Key Features/Benefits
Exceptional Performance
• Twelve or 24 wire-speed 10BaseT/100BaseTX autosensing
ports, each delivering up to 200 Mbps of bandwidth to
individual users, servers, or workgroups to support
bandwidth-intensive applications
• Two built-in, wire-speed GBIC-based Gigabit Ethernet
ports, delivering up to 4-Gbps aggregated bandwidth to
Gigabit Ethernet backbones, or Gigabit Ethernet servers, or
between switches
• 10-Gbps switching fabric and up to 6.5 million
packets-per-second forwarding rate, ensuring full-wire
speed operation for each 10BaseT/100BaseTX and Gigabit
Ethernet port
• 4-MB shared memory architecture, ensures the
highest-possible throughput with a design that eliminates
head-of-line blocking, minimizes packet loss, and delivers
better overall performance in environments with extensive
multicast and broadcast traffic
• Full-duplex operation on all ports, delivering up to 200
Mbps on 10/100 ports or 2 Gbps on 1000BaseX ports
• 8-MB DRAM and 4-MB Flash memory onboard, enabling
the addition of a continuous stream of feature upgrades,
maximizing customers’ investments
• Dual priority forwarding queues on each 10/100 port and
eight priority forwarding queues on all Gigabit Ethernet
ports, enabling network traffic prioritization and
seamless data, voice, and video integration (enabled in
future software)
• Bandwidth aggregation through Fast EtherChannel and
Gigabit EtherChannel technology, enhancing fault
tolerance and offering from 400 Mbps up to 4 Gbps of
aggregated bandwidth between switches, and to routers
and individual servers
• Configurable network port, supporting unlimited MAC
addresses for backbone connectivity
Flexible and Scalable Switch Clustering and Stacking
• GigaStack GBIC delivers a low-cost, independent stack bus
with a 1-Gbps forwarding bandwidth in a daisy-chain
configuration, with up to nine Catalyst 3500 XL
or gigabit-enabled Catalyst 2900 series XL switches or a
2-Gbps forwarding rate in a point-to-point configuration
• Cisco switch clustering technology allows a user to manage
up to 16 inter-connected Catalyst 3500 XL, 2900 XL, and
Catalyst 1900 switches through a single IP address
regardless of location
• GBIC-based Gigabit Ethernet ports give customers a
choice of 1000BaseSX, 1000BaseLX/LH, or Cisco
GigaStack stacking GBICs to fit their connection needs
Ease of Use and Ease of Deployment
• Cluster software upgrade feature allows the network
manager to quickly and easily upgrade the system software
on a group of Catalyst 3500 XL, 2900 XL, and Catalyst
1900 switches
• IEEE 802.3z-compliant 1000BaseSX and 1000BaseLX/LH
physical interface support through a field-replaceable GBIC
module provides customers unprecedented flexibility in
switch deployment
• Autosensing on each port detects attached device speed and
automatically configures the port for 10- or 100-Mbps
operation, easing the deployment of the switch in mixed
10BaseT and 100BaseTX environments
• Autonegotiating on all ports automatically selects half- or
full-duplex transmission mode to optimize bandwidth
• Autoconfiguration eases deployment of switches in the
network by automatically configuring multiple switches
across a network via a boot server
• Default configuration stored in Flash memory ensures that
a switch can be quickly connected to the network and can
pass traffic with minimal user intervention, preserving
configuration in case of a power outage
