Although we live in an era of network virtualization and software defined networking, the traditional hardware ethernet switch is still at the backbone of most networks. Cisco switches have been among the leaders in this field. The original Catalyst series of switches (running on IOS software) are still in production and powering millions of networked […]
Basic Cisco Switch Configuration
In my opinion, the Cisco switches are the best in the market. Versatile, reliable, flexible and powerful, the Cisco switch product line (such as the 2960, 3560, 3650, 3850, 4500, 6500, 9400 series etc) offer unparalleled performance and features. Although a Cisco switch is a much simpler network device compared with other devices (such as […]
Cisco Spanning Tree Protocol Guide (STP Examples and Configuration)
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) ensures a loop-free topology in a local area network (LAN) made up of switches. It is desirable to have redundant links in a switched LAN so that a single link failure cannot interrupt normal operation of the network. But redundant links may also introduce physical switching loops that are undesirable. STP […]
Private VLAN Configuration on Cisco Switches (Example Configuration)
We know that a Layer 2 VLAN is an isolated Broadcast Domain and for communicating between VLANs a Layer 3 Device is required (either router or Layer3 switch) for inter-VLAN Routing. A Private VLAN gives us the opportunity to divide a VLAN into Sub VLANs. In the case of PVLAN, a normal Layer 2 VLAN […]
What is Cisco Switch Virtual Interface (SVI) – Configuration Example and Explanation
Achieving convergence in computer networks is something that is controlled by both routers and switches in the network. The basic purpose of creating a computer network is to share resources and offer communication between hosts. Local Area Network (LAN) communication deals with switches, while internetwork connectivity (i.e between different LANs or WANs) requires the use […]
How to configure a Cisco Layer 3 Switch-InterVLAN Routing Without Router
UPDATED: 2020 – Cisco Catalyst switches equipped with the Enhanced Multilayer Image (EMI) can work as Layer 3 devices with full routing capabilities. For example, some switch models that support layer 3 routing are the 3550, 3750, 3560 etc. On a Layer3-capable switch, the port interfaces work as Layer 2 access ports by default, but you […]
Cisco Switch EtherChannel Configuration – LACP – PAgP
In this article we will describe how to configure both LACP and PAgP EtherChannels on Cisco switches. An EtherChannel is a Link Aggregation technology whereby two switches are connected together with multiple interfaces which are bundled together to form a single logical interface (“Port-Channel”) therefore increasing bandwidth between the switches. EtherChannel Use-Case The diagram below […]
Cisco Switch Commands Cheat Sheet (CLI)
Cisco switches can be used as plug-and-play devices out of the box but they also offer an enormous amount of features. Although the main purpose of the switch is to provide inter-connectivity in Layer 2 for the connected devices of the network, there are myriad features and functionalities that can be configured on Cisco Switches. […]
Cisco Switch Port Security Configuration and Best Practices
Introduction One of the best practices in network security is to try and stop security threats from the entry-point of a LAN network. This means that the switch can play an important role in network security since it’s the entry-point of the network. For example, port- security on Cisco switches can be used to stop […]
How to Configure Private VLANs on Cisco Switches
There are some situations where you have a single Layer3 subnet hosting several servers but you need to restrict network connectivity between the servers, although they reside in the same L3 subnet. This scenario is very common in hosting environments where you offer collocation for customers but for security reasons you want to keep their traffic […]
VLAN access-map (VACL) Example Configuration on Cisco Switch
In this post I will discuss Vlan access control lists (VACL), also called VLAN access Map or VLAN Map. A VLAN Access-map allows us to filter incoming and outgoing traffic in a switch Vlan. VLAN access-map configuration is very similar to the Route-map configuration. A Vlan access-map is placed on the whole Vlan, which means […]
Cisco Switching Products
Cisco Systems Inc. supports a broad range of local area network (LAN) switching architecture technologies and platforms. The general minimal requirements that the Cisco switching platforms are designed to address include the following: High-performance switched Ethernet, capable of delivering 100 Mbps and 1Gbps to the desktop, and 1Gbps or 10Gbps uplinks. Quality of Service (QoS) […]
Deleting the VLAN Database from a Cisco Switch
If you have your own Cisco switch equipment at your home lab or at your work environment you might have encountered the situation that you want to completely erase the whole switch configuration including any VLANs that are already configured on the switch (usually the vlan.dat file). In a Cisco switch, erasing the switch startup […]