Tom
From the 2960 Q&A:
Q. What are the notable differences between the Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Base and LAN Lite switches?
A. Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Base switches have several advantages:
• Gigabit Ethernet connectivity in 8-, 24-, and 48-port configurations
• RPS support and support for a wide range of SFP transceivers
• Enhanced security through Layer 2-4 access control lists (ACLs), DHCP Snooping, and more extensive Network Admission Control capabilities such as Web authentication and 802.1x enhancements
• Additional QoS capabilities: The LAN Base IOS supports policing, class and policy maps, differentiated services code point (DSCP), AutoQoS, and configurable queue weights, buffers, and thresholds
• Higher network-level availability with features such as Flex Links and Link State Tracking
• Increased number of VLANs (256) and other enhancements such as IPv6 Host, MLD Snooping, LLDP-MED, RSPAN, MVR, DHCP Option 82, and IP SLA (responder)
Q. What are the similarities between the Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Base and LAN Lite switches?
A. Both Cisco Catalyst 2960 LAN Base and LAN Lite Switches support the following capabilities:
• Scalable and highly secure network management: Secure Shell (SSH), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Secure Copy Protocol (SCP), and SNMPv3 crypto
• Network management tool support by CiscoWorks, Cisco Network Assistant, and Catalyst Device Manager
• Baseline Network Admission Control and 802.1x MAC Auth Bypass and Protected Port
• Voice VLAN and voice-aware port security, BPDU Guard, and Root Guard
• Standard QoS with Class of Service (CoS) marking, Shaped Round Robin, Weighted Tail Drop, and Strict Priority scheduling
• Link aggregation using Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP) and 802.3ad LACP
• Complete Spanning Tree Protocol support via 802.1s, 802.1w, and PVST+
• VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP), Cisco Discovery Protocol v2, and LLDP
• Multicast support in hardware with IGMP Snooping, Filtering, and Querier
• Troubleshooting and monitoring tools such as TDR, SPAN, and UDLD
For a full list of software features supported by the Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series, visit http://www.cisco.com/go/catalyst2960.
