Specifications
1-3
Catalyst 2950 and Catalyst 2955 Switch Software Configuration Guide
78-11380-07
Chapter 1 Overview
Features
• Per-port broadcast storm control for preventing faulty end stations from degrading overall system
performance with broadcast storms
• Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP) and Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) for automatic
creation of EtherChannel links
• Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) snooping support to limit flooding of IP multicast
traffic
• Multicast VLAN registration (MVR) to continuously send multicast streams in a multicast VLAN
while isolating the streams from subscriber VLANs for bandwidth and security reasons
• IGMP filtering for controlling the set of multicast groups to which hosts on a switch port can belong
• Protected port (private VLAN edge port) option for restricting the forwarding of traffic to designated
ports on the same switch
• Dynamic address learning for enhanced security
Manageability
• Cisco Intelligence Engine 2100 (IE2100) Series Cisco Networking Services (CNS) embedded
agents for automating switch management, configuration storage and delivery (available only with
the EI)
• Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)-based autoconfiguration for automatically
configuring the switch during startup with IP address information and a configuration file that it
receives during DHCP-based autoconfiguration
Note DHCP replaces the Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP) feature autoconfiguration to ensure retrieval of
configuration files by unicast TFTP messages. BOOTP is available in earlier software releases
for this switch.
• Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) for identifying a switch through its IP address and its
corresponding MAC address
• Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) versions 1 and 2 for network topology discovery and mapping
between the switch and other Cisco devices on the network
• Network Time Protocol (NTP) for providing a consistent timestamp to all switches from an external
source
• Directed unicast requests to a Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server for obtaining software
upgrades from a TFTP server
• Default configuration storage in Flash memory to ensure that the switch can be connected to a
network and can forward traffic with minimal user intervention
• In-band management access through a CMS web-based session
• In-band management access through up to 16 simultaneous Telnet connections for multiple
command-line interface (CLI)-based sessions over the network
• In-band management access through up to 5 simultaneous, encrypted Secure Shell (SSH)
connections for multiple CLI-based sessions over the network (only available in the enhanced
cryptographic software image)
• In-band management access through Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) versions 1, 2c,
and 3 get and set requests
• Out-of-band management access through the switch console port to a directly-attached terminal or
to a remote terminal through a serial connection and a modem