Cisco Catalyst 2960 series: all models explained

Cisco has released the 2960 in several generations. The original Catalyst 2960 (and the gigabit 2960G) arrived in 2005; the 2960-S added gigabit access and FlexStack stacking; the 2960-Plus refreshed the Fast Ethernet models; and the 2960-X and 2960-XR (2013) brought FlexStack-Plus, 10G uplinks on "D" models and, on the XR, IP Lite routing with field-replaceable power supplies. All generations have now reached end of sale, and the current replacement is the Catalyst 9200 / 9200L.

Reading the part number: in WS-C2960X-48FPD-L, "48" is the number of access ports; "T" means data-only ports, "P", "LP" and "FP" mean PoE+ with increasing power budgets; the next letter shows the uplinks ("S" for 1G SFP, "D" for 10G SFP+); and the suffix is the software licence ("-L" LAN Base, "-LL" LAN Lite, "-I" IP Lite on the XR). On the original 2960, "TT" models have Fast Ethernet access ports with two gigabit uplinks and "TC" models have dual-purpose uplinks, while "-S" at the end means LAN Lite.

Sutej Networks supplies every 2960 generation as tested refurbished units, keeps spares, repairs failed switches in its Okhla workshop and covers them under AMC, and supplies the Catalyst 9200 when you are ready to upgrade. The table below shows the end-of-sale and last-support dates Cisco publishes for each generation.

Sutej Networks, C-72, 2nd Floor, DDA Shed, Near Nathu Sweets, Okhla Industrial Area Phase-1, New Delhi-110020. We cover all of Delhi NCR (South Delhi, Central Delhi, Okhla, Nehru Place, Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad) and ship pan-India.