PRODUCT BULLETIN NO. 2551
OVERVIEW
Cisco Systems® announces Cisco IOS® Software updates for the Cisco® Catalyst® 3550, 2955, 2950, 2950-LRE and 2940 series Intelligent Ethernet switches. This new release furthers Cisco leadership in providing secure, reliable, and easily managed LAN switching solutions.
This product bulletin describes the content and delivery information about Cisco IOS Software Release 12.1(22)EA1. For more information about the Cisco IOS Software release process, see Product Bulletin 537.
Catalyst 2940 switch now extends it's support from 4 VLANs in the past to 12 VLANs with this IOS release. This also increases the number of supported STP instances to 12. VLANs are identified with a number from 1 to 4094. VLAN IDs 1002 through 1005 are reserved for Token Ring and FDDI VLANs. VTP only learns normal-range VLANs, with VLAN IDs 1 to 1005; VLAN IDs greater than 1005 are extended-range VLANs and are not stored in the VLAN database. The switch must be in VTP transparent mode when you create VLAN IDs from 1006 to 4094.
With the introduction of 802.1x with Dynamic VLAN assignment on 2940 switches, users can limit network access for certain users by using VLAN assignment. After successful 802.1x authentication of a port, the RADIUS server sends the VLAN assignment to configure the switch port. The RADIUS server database maintains the username-to-VLAN mappings, which assigns the VLAN based on the username of the client connected to the switch port.
With the introduction of 802.1x with Guest VLAN support on 2940 switches, users can configure a guest VLAN for each 802.1x port on the switch to provide limited services to clients (for example, users can download the 802.1x client). These clients might be upgrading their system for 802.1x authentication, and some hosts, such as Windows 98 systems, might not be 802.1x-capable. With the current implementation of this feature, users that do not support the 802.1x supplicant code on their desktop will fail 802.1x authentication and be placed in the guest VLAN.
The Speed Autonegotiate enhancement allows users to enter specific values associated with the capability to Autonegotiate speed and duplex settings of switch ports. As an example, the network manager can configure 10/100/1000 Mbps capable ports to only advertise 10/100 Mbps speeds. This might be used in situations where the core of the network has not yet been scaled to support users at 1000 Mbps. Table 1 below shows the speed and duplex settings that will be supported.
Table 1. Speed, Duplex, and Autonegotiation Settings supported in Release 12.1(22)EA1
The configured status for these speed and duplex commands will be displayed through a new command-show interface transceiver properties.
The storm control feature as implemented on the Cat 3550 allows a port to be blocked if a particular traffic type (multicast, unicast, or broadcast) exceeds a given threshold. The threshold is specified as a percentage of the total bandwidth of the port (%BW). However, customers have requested the option to specify the threshold in packets per second (PPS). In order to meet customer requirements for this feature, Storm control packet per second support has been added with this IOS release on the 3550 switching platform. In addition, the "show storm-control" command output will display port statistics in the same units (PPS or %BW) configured by the user.
NEW FEATURES IN CISCO IOS SOFTWARE RELEASE 12.1(22)EA1
The features shown in Table 2 will be delivered in Cisco IOS Software Release 12.1(22)EA1
Table 2. Cisco IOS Software Release 12.1(22)EA1 New Features
SMI - Standard Multi-layer Image
EMI - Enhanced Multi-layer Image
E - Feature exists of this platform
Feature enhancements made to Cisco Cluster Management Suite (CMS) Software with this new software release are highlighted in Table 3 below.
Table 3. New Features in Cisco CMS Software
The Layer 3 capable fixed configuration Catalyst switches supported with this software release are listed in Table 4 below.
Table 4. Layer 3 Products Supported with this Release
The Layer 2+ capable fixed configuration Catalyst switches supported with this software release are listed in Table 5 below.
Table 5. Layer 2+ Products Supported with this Release
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Software Download-Software available July 2004
Cisco Catalyst 3550 Series Software Download-http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/cat3550
Cisco Catalyst 3550 Series Software Download-http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/cat3550
Cisco Catalyst 2955 Series software download-http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/cat2955
Cisco Catalyst 2950 Series software download-http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/cat2950
Cisco Catalyst 2950 LRE Series software download-http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/cat2950LRE
Cisco Catalyst 2940 Series software download-http://www.cisco.com/cgi-bin/tablebuild.pl/cat2940
Due to export restrictions on strong cryptography software, a separate image is required for the cryptographic features (Secure Shell Protocol, Simple Network management Protocol Version 3, and Kerberos Protocol). These software images can be downloaded from the corresponding 3DES area of the links provided above.
Catalyst 3550 Series product information:
http://www.cisco.com/go/catalyst3550
http://www.cisco.com/go/catalyst3550
Catalyst 2950 LRE Series product information:
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/lan/cat2940/index.htm
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/lan/cat2940/index.htm
Catalyst 3550, 2955/2950/2950-LRE, and 2940 release notes:
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/lan/c3550/index.htm
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/lan/cat2950/index.htm http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/lan/cat2940/index.htm
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/lan/c3550/index.htm
http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/lan/cat2950/index.htm http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/product/lan/cat2940/index.htm
SUPPORT
Cisco IOS Software Release 12.1(22)EA1 follows the standard Cisco support policy as indicated at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/products_end-of-life_policy.html.
SOFTWARE IMAGE MIGRATION GUIDE
Figure 1 displays Cisco IOS Software Release 12.1(22)EA1 functions relative to the 12.1 and 12.1E releases, and identifies the recommended migration path. For more information about the Cisco IOS Software release process, see Product Bulletin 537.
Figure 1: Cisco IOS Software Release 12.1EA Release Train
