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Catalyst 2950 Desktop Switch Software Configuration Guide
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Ch apter 1 Overview
Netwo rk Configuration Ex am ples
By using switch cl usters a nd CM S, yo u c an:
•Manage and monitor interconnected Catalyst switches (refer to the release notes for a list of
supported switches), regardless of their geographic proximity and interconnection media, including
Ethern et, Fast E ther net , Fast E the rChan nel, Ci sco Giga Stack G igabit Int erfac e Co nverter (GBIC),
Gigabit Et hernet, a nd Gigabit EtherChann el conne ctio ns.
•Accomplish multi ple co nfigurati on tasks fr om a sing le CMS wind ow without n eedin g to rem embe r
CLI commands to accomplish specific tasks.
•Apply actions from CMS to multiple ports and multiple switches at the same time to avoid
re-ente ring the same comma nds for eac h individual port or switch. Here are some examp les of
globall y setting and ma naging multiple por ts and switche s:
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Port co nfigurati on such a s spee d an d dupl ex set tings
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Port an d co nsole po rt s ecur ity set ting s
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NTP, STP, VLAN, and quality of service (QoS) configurations
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Inventory and st at istic rep orti ng and li nk and sw it ch-l evel monitori ng and trou bles hoot ing
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Group so ftwa re up gr ades
•View a to pol ogy o f inter con nected d evices to i dent ify existing switch c luster s and eli gible switc hes
that can joi n a clus ter. You can also use the topo logy to qu ickly ide ntify link inform ation be twee n
switches.
•Monitor real- time status of a switch o r mul tip le swit ch es f rom t he LED s on th e f ron t-pan el ima ges .
The system, redundant power system (RPS), and port LED colors on the images are similar to those
on the physi cal LED s.
•Use an inte ractive mode that takes you step-by-ste p through co nfiguring co mplex featur es such as
VLANs, ACLs, and QoS.
•Use a wizard t h at prom pts you to p rov ide the minimum r equired information to co nfigure complex
features such as QoS priorities for video traffic, priority levels for data applications, and security.
For more information about CMS, see Chapter 3, “Getting Started with CMS.” For mor e i nfo rmat ion
about sw itch cluste rs, see Chapter 6, “Clustering Switches.”

Network Config uration E xamples

This se cti on pr ovides ne twork co nfiguration c once pts and inc lude s examples of using th e s wit ch to
create dedicated network segments and interconnecting the segments through Fast Ethernet and Gigabit
Ether net conne ctio ns.

Design Concepts for Using the Switch

As your ne twork us ers c om pete for net work b andw idt h, i t ta kes lon ge r to send a nd re ceive data. W he n
you configu re y our net work, co nside r t he ba nd wid th r equi red by your n etwork u ser s a nd t he r e lative
priority of the network applications they use.
Table 1-2 describes wh at can ca use network pe rform ance to degrade and how you can co nfigure your
network to incr ease the bandw idth availabl e to your network use rs.