Cisco Retools Catalyst Switch Line

Cisco today revamped its Catalyst Switch line with 10-gigabit speeds, enhanced security, and high availability, designed to bring high speed, security, and availability to the network edge. In all, 20 new devices were announced, many of which take advantage of Power over Ethernet (PoE) capabilities. Also announced was what Cisco calls the industry's first gigabit Ethernet-enabled IP Phone.

Additions to the Cisco Catalyst switch line include Cisco Catalyst 6500 and 4500 Series supervisor engines with enhanced security, availability and integrated 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and/or GbE uplinks, and the Cisco Catalyst 6500, 3750 and 3560 10/100/1000 PoE products.

Included are new security features, including fault prevention so that network and hardware problems can be fixed before they occur, and Denial of Service mitigation built directly into switches at the network edge. The devices also offer 10-gigabit speeds over existing fiber.

"The products address the unique requirements of wiring closets for security, availability, and connectivity," said Cisco's John Yen, Senior Manager for LAN switching. "With them, you can deploy 10 gigabits all the way down to the wiring closet. You can now have Power over Ethernet, high speeds, and greater availability end to end."

The addition of PoE to a number of the switches was significant, said John McCool, Cisco Vice President and General Manager for Gigabit Switching Units. "We're driving PoE end to end in the network," he explained. "We found that it had become difficult for people to choose between PoE and gigabit speeds, and this way we let them choose both in one unit and help future-proof their networks."The new gigabit-enabled IP Phone is significant because it allows gigabit speeds to be brought to the desktop via a single cable. Rather than have multiple high-speed network cables run to a workstation - one for an IP phone, one for a computer, and so on - the cable for the phone can be daisy-chained to offer gigabit speeds to multiple devices.

Several of the devices are available today, with the remainder scheduled to be released in December.