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Catalyst 3750-X and 3560-X Switch Software Configuration Guide
OL-21521-01
Chapter 1 Overview
Features
USB Type A port for external Cisco USB flash memory devices (thumb drives or USB keys). You
can use standard Cisco CLI commands to read, write, erase, copy, or boot from the flash memory.
Note For additional descriptions of the management interfaces, see the “Network Configuration Examples”
section on page 1-19.
Availability and Redundancy Features
HSRP for command switch and Layer 3 router redundancy
Automatic stack master re-election (failover support) for replacing stack masters that become
unavailable (only on Catalyst 3750-X switches)
The newly elected stack master begins accepting Layer 2 traffic in less than 1 second and Layer 3
traffic between 3 to 5 seconds.
Cross-stack EtherChannel for providing redundant links across the switch stack (only on Catalyst
3750-X switches)
UniDirectional Link Detection (UDLD) and aggressive UDLD for detecting and disabling
unidirectional links on fiber-optic interfaces caused by incorrect fiber-optic wiring or port faults
IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) for redundant backbone connections and loop-free
networks. STP has these features:
Up to 128 spanning-tree instances supported
Per-VLAN spanning-tree plus (PVST+) for load-balancing across VLANs
Rapid PVST+ for load-balancing across VLANs and providing rapid convergence of
spanning-tree instances
UplinkFast, cross-stack UplinkFast (only on Catalyst 3750-X switches) and BackboneFast for fast
convergence after a spanning-tree topology change and for achieving load-balancing between
redundant uplinks, including Gigabit uplinks and cross-stack Gigabit uplinks (only on Catalyst
3750-X switches)
IEEE 802.1s Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP) for grouping VLANs into a spanning-tree
instance and for providing multiple forwarding paths for data traffic and load-balancing and rapid
per-VLAN Spanning-Tree plus (rapid-PVST+) based on the IEEE 802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree
Protocol (RSTP) for rapid convergence of the spanning tree by immediately changing root and
designated ports to the forwarding state
Optional spanning-tree features available in PVST+, rapid-PVST+, and MSTP mode:
Port Fast for eliminating the forwarding delay by enabling a port to immediately change from
the blocking state to the forwarding state
BPDU guard for shutting down Port Fast-enabled ports that receive bridge protocol data units
(BPDUs)
BPDU filtering for preventing a Port Fast-enabled port from sending or receiving BPDUs
Root guard for preventing switches outside the network core from becoming the spanning-tree
root
Loop guard for preventing alternate or root ports from becoming designated ports because of a
failure that leads to a unidirectional link
Equal-cost routing for link-level and switch-level redundancy