In order to help Cisco users or buyers know the popular Cisco catalyst switches, 2950, 3550, Catalyst 3560 Switches. We will list the main feature comparison of these Cisco switches, which includes hardware, layer 2, layer 3, routing protocols and management. After you read these comparisons, which one is the better for you network? We believe that you will be clearer about it. Okay, let’s start.
Hardware
| Catalyst 2950 | Catalyst 2960 | Catalyst 3550 | Catalyst 3560 | |
| Auto-MDIX | – | Yes | – | Yes |
| Digital Optical Monitoring | – | Yes | – | Yes |
| Generic Online Diagnostics (GOLD) | – | – | – | Yes |
| IEEE 802.3af (PoE) support | – | Yes | – | Yes |
| SDM Templates | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Layer Two
| Catalyst 2950 | Catalyst 2960 | Catalyst 3550 | Catalyst 3560 | |
| Errdisable Autorecovery | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Flex Links | – | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IEEE 802.1ab (LLDP) | – | Yes | – | Yes |
| IEEE 802.1D STP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IEEE 802.1Q Tunneling | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| IEEE 802.1Q Trunking | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IEEE 802.1s (MST) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IEEE 802.1W (RSTP) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IEEE 802.1x | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IEEE 802.3ad (LACP) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Jumbo Frames | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Layer 2 Protocol Tunneling (L2PT) | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| Per-port VLAN Policing | – | – | – | Yes |
| Port Security | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Private VLANs | – | – | – | Yes |
| Storm Control | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| STP BackboneFast | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| STP Loop Guard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| STP PortFast | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| STP Root Guard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| STP UplinkFast | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SPAN | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| RSPAN | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| UDLD | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| VLAN ACLs | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| VLAN-aware Port Security | – | Yes | – | Yes |
| VTPv2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Layer Three
| Catalyst 2950 | Catalyst 2960 | Catalyst 3550 | Catalyst 3560 | |
| Cisco Express Forwarding | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| DHCP Server | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| DHCP Snooping | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| DHCPv6 | – | – | – | Yes |
| HSRP | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| IGMP Snooping | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| IP SLA Monitor | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| IP Source Guard | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| IPv4 Routing | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| IPv6 Routing | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| MLD Snooping | – | Yes | – | Yes |
| NSF Awareness | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| Policy Routing | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| Source-Specific Multicast (SSM) | – | – | – | Yes |
| VRF Lite | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| WCCPv1 | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| WCCPv2 | – | – | – | Yes |
Routing Protocols
| Catalyst 2950 | Catalyst 2960 | Catalyst 3550 | Catalyst 3560 | |
| BGP | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| EIGRP (IPv4) | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| EIGRP (IPv6) | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| IS-IS | – | – | – | Yes |
| MP-BGP | – | – | – | Yes |
| MSDP | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| OSPFv2 (IPv4) | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| OSPFv3 (IPv6) | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| PIMv2 | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| RIP (IPv4) | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| RIPng (IPv6) | – | – | Yes | Yes |
Management
| Catalyst 2950 | Catalyst 2960 | Catalyst 3550 | Catalyst 3560 | |
| AutoQoS VOIP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Configuration Rollback | – | Yes | – | Yes |
| Configuration Diff | – | Yes | – | Yes |
| Embedded Event Manager | – | – | – | Yes |
| Enhanced Tracking Support | – | – | Yes | Yes |
| NTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| RADIUS Authentication | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| RMON | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SCP | – | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SSHv2 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SNMPv2c | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SNMPv3 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Syslog over IPv6 | – | Yes | – | Yes |
| TACACS+ Authentication | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
More Related Cisco Catalyst Switch Tips and Guides
How to Upgrade Cisco 2950 Switch?
How to Configure Interfaces for the 3560 Switch?
How to Configure Private VLANs on Cisco 3560 Switches?
How to Configure DHCP Snooping in a Cisco Catalyst Switch?
