At-A-Glance
Cisco Catalyst 4500E and 4500X Series
Operational Manageability
Introduction
As campus switching has grown to support increasing enterprise demands, so has the need
to deploy and manage new and evolving technologies. Simplified operations are critical in
meeting these challenges and achieving Increased operational efficiency through proactive
management and reduction in unplanned network downtime.
Cisco Catalyst 4500E and 4500X Series Operational Manageability
Simplified Operations Throughout the Product Lifecycle
Figure 1. 5 Phases of Product Maintenance
Upon purchasing and receiving Cisco Catalyst 4500E and 4500X Series switches,
customers immediately have access to a host of embedded operational tools. The
platform has the capabilities to reduce operational costs and time to install along with
access to Cisco’s Industry-leading 24x7 support Technical Assi stance Center (TAC)
and maintenance policies for hardware and software. All Cisco Catalyst 4500E end
of sale (EoS) announcements provide a minimum of one year’s notice and five years
of full support after the EoS date. Cisco helps customers maximize the Installed life
of products and offers trade-In programs to encourage customers to responsibly
manage the end-of-life of products.
Service Deployment: Simplified Configuration Steps
AutoQoS: Single CLI command to apply predefined set of QoS statements.
Auto Smartport: Macros dynamically configure ports based on the device type
detected on the port. CDP, LLDP, or a known MAC address trigger the application of a
macro (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Dynamic Configuration Using Auto Smartports
Cisco provides several tools to make network equipment planning easy and
straight-forward (Figure 1). For example, the Power Calculator allows customers
to choose supervisors and line cards for a Catalyst 4500E chassis, estimates the
aggregate power consumption range, and recommends the appropriate power supplies
for the system.
The software feature search function within Cisco Feature Navigator is another useful
tool, which complements the online configuration guides, whereby features of Interest
are mapped to the appropriate software releases. For a complete listing of tools to
aid in Catalyst 4500E and 4500X Series software and hardware purchasing decisions,
please visit the Cisco tool index at http://www.cisco.com/go/tools.
© 2013 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to this URL: www.cisco.com/go/trademarks.
Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1110R)
At-A-Glance
Cisco Easy Virtual Network
Cisco EVN technology uses the Virtual Network Trunk to significantly reduce the
configuration required to implement network virtualization across the entire network
infrastructure. The traditional VRF-Lite solution requires creating one interface per VRF
on all switches and routers involved in the data path, a time-consuming process that
can become a configuration management burden.
EVN reduces configuration time significantly across the entire network infrastructure
without requiring the use of MPLS.
Simplified Operations: Troubleshooting Made Easy
Cisco Embedded Event Manager (EEM): Cisco EEM is a powerful device and system
management technology integrated into Cisco lOS® Software that enables operators to
customize behavior based on network events as they happen.
Smart Call Home: The Smart Call Home feature continuously monitors hardware and
software components to provide interactive technical support Smart Call Home combines
Cisco GOLD and Cisco EEM capabilities to offer detailed diagnostics and real-time alerts,
leading to faster resolution of problems Smart Call Home is available free as part of a
Cisco SMARTnet® Service contract.
Cisco Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR): Test and diagnose faults in attached cables.
Locate faults in seconds without the need for expensive test equipment.
Visibility and Monitoring Capabilities
Network Mobility Service Protocol (NMSP)
Cisco Catalyst 4500E provides the relevant location information for all the IP endpoints
attached to the switch ports. Location information may include the physical address
(also known as the civic address) as well as other information about endpoints such as
the IP address, MAC address, port, VLAN, and username.
Flexible NetFlow Using Cisco Catalyst 4500E Supervisor Engine 8-E, 7-E and 7L-E
and Catalyst 4500X Series
Cisco Flexible NetFlow on Cisco Catalyst 4500E Series Switches, enabled and
accelerated by the custom-built ASICs on the Supervisor Engine 8-E, 7-E and 7L-E
and on the Catalyst 4500X series, delivers Cisco’s next-generation flow technology. It
provides unprecedented flexibility and comprehensive visibility extending from Layer 2
(MAC, VLAN) to Layer 4 (TCP, UDP flags and so on) to meet different network monitoring
and business objectives (Figure 3).
Once the data records are collected, analysis and correlation of data can be performed
by NetFlow collectors. The Cisco Flexible NetFlow solution brings powerful and flexible
network monitoring capability into the network.
Figure 3. Flow Monitoring using Flexible NetFlow on Catalyst 4500E and 4500X Series
Traffic
Flow Monitor 1:
Flow Monitor 2:
Key Fields
Packet 1
Non-Key Fields
Key Fields
Packet 1
Non-Key Fields
Source IP
3.3.3.3
Packets
Source IP
4.4.4.4
Packets
Destination IP
2.2.2.2
Bytes
Destination IP
2.2.2.2
Timestamps
Source Port
23
Timestamps
Input Interface Ethernet 1
Destination Port
22078
Layer 3 Protocol
TCP - 6
TOS Byte
0
Input Interface
TOS Byte
Ethernet 0
Flow Monitor 2 Cache
Flow Monitor 1 Cache
Source Dest.
IP
IP
Source Dest.
Port
Port
3.3.3.3 2.2.2.2 23
0
Protocol TOS
22078 6
0
Input
I/F
E0
...
...
Pkts
1100
Source Dest.
IP
IP
Input
I/F
4.4.4.4 2.2.2.2 E1
TOS
...
Pkts
0
...
11000
Change Management
In-Service Software Upgrades (ISSU)
Perform full-feature Cisco IOS Software upgrades with minimal to no effect on a
redundant Cisco Catalyst 4500E system. It enables rapid, nondisruptive software
upgrade for new line cards, new power supplies, new features, or bug fixes.
ISSU offers continuous packet forwarding during the supervisor engine switchover
running different Cisco IOS Software versions. In combination with Nonstop Failover
and Stateful Switchover (NSF/SSO), ISSU virtually eliminates planned downtime to
maximize system and network availability.
For More Information
Cisco Catalyst 4500E and 4500X Series Switches:
http://www.cisco.com/go/catalyst4500
Cisco Tools: http://www.cisco.com/go/tools
Cisco Smart operations tools:
http://www.cisco.com/go/smartoperations
© 2013 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. To view a list of Cisco trademarks, go to this URL: www.cisco.com/go/trademarks.
Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company. (1110R)
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