Wednesday, October 05, 2005

A new Cisco Catalyst Switch - Express 500 Series Switches and other Cisco news

Cisco released a new layer 2 switch designed for the SMB market not long ago. Same form factor as the 3750's but they are calling them the Cisco Catalyst Express 500 Series Switches. If you just need a fast layer 2 rack mount switch this might be the way to go. They support 802.3af (Power over Ethernet) so they would be good for Wireless AP requirements and perhaps some other POE devices.

Does anyone else wonder why Cisco changes the form factor for the switches and routers so often? It sort of drives me nuts. The 2950, 3560/3550, 3750 models are all different in appearance but you can get each one in a 24 port or 48 port configuration. Now the new 2960's look like the 3560's and the new Express 500's look like the 3750's. Ugh! Is it to much to ask to get a consistant look and feel and could they please put the full model number on the front plate of the fixed-configuration gear?

On a side note - did folks see that Cisco sold its 6 millionth IP phone? Can you believe that? Wow.
- Ed

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