Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Comparison & Features

Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series Switches are fixed-configuration, stackable Gigabit Ethernet switches that provide enterprise-class access for campus and branch applications.

Designed for operational simplicity to lower total cost of ownership, they enable scalable, secure and energy-efficient business operations with intelligent services and a range of advanced Cisco IOS Software features.

These switches also provide Layer 3 routing capability, application-aware intelligence, and double the scale. They are the greenest Cisco Catalyst access switches ever.

Like the Cisco 2960-S Series, the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series Switches are line-rate nonblocking switches with the following added features:

• Dual-core CPU at 600 MHz
• Cisco FlexStack-Plus stacking: 80 Gbps bandwidth; 8-member stack
• Dual-FRU power supply with integrated fan (2960-XR only)
• NetFlow-Lite on all downlink and uplink ports
• Switch Hibernation mode integrated with Cisco EnergyWise
• Energy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) downlink ports
• Signed Cisco IOS Software images
• Layer 3 features with IP Lite feature set (2960-XR only)
• 24 port fan less model with 2 SFP and 210/100/1000BT uplinks

More Notes:

Compared with Cisco 2960-X switches, the Cisco Catalyst 2960-XR switch models have the following additional capabilities in addition to the features in the 2960-X models:

• Dual-FRU power supply with integrated fan
• Layer 3 features with IP Lite feature set
• Configurable 8 queues per port (standalone)
• 48 Ether channel groups

Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series come with a common universal image and supports LAN Lite, LAN Base, and IP Lite feature sets.

Cisco IOS Software feature sets Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series Switches support:

Platform	IP Lite (Layer 3)	LAN Base (Layer 2)	LAN Lite (Basic Layer 2)
2960-XR	Yes	No	No
2960-X	No	Yes	Yes

Notes:

1. LAN Lite feature set has entry-level Layer 2 features and is targeted at midmarket deployments.
2. LAN Base feature set comes with advanced Layer 2 features and is typically targeted at enterprise customers.
3. IP Lite feature set comes with enterprise access Layer 3 features and is typically targeted at enterprise customers.

The Difference between IP Lite, LAN Base, and LAN Lite Switches for the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series

Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series front panel sticker has the feature set name. From the rear of the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series Switch, the LAN Lite models do not support stacking. The left side will not have a location for the FlexStack-Plus module to be inserted. From the Cisco IOS Software command line, there are two ways to tell which software image the switch has.

● The last letter in the product ID. If the last letter is “-L,” it’s LAN Base. If it’s “-LL,” it’s LAN Lite. If it’s “-I,” it’s IP Lite.

For example:

1. WS-C2960XR-48FPS-I is IP Lite.
2. WS-C2960X-48LPS-L is LAN Base.
3. WS-C2960X-48TS-LL is LAN Lite.

● The output from the “show license” Cisco IOS Software command-line interface (CLI) command. If LAN Base is being used, that will be the active license. If it’s LAN Lite, that will be the active license. In the following example output, LAN Base is the active license.

C2960-X_Switch# show license

Index 1 Feature: lanlite

Period left: 0 minute 0 second

Index 2 Feature: lanbase

Period left: Lifetime

License Type: Permanent

License State: Active, In Use

License Priority: Medium

License Count: Non-Counted

The Cisco Catalyst 2960-X switches support LAN Base and LAN Lite software feature sets. Following are the notable hardware components present only in LAN Base switches:

1. ● Ease of management with Cisco FlexStack-Plus
2. ● Power over Ethernet/Power over Ethernet Plus (PoE/PoE+) capabilities
3. ● Small Form-Factor Pluggable Plus (SFP+) support

IP Lite introduced enterprise access Layer 3 features to the 2960-XR switch models. IP Lite is subset of IP Base features. Some of the IP Lite features are:

• Routing Information Protocol (RIP) v1
• Routing Information Protocol (RIP) v2
• Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) v2 stub
• Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) v3 stub
• Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) stub
• Equal-cost routing
• Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP)
• Protocol Independent Multicast PIM (Sparse Mode, Dense Mode, Sparse Dense Mode, Source Specific Multicast) stub
• Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP) for IPv4
• Private VLAN
• IPv6 First Hop Security source guard
• Per-VLAN and per-port policers

Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series uses the Universal image, but no license is required. The feature set is bound to the hardware model type and cannot be changed. For convenience, a single software image is used for all Cisco Catalyst 2960-X switches, regardless of whether they are IP Lite, LAN Base, or LAN Lite models.

