery of candidate switches and creation of clusters of up to 16 switches that can
be managed through a single IP address.
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Extended discovery of cluster candidates that are not directly connected to the command switch.
• Auto Smartports Cisco-default and user-defined macros for dynamic port configuration based on the
device type detected on the port.
Performance Features
• Cisco EnergyWise manages the energy usage of power over Ethernet (PoE) entities.
• Autosensing of port speed and autonegotiation of duplex mode on all switch ports for optimizing
bandwidth
• Automatic-medium-dependent interface crossover (auto-MDIX) capability on 10/100 and
10/100/1000 Mb/s interfaces and on 10/100/1000 BASE-TX SFP module interfaces that enables the
interface to automatically detect the required cable connection type (straight-through or crossover)
and to configure the connection appropriately
• Support for up to 1546 bytes routed frames, up to 9000 bytes for frames that are bridged in hardware,
and up to 2000 bytes for frames that are bridged by software
• IEEE 802.3x flow control on all ports (the switch does not send pause frames)
• EtherChannel for enhanced fault tolerance and for providing up to 8 Gb/s (Gigabit EtherChannel)
or 800 Mb/s (Fast EtherChannel) full-duplex bandwidth among switches, routers, and servers
• Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP) and Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) for automatic
creation of EtherChannel links
• Forwarding of Layer 2 and Layer 3 packets at Gigabit line rate
• Multicast virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) Lite for configuring multiple private routing
domains for network virtualization and virtual private multicast networks
• Per-port storm control for preventing broadcast, multicast, and unicast storms