The Cisco Catalyst 4948 offers 48 ports of wire-speed 10/100/1000BASE-T with four alternative wired ports that can accommodate optional 1000BASE-X Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) optics. Exceptional reliability and serviceability are delivered with optional internal AC or DC 1+1 hot-swappable power supplies and a hot-swappable fan tray with redundant fans.
The Cisco Catalyst 4948 delivers wire-speed throughput with low latency for data-intensive applications, using a 96-Gbps switching fabric with a forwarding rate of 72 million packets per second (mpps) in hardware for Layer 2 to 4 traffic. Switching performance remains high regardless of the number of route entries or Layer 3 and 4 services enabled. Hardware-based Cisco Express Forwarding routing architecture enables increased scalability and performance.
The Cisco Catalyst 4948 provides reliability for critical applications, with 1+1 redundant hot-swappable internal AC or DC power supplies. The 1+1 power supply design provides A-to-B failover when power supplies are connected to different circuits. AC and DC power supplies can be mixed in the same unit for outstanding deployment flexibility. The Cisco Catalyst 4948 also has a hot-swappable fan tray with four redundant fans for additional serviceability and availability.
The Cisco Catalyst 4948 delivers wire-speed throughput with low latency for data-intensive applications, using a 96-Gbps switching fabric with a forwarding rate of 72 million packets per second (mpps) in hardware for Layer 2 to 4 traffic. Switching performance remains high regardless of the number of route entries or Layer 3 and 4 services enabled. Hardware-based Cisco Express Forwarding routing architecture enables increased scalability and performance.
The Cisco Catalyst 4948 provides reliability for critical applications, with 1+1 redundant hot-swappable internal AC or DC power supplies. The 1+1 power supply design provides A-to-B failover when power supplies are connected to different circuits. AC and DC power supplies can be mixed in the same unit for outstanding deployment flexibility. The Cisco Catalyst 4948 also has a hot-swappable fan tray with four redundant fans for additional serviceability and availability.
The Cisco Catalyst 4948 includes a single, dedicated 10/100 console port and a single, dedicated 10/100 management port for offline disaster recovery. Remote in-band management is available with the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Telnet client, Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP), and Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP). Support for local or remote out-of-band management is delivered through a terminal or modem attached to the console interface. The management port helps enable the Cisco Catalyst 4948 to reload a new image from a TFTP server within seconds.
The Cisco Catalyst 4948 delivers a comprehensive set of management tools to provide the visibility and control required for server switching. Managed with CiscoWorks solutions and embedded CiscoWorks CiscoView, the Cisco Catalyst 4948 can be configured and managed to deliver device, VLAN, traffic, and policy management. These web-based management tools offer numerous services, including software deployment and quick isolation of error conditions.
Table 1 compares the features of the Cisco Catalyst 4948 Switch, Catalyst 4948 10 Gigabit Ethernet Switch, and Catalyst 4900M Switch.Feature Comparison
| Feature and Description | Cisco Catalyst 4948 | Cisco Catalyst 4948 10 Gigabit Ethernet | Cisco Catalyst 4900M |
| Switching capacity | 96 Gbps | 136 Gbps | 320 Gbps |
| Throughput | 72 mpps | 102 mpps | |
| IPv6 support | In software | In software | In hardware |
| Height | 1RU | 1RU | 2RU |
| Modular half-card slots | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Maximum 10/100/1000 ports | 48 | 48 | 40 |
| Maximum 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports | 0 | 2 | 24 |
| Maximum Gigabit Ethernet (fiber) ports | 4 | 0 | 32 (Cisco TwinGig Converter Module) |
| Cisco TwinGig Converter Module support | No | No | Yes (half-cards only) |
| Uplink optic type | 4 SFP optics | 2 X2 (10 Gigabit Ethernet) optics | 8 X2 (10 Gigabit Ethernet) optics |
| Multilayer switching | IP Base and Enterprise Services options | IP Base and Enterprise Services options | IP Base and Enterprise Services options |
| Shared buffer | 16 MB | 16 MB | 16 MB |
| CPU | 266 MHz | 666 MHz | 1.3 GHz |
| Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM) | 256 MB | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Active VLANs | 4096 | 4096 | 4096 |
