CCNA Cisco Certified Network Associate Study Guide - FTP Server

Cisco Switches
Selecting Cisco Products 49
The Cisco 800 series router has mostly replaced the Cisco 700 series
because the 700 series does not run the Cisco IOS. In fact, I hope Cisco will
soon stop selling the 700 series routers altogether. They are difficult to configure
and maintain.
The main selections involved in choosing Cisco routers are listed below:
� Scale of routing features needed
� Port density and variety requirements
� Capacity and performance
� Common user interface
It seems like switch prices are dropping almost daily. I just received an
e-mail from Cisco announcing that the Catalyst 2900 series switches have
dropped in price 30 percent. About four years ago a 12-port 10/100 switch
card for the Catalyst 5000 series switch was about $15,000. Now you can
buy a complete Catalyst 5000 with a 10/100 card and supervisor module
for about $7500 or so. My point is that with switch prices becoming reasonable,
it is now easier to install switches in your network. Why buy hubs
when you can use switches? I think every closet should have at least one
switch.
Cisco has a huge assortment of switches to meet absolutely every business
need. You must consider whether you need 10/100 or 1000Mbps for
each desktop or to connect between switches. ATM (asynchronous transfer
mode) is also a consideration; however, with Gigabit Ethernet out and
10Gbps links just around the corner, who needs ATM? The next criteria
to consider are port density. The lower-end models start at 12 ports, and
the higher-end models can provide hundreds of switched ports per
switch.
Figure 1.22 shows the Cisco-switch product line.