Questions on 4948 switch memory

[nadeem-akhtar]

Hello,

On some recent installed switches, I'm not getting any alarms on the switch but my tools are showing memory utilization of close to 70%. We are expecting a lot more traffic load in a month.

sh ver:

cisco WS-C4948 (MPC8245) processor (revision 0) with 262144K bytes of memory.

sh mem sum
                       Head     Total(b)        Used(b)        Free(b)       Lowest(b)     Largest(b)
Processor   1319B668   216418708   139724144    76694564    74784680    73367480

Questions:

1. Looks like the switch came with 256MB of DRAM while I was expecting 1GB as it was supposed to be 4948E. I see WS-C4948 under show ver instead of 4948E. Is it a plain 4948 (incorrectly ordered) or a 4948E switch? How can I verify?

2. Can we buy and add more memory on 4948 switches? I do not see any option on ordering tool.

3. Anything else that I need to check specially when there are no memory alarsm under logs?

Thanks,

Nadeem

[rahurao]

Hi Nadeem,

The difference between the 2 switches:

WS-C4948-E - Cisco Catalyst 4948, enhanced multilayer software image, one AC power supply, fan tray
WS-C4948 - Cisco Catalyst 4948, optional software image, optional power supplies, fan tray

Seems like you have got the WS-C4948 switch here.

The memory option for the same:
Cisco WS-C4948-E Memory
Standard Memory: 256MB
Memory Technology: SDRAM
Flash Memory: 64MB

The memory is not upgradable but you can switch to The WS-C4948-E which comes with a standard SDRAM of 1G.

Here are some links for brochure:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6021/prod_brochure_list.html

HTH

Rahul

[nadeem-akhtar]

Rahul,

I really appreciate the quick response.

Just one more question in this regard:

Any major technical difference between 4948-E and 4948E. Both are available on ordering tool as separate.

Thanks again,

Nadeem

[rahurao · Accepted solution]

Hi Nadeem,

In comparison to normal C4948 switch the Cisco Catalyst 4948E and 4948E-F double uplink capacity to four 10Gb Ethernet uplinks and supports IPv6 in hardware. In addition Cisco Catalyst 4948E and 4948E-F offer front-to-back and back-to-front cooling respectively for deployment flexibility.

New Features

The Cisco Catalyst 4948E offers:

• Twice the uplink capacity of the previous switch generation

• 1+1 power supply and fan redundancy for hardware replacement with no downtime

• Strict front-to-back cooling with no side or top venting

• Large shared packet buffers for microburst protection

• Nonblocking internal packet switching for east-to-west traffic patterns

• Full set of Layer 2 and 3 forwarding features

• Outstanding multicast performance

• Zero-touch provisioning with Cisco IOS® Embedded Event Manager (EEM)

• Advanced quality of service (QoS)

• IP Version 6 (IPv6) switching and routing in hardware

• Extended MAC address tables to enable server virtualization

The Cisco Catalyst 4948E and 4948E-F continue to offer the following features:

    * Exceptional performance and reliability for high-density, multilayer aggregation of high-performance, rack optimized servers and workstations,

    * 48 ports of wire-speed 10/100/1000BASE-T with 4 alternative wired ports that can accommodate optional 1000BASE-X,

    * Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP+) optics, and

    * Optional internal AC or DC 1 + 1 hot-swappable power supplies and a hot-swappable fan tray with redundant fans for exceptional reliability and serviceability.

Here are some links for reference:

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps6021/ps10947/product_bulletin_c25-600212.html

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps6021/qa_c67-638060.html

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps6021/product_data_sheet0900aecd8017a72e.html

HTH

Rahul