2960X LAN LITE VS LAN BASE

[cristhian.venegas]

Please!

Differences between IOS LAN LITE vs LAN BASE but the 2960X

improvements in these IOS

Thanks

[Karsten Iwen]

My rule of thumb is the following: "Never buy LAN-Lite!"

This is true unless you don't need more than a switch that doesn't do much more then pure pushing of frames. Not now and not in the future. In all other cases you should buy LAN-Base because sooner or later the limitations impact the development of your network.

This is from the Data-Sheet:

Catalyst 2960-X series Software Features

All Catalyst 2960-X Series Switches use a single Universal Cisco IOS Software Image for all SKUs. Depending on the switch model, the Cisco IOS image automatically configures either the LAN Lite, LAN Base, or IP Lite feature set.

LAN Lite models have reduced functionality and scalability for small deployments with basic requirements. Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Family of Switches are available with the LAN Base and LAN Lite feature sets and Catalyst 2960-XR Family of switches are available IP Lite feature sets.

Note that each switch model is tied to a specific feature level; LAN Lite cannot be upgraded to LAN Base and LAN Base cannot be upgraded to IP Lite.

For more information about the features included in the LAN Lite, LAN Base and IP Lite feature sets, refer to Cisco Feature Navigator: http://tools.cisco.com/ITDIT/CFN/jsp/index.jsp.

[Leo Laohoo]

Same here. I wouldn't recommend anyone getting LAN-Lite.

[Richard Primm]

Cristhian,

I recently worked on a 2960 lanlite case and found it very limited as mentioned by other posts.  My biggest issue was with the lack of QOS configuration.  For your reference, have a look at this:

-luke

Lan lite and lan base comparison
http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/collateral/switches/catalyst-6500-series-switche
s/prod_presentation_c97-494780.pdf

[alf]

Hello Team,

from the experiences in the past I fully agree to avoid "lite" images whenever possible.

However, with the introduction of LAN Base and LAN Lite on the new 2960X platform, those differences gets very small. I think the most important difference is, that for the LAN Lite models only 2 uplink ports are usuable.

If you run the feature naviagtor with IOS 15.0(2)EX3 LAN Base vs. LAN Lite, the unique features in the LAN Base feature set are quite a few:

• Configurable Per VLAN MAC Learning (PVL)
• Flex Links
• Flow-Based Switch Port Analyzer (SPAN)
• IEEE 802.1x with User Distribution
• IP SLAs - DLSW+ Operation
• IP SLAs - Distribution of Statistics
• IP SLAs - HTTP Operation
• IP SLAs - Reaction Threshold
• IP SLAs - SNMP Support
• IP SLAs - Scheduler
• IP SLAs - UDP Echo Operation
• IP Source Guard
• IPv6 Routing: Unicast Routing
• IPv6 Services: Standard Access Control Lists
• MVR (Multicast VLAN Registration) - Support for 512 Groups
• Multicast Fast Convergence with Flexlink Failover
• Multicast VLAN Registration on Trunk Ports
• RADIUS Change of Authorization (CoA)
• Trunk Failover

Of course, there is a potential risk for the future, that some new features may only appear in the LAN Base image. So at the end, its again a question of the features you want to use, your expected life time of the switch and the investment protection strategy.

hope that helps,

Alfred

[mvnguyenvancang]

I red in your link below: http://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en/us/products/collateral/switches/catalyst-2960-series-switches/prod_presentation_c97-494780.pdf

that  the functionnality : DynamiC ARP inspection was not implemented on CATALYST 2960 LAN BASE . But I can configure this command on 2960TC-L with both following ios : 12.2(55)SE5 or 12.2(50)SE5 . Could you please tell me why ?

[Karsten Iwen]

Especially on the Catalyst, having something configured doesn't mean that it's also working ... There are often commands available that just do nothing. On the other hand, sometimes there is functionality that is not documented.

Have you controlled the function of DAI on that LAN Lite switch?

At least the 15.0(2) config guide still states:

To use Dynamic ARP inspection, the switch must be running the LAN Base image.

[mvnguyenvancang]

After configuring it -> the answer on the equipment - It is a WS-C2960-48TC-L running ios c2960-lanbasek9-mz.122-55.SE5.bin

SWHtest#sh ip arp inspection

Source Mac Validation      : Disabled
Destination Mac Validation : Disabled
IP Address Validation      : Disabled

 Vlan     Configuration    Operation   ACL Match          Static ACL
 ----     -------------    ---------   ---------          ----------
    1     Enabled          Active

 Vlan     ACL Logging      DHCP Logging      Probe Logging
 ----     -----------      ------------      -------------
    1     Deny             Deny              Off

 Vlan      Forwarded        Dropped     DHCP Drops      ACL Drops
 ----      ---------        -------     ----------      ---------
    1              0             12             12              0

 Vlan   DHCP Permits    ACL Permits  Probe Permits   Source MAC Failures
 ----   ------------    -----------  -------------   -------------------
    1              0              0              0                     0

 Vlan   Dest MAC Failures   IP Validation Failures   Invalid Protocol Data
 ----   -----------------   ----------------------   ---------------------
    1                   0                        0                       0

But on the comparaison board , it says that  "DAI " and even "IP source Guard " are not available for both lan lite and lan base 2960 . ( see document uploaded )