Difference between the Cisco Catalyst 2960 and the 3560 series

[mohammedmahmoud]

Dear All,

I am in the process of buying a Cisco Catalyst Switch and i am confused between two series; 2960 and 3560 and while seraching i found the following:

Cisco 2960

Layer 2 switching with intelligent

Layer 2 ? 4 services

Cisco 3560

Layer 2 ? 4 switching and intelligent

services with dynamic IP routing

and IPv6

I think that the above means that one of the main differences is that the 3560 Switch is a MLS while the 2960 is just a L2 switch, but my question is what is meant by Layer 2?4 services for the Cisco 2960 switch ?

Thanks in advance,

Mohamed.

[mihanlin]

Hi Mohamed,

You are correct that the 2960 is a layer2 device while the 3560 is a multilayer device.

The term layer2-4 services means mainly that it supports Quality of Service with classification & marking of layer 2-4 protocols. For example, you can classify traffic coming into a switchport on a 2960 based on TCP port number (layer 4), IP address (layer 3) or mac-address (layer 2).

Hope this helps,

Michael

Cisco TAC

[mohammedmahmoud]

Hi Michael,

Thanks for the prompt repsonse.

I am just curious, if the 2960 Switch can check the IP header for classification and marking, why not support IP routing.

Thank you very much for your convenient reply,

Mohammed.

[mihanlin · Accepted solution]

Hi Mohamed,

There are some hardware chips on the switch that perform very specific functions. These are called ASICs (application specific integrated circuits).

The 2960 has an ASIC which performs classification and marking of layer2-4 information. However it does not have an ASIC to perform routing. To do routing it needs some other ASICs which only the 3750 and 3560 have.

Thanks,

Michael.

[mohammedmahmoud]

Michael,

Your replies are more than perfect, thank you very much.

Thanks,

Mohammed.