| Multicast entries | | | |
| Per-VLAN Spanning Tree (PVST) and VLAN IDs | 4096 | 4096 | 4096 |
| Spanning Tree Protocol instances | 1500 | 1500 | 3000 |
| Switched Virtual Interfaces (SVIs) | 2000 | 2000 | 4000 |
| Security and QoS hardware entries | 32,000 | 32,000 | 128,000 |
| MAC addresses | 32,000 | 55,000 | 55,000 |
| Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN) | 2 ingress and 4 egress | 2 ingress and 4 egress | 8 ingress and 8 egress |
| USB port | No | No | Yes |
| Compact flash memory support | No | No | Yes |
| System reset button | No | No | Yes |
| Minimum software requirement | Cisco IOS® Software Release 12.2(20)EWA or later | Cisco IOS Software Release 12.2(25)EWA or later | Cisco IOS Software Release 12.2(40)XO or later |
Features and Specifications at a Glance
Performance and Switching
● 96 Gbps nonblocking switch fabric
● 72 mpps Layer 2 forwarding (hardware)
● 72 mpps Layer 3 and 4 forwarding: IP routing and Cisco Express Forwarding (hardware)
● Layer 2 to 4 hardware-based switch engine (application-specific integrated circuit [ASIC]-based)
● Unicast and multicast routing entries: 32,000
● Support for 4096 active VLANs and 4096 VLAN IDs per switch
● Layer 2 multicast addresses: 16,384
● MAC addresses: 32,768
● Policers: 512 ingress and 512 egress
● Access control list (ACL) and QoS entries: 32,000
● Uplinks: 4 alternatively wired SFP ports with Cisco Gigabit EtherChannel support
● Latency: 6 microseconds for 64-byte packets
● SVIs: 2048
● Spanning Tree Protocol instances: 1500
● Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) snooping entries: 16,000
Layer 2 Features
● Layer 2 hardware forwarding at 72 mpps
● Layer 2 switch ports and VLAN trunks
● IEEE 802.1Q VLAN encapsulation
● Inter-Switch Link (ISL) VLAN encapsulation
● Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP)
● VLAN Trunking Protocol (VTP) and VTP domains
● PVST+ and Per-VLAN Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (PVRST)
● Flexlink
● Spanning Tree PortFast and PortFast Guard
● Spanning Tree UplinkFast and BackboneFast
● IEEE 802.1s
● IEEE 802.1w
● IEEE 802.3ad
● Spanning Tree Root Guard
● Cisco Discovery Protocol Version 1 and 2
● IGMPv1, v2, and v3
● Cisco EtherChannel technology, Cisco Fast EtherChannel technology, and Cisco Gigabit EtherChannel technology support
● Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP)
● Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP)
● Unidirectional Link Detection Protocol (UDLD) and aggressive UDLD on the SFP ports
● IEEE 802.1 Q-in-Q in hardware
● Layer 2 protocol tunneling
● Jumbo frames on all ports (up to 9216 bytes)
● Baby giants (up to 1600 bytes)
● Unidirectional Ethernet
● Hardware-based storm control (formerly known as broadcast and multicast suppression)
● Community private VLANs (PVLANs)
● Forced 10/100 autonegotiation
● Web Cache Communication Protocol (WCCP) Version 2 Layer 2 redirect
● Private VLAN promiscuous trunk
● Layer 2 promiscuous trunk over trunk port (L2PT)
● Class-of-service (CoS) mutation
● E-OAM 802.3ah and CFM: 802.1ag
Layer 3 Features
● Jumbo frames on all ports (up to 9216 bytes)
● Hardware-based IP Cisco Express Forwarding routing at 72 mpps
● Static IP routing
● IP routing protocols: EIGRP, OSPF, RIP, and RIPv2
● BGPv4 and Multicast Border Gateway Protocol (MBGP)
● Nonstop Forwarding (NSF) awareness
● Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP) v1 and v2
● Software routing of IPX and AppleTalk
● IS-IS routing protocol
● IGMPv1, v2, and v3
● IGMP filtering on access and trunk ports
● IP multicast routing protocols: Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM), Source-Specific Multicast (SSM), and Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP)
● Auto rendezvous point (Auto-RP)
● Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP)
● Pragmatic General Multicast (PGM)
● Cisco Group Management Protocol (GMP) server
● Full Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) support
● ICMP Router Discovery Protocol
● Policy-based routing (PBR)
● Virtual Route Forwarding lite (VRF-lite)
● VRF-aware IP services
● IPv6 software switching support
● OSPF fast convergence
● OSPF and EIGRP fast-convergence protection
● EIGRP stub
● Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP)
● IP unnumbered for SVI
● Nonstop Forwarding (NSF) awareness
● WCCPv2
● Gateway Load Balancing Protocol (GLBP)
High-Availability Features
● 1+1 hot-swappable AC or DC power supplies
● Hot-swappable field-replaceable fan tray with redundant fans
