A core switch forms the aggregation point for all the traffic to/from the network & is the backbone of the network.This basic job of core switch is to switch packets/data as fast as possible & normally a good enough L3 switch is employed for this position as it will have high speed processing power, high memory and runs high end complex configuration to switch packets effectively with redundancy methods.
eg : 6000 ,4000 series for lan use.
for wan 7000 , 12000 series .
Access s.w on the other hand is for lowest tier, where the end users are hooked for their operation.It provides the end user access link towards the outer network core and not very sophisticated switches. these are basic devices with layer 2 functionality.
eg : 2900,3500 switches
Pls rate/mark if this helps!!!