Note: The feature set is bound to the hardware model. To get the features and capabilities of IP Lite, you must purchase an IP Lite switch.

Comparison of Cisco Catalyst 2960 Switches

Feature	2960-XR	2960-X	2960-S	2960
CPU	Dual core at 600 MHz	Dual core at 600 MHz	Single core	Single core
Stacking	FlexStack-Plus	FlexStack-Plus	FlexStack	No
Stack bandwidth	80 Gbps	80 Gbps	40 Gbps	–
Stack members	8	8	4	–
Power supply	Dual FRU	Fixed	Fixed	Fixed
Redundant power supply (RPS)	Yes	No	No	No
PoE+ 30W/port	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Max PoE budget	740W	740W	740W	–
External RPS	No***	Yes	Yes	No
SFP+ uplinks	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Uplinks	2 SFP+/4 SFP	2 SFP+/4 SFP	2 SFP+/4 SFP	2 SFP
Management options	Console RJ45, USB console, and out of band Ethernet	Console RJ45, USB console, and out of band Ethernet	Console RJ45, USB console, and out of band Ethernet	Console RJ45
Flash	256 MB	128 MB	64 MB	32 MB
DRAM	512 MB	512 MB	256 MB	64 MB
Active VLANs	1K	1K	255	64
EtherChannel groups	48	24	6	6
Egress buffers	4 MB	4 MB	2 MB	2 MB
Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) sessions	4	4	2	2
Max MAC addresses	32K*	16K	8K	8K
IPv4 unicast routes	24K**	16 static	16 static	16 static
NetFlow-Lite	Yes	Yes	No	No
Hibernation Mode	Yes	Yes	No	No
EEE	Yes	Yes	No	No

*vlan sdm template, **ipv4 sdm template, ***redundancy is provided by second power supply.

More about Stacking-Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series

The LAN Base and IP Lite feature set models are stackable models in the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series. The LAN Lite feature set model is a standalone model.

Note: The fanless SKU (WS-C2960S-PSQ-L with Lan Base) does not support stacking

LAN Base and IP Lite feature set models cannot be stacked together. LAN Base feature set models can stack with LAN Base feature set models only. Similarly, IP Lite feature set models can stack with IP Lite feature set models only.

Cisco Catalyst 2960-X and 2960-XR switches can’t stack together since they don’t share common feature set model.

The Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series provides two types of console ports and one out-of-band Ethernet port:

• USB Type B console port
• Standard RJ-45 serial port
• 10/100 Ethernet management port

SFP modules that Cisco Catalyst 2960-X model supports

The Cisco Catalyst 2960-S models that support 10 Gigabit SFP+ modules can also support SFP modules that operate at 1 Gigabit. The Cisco Catalyst 2960-X models that support 10 Gigabit SFP+ modules cannot support SFP modules that operate at less than 1 Gigabit. And the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X uses SFP+ modules only.

Does the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series support IPv6? Is NetFlow-Lite supported on all Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series models? Does the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series PoE switches support the IEEE 802.3af or 802.3.at standards? To how many end devices can the Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series provide PoE and PoE+? More about Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series, such as Energy Efficiency, Switch Architecture, Software Capabilities, Intelligent Services, PoE Support (IEEE 802.3af and 802.3at) and Transceivers you can visit https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/catalyst-2960-x-series-switches/qa_c67-728348.html

More Cisco 2960-X Reviews and News:

New Catalyst 2960-X Series Switches Overview

Cisco Catalyst 2960-X vs. 2960-XR vs. 2960S Series

Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series Switches Debut at Cisco Partner Summit

Compare Cisco 2960 Models