Why use Stack Ethernet Switches? Stacking Ethernet switches lowers the network administrator's total cost of ownership. The cost of maintaining the network is decreased because there are many devices to manage, and the network uptime is increased with built-in redundancy.
Flexibility of Cisco Flex Stack technology offer modular stacking capability. Cisco Catalyst 2960 switches can be added to a stack at any time by adding the optional Flex Stack module. As with the increase in networking the demand for Ethernet access ports increases, Cisco Catalyst 2960 switches can be stacked together either to create a new stack or to add new Cisco Catalyst 2960 switches to an existing stack. This ability provides investment protection for the network administrator, who can add additional stack members with the increase. Adding members to a stack and replacing existing units are much easier when multiple switches are joined into a Flex Stack group. Since the stack retains the configuration, there is no need to backup the configuration prior to remove the switch. Conversely, when a new member is added into the stack, the configuration of the stack is changed to the new one. The network administrator need not explicitly recover the switch configuration since the stack took care of it by itself.
Cisco Flex Stack technology for Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series Switches provides a true stacking solution with all switches in a Flex Stack stacking action as one switching unit. Flex Stack offers a unified data plane, and single configuration for a group of stacked Cisco Catalyst 2960 series. Flex Stack lessens the total cost of ownership with built-in 1 N redundancy, high availability, and preprovisioning, which is not available in standalone switches. Its High availability features such as Ether Channel and Flex Links will work across stack members, increasing uptime and network connectivity. As a part of the Borderless Network architecture, FlexStack allows scalable provisioning and management to deploy many numbers of switches quickly and easily.
Stacking with Flex Stack on the Cisco Catalyst 2960 Series Switches is optional. In order to stack switches, a separate Flex Stack module must be joined in the rear of the switches. Without this module, Flex Stack cannot work. The Flex Stack module is easily swappable. Stacking Ethernet switches provides the network administrator with three major operational benefits:
• Single point of management: All switches in a stack are managed as one.
• Built-in redundancy and high availability: The high-speed Flex Stack connections offer redundant communication of every stack member to all other members.
• Scalable to fit network needs: Addition of a new switch to the stack is easy. As the need for additional access ports grows, adding a new switch to a working stack is easier and faster as compare to new standalone switch to the network. Following are some Cisco series switches which can support Cisco Flex Stack stacking:
WS-C2960S-48FPD-L, WS-C2960S-48LPD-L, WS-C2960S-24PD-L, WS-C2960S-48TD-L, WS-C2960S-24TD-L.
You can also have 1 Gigabit Uplinks with 10/100/1000 Ethernet Connectivity in this family of switches. There are many switches available for this , like WS-C2960S-48FPS-L, WS-C2960S-48LPS-L, WS-C2960S-24PS-L, WS-C2960S-48TS-L.
