Product Bulletin No. 1855
Cisco Catalyst 2950 Series
Software Feature Comparison—Standard Image (SI)
and Enhanced Image (EI) Feature Comparison
The Cisco Catalyst® 2950 Series switches include two software image versions that support different degrees of functionality—the Standard Image (SI) and the Enhanced Image (EI) Software. The version of software depends solely on the model of switch selected, with no upgrade capabilities.
The SI version is embedded in Cisco Catalyst 2950-12, 2950-24, and 2950SX-24 switches, and supports basic Cisco IOS® functionality, Fast Ethernet connectivity, and cluster management.
The EI version supports all that and more. The EI version of software is embedded in Cisco Catalyst 2950T-24, 2950C-24, and 2950G-12, 2950G-24, 2950G-48 switches, and supports advanced intelligent services, gigabit connectivity, and a richer set of features. These include Cisco Spanning-Tree Protocol enhancements for high availability, access control parameters (ACPs) for enhanced security, and Differentiated Services Code Point (DCSP) and rate limiting for advanced quality of service.
The following tables highlight feature comparisons between the fixed-configuration Cisco Catalyst 2950 Series switches with the SI or EI software, and the fixed-configuration Catalyst 2900 Series XL (fixed-configuration Catalyst 2900 XL switches have been discontinued, modular configurations still available).
Table 1: Catalyst 2950 Series Switches
| Product | Software Image |
|---|---|
| Catalyst 2950-12 |
Standard Image (SI) |
| Catalyst 2950-24 |
Standard Image (SI) |
| Catalyst 2950SX-24 |
Standard Image (SI) |
| Catalyst 2950T-24 |
Enhanced Image (EI) |
| Catalyst 2950C-24 |
Enhanced Image (EI) |
| Catalyst 2950G-12-EI |
Enhanced Image (EI) |
| Catalyst 2950G-24-EI |
Enhanced Image (EI) |
| Catalyst 2950G-24-EI-DC |
Enhanced Image (EI) |
| Catalyst 2950G-48-EI |
Enhanced Image (EI) |
Table 2: Feature Comparison of Catalyst 2900 XL, Catalyst 2950 EI, and Catalyst 2950 SI Switches
| Feature | Fixed-Configuration Catalyst 2900 XL | Catalyst 2950 EI | Catalyst 2950 SI |
|---|---|---|---|
| VLANs supported |
64 |
250 |
64 |
| 4096 VLAN Ids |
No |
Yes |
No |
| Number of STP Instances |
64 |
64 |
64 |
| 64 bit counters on Gig ports |
No |
Yes |
N/A |
| CWGM GBIC support |
No |
Yes |
N/A |
| Trunking | |||
| ISL Trunking |
Yes |
No |
No |
| 802.1Q |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| 802.1Q Tunneling |
No |
No |
No |
| VTP Server, Client, Transparent Mode |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| User configurable management VLAN |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Security | |||
| Static Access Ports |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Port Security |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Port Security MAC Aging |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| Private VLAN Edge (Protected Port) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| 802.1x |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| ACEs/ACPs (Layer 2-4 IP Security Filtering) |
No |
Yes |
No |
| Port based ACLS (PACL) |
No |
Yes |
No |
| TACACS+ |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| RADIUS |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| BPDU Guard |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| STRG |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Quality of Service | |||
| Number of Queues |
2 |
4 |
4 |
| 802.1p Priority |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Strict Priority Scheduling |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Weighted Round Robin |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| Weighted Round Robin Detect |
No |
Yes |
No |
| Intelligent Ethernet (Policing/Metering, Marking, Classification, Queuing & Scheduling) |
No |
Yes |
No |
| Unicast/Multicast/Broadcast Storm Control |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| DHCP Option 82 |
No |
No |
No |
| DSCP Mapping |
No |
Yes |
No |
| IP Multicast | |||
| CGMP |
Yes |
No |
No |
| IGMP Snooping |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| IGMP Filtering |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| MVR (Multicast VLAN Registration) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| NTP |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Link Aggregation | |||
| CNS Agent Support (IE 2100) |
No |
Yes |
No |
| Clustering |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Fast EtherChannel |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Gigabit EtherChannel |
Yes (limited to Catalyst 2900M XL) |
Yes |
Yes (only supported on Catalyst 2950SX-24) |
| Rapid Spanning Tree (802.1w) |
No |
Yes |
No |
| Multiple Spanning Tree (802.1s) |
No |
Yes |
No |
| PAgP |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| DTP |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| VTP Pruning |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Filtering & Throttling |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| SPAN |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Mini-jumbo Frame Support |
Yes |
Yes (Catalyst 2950G switches only) |
No |
| Static and Dynamic MAC Addressing |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Dynamic Access Ports |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| CDP v2 |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| UDLD |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Protected Port (PVLAN Edge) |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Port duplex/speed |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Port Flow Control |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| SysLog |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| HTTP Enhancements |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| MAC Addresses |
2000 |
8000 |
8000 |
| IP Host connectivity equivalent to 2900XL/3500XL such as telnet, DHCP, BootP Client, DNS |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Spanning-Tree Protocol | |||
| CrossStack UplinkFast |
Yes (limited to 2900M XL) |
Yes |
N/A |
| PortFast |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| UplinkFast |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| BackboneFast |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
| VLANs | |||
| Voice VLAN |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
| Per port enabling/disabling of unknown unicast/multicast flooding |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Multi-VLAN ports |
Yes |
No |
No |
| Network (Drain) Port |
Yes |
No |
No |