● HSRP v1 and v2
● VRRP
● Cisco IOS Embedded Event Manager (EEM)
● Cisco Generic Online Diagnostics (GOLD)
● Smart Call Home
Sophisticated QoS and Traffic Management
● Per-port QoS configuration
● Per-port and per-VLAN QoS
● Support for four queues per port in hardware
● Strict priority queuing
● IP differentiated services code point (DSCP) and IP precedence
● Classification and marking based on IP type of service (ToS) or DSCP
● Classification and marking based on full Layer 3 and 4 headers (IP only)
● Input and output policing based on Layer 3 and 4 headers (IP only)
● Support for 512 policers on ingress and 512 policers on egress configured as aggregate or individual
● Shaping and sharing output queue management
● Dynamic Buffer Limiting (DBL) advanced congestion-avoidance feature
● No performance penalty for granular QoS functions
● Matched CoS for non-IPv4 traffic
Predictable Performance
● 96-Gbps switching fabric
● Layer 2 hardware forwarding at 72 mpps
● Layer 3 hardware-based IP Cisco Express Forwarding routing at 72 mpps
● Layer 4 TCP and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) hardware-based filtering at 72 mpps
● No performance penalty with advanced Layer 3 and 4 services enabled
● Software-based learning at a sustained rate of 500 hosts per second
● Support for 32,768 MAC addresses
● Support for 32,000 entries in routing table (shared between unicast and multicast)
● Support for 512 ingress policers and 512 egress policers
● Support for 32,000 ACL and QoS entries
● Scalability to 2048 virtual ports (VLAN port instances)
● Scalability to 8000 IGMP snooping entries
● Scalability to 1500 Spanning Tree Protocol instances
● Bandwidth aggregation up to 16 Gbps through Cisco Gigabit EtherChannel technology
● Hardware-based wire-speed multicast management
● Hardware-based wire-speed ACLs
Comprehensive Management
● Manageable through CiscoWorks Windows network-management software on a per-port and per-switch basis, providing a common management interface for Cisco routers, switches, and hubs
● Manageable through Cisco Network Assistant
● SNMPv1, v2, and v3 instrumentation, delivering comprehensive in-band management
● Command-line interface (CLI)-based management console to provide detailed out-of-band management
● Remote Monitoring (RMON) software agent to support four RMON groups (history, statistics, alarms, and events) for enhanced traffic management, monitoring, and analysis
● Support for all nine RMON groups through the use of a Cisco SwitchProbe analyzer (SPAN) port, which permits traffic monitoring of a single port, a group of ports, or the entire switch from a single network analyzer or RMON probe
● Analysis support, including ingress port, egress port, and VLAN SPAN
● Layer 2 traceroute
● Remote SPAN (RSPAN)
● Cisco Smartports macros
● SPAN ACL filtering
● Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) client autoconfiguration
● IfIndex persistence
● HTTPS
● Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR)
● MAC address notification
● Onboard failure logging (OBFL)
● Network Mobility Service Protocol (NMSP)
Advanced Security
● TACACS+ and RADIUS, which enable centralized control of the switch and restrict unauthorized users from altering the configuration
● Standard and extended ACLs on all ports
● IEEE 802.1X user authentication (with VLAN assignment, port security, voice VLAN, and guest VLAN extensions)
● IEEE 802.1X accounting
● IEEE 802.1X authentication failure
● IEEE 802.1X private VLAN assignment
● IEEE 802.1X private guest VLAN
● IEEE 802.1X RADIUS-supplied timeout
● IEEE 802.1X MAC-Auth-Bypass
● IEEE 802.1X inaccessible authentication bypass
● Cisco Network Admission Control (NAC) Layer 2 IEEE 802.1X
● Cisco NAC Layer 2 IP
● Cisco NAC Layer 2 IP inaccessible authentication bypass
● Trusted boundary
● Router ACLs (RACLs) on all ports (no performance penalty)
● VLAN ACLs (VACLs)
● Port ACLs (PACLs)
● PVLANs on access and trunk ports
● VTPv3
● DHCP snooping
● DHCP Option 82
● DHCP Option 82 insertion
● DHCP Option 82 pass-through
● Port security
● Port security for PVLAN ports
● Trunk port security
● Sticky port security
● Secure Shell (SSH) Protocol Versions 1 and 2
● VLAN Management Policy Server (VMPS) client
● Unicast MAC filtering
● Unicast port flood blocking
● Dynamic Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) inspection switch and restriction of unauthorized users from altering the configuration
● IP Source Guard
● Community PVLAN
● Control plane policing
● IEEE 802.1X unidirectional controlled port
● Voice VLAN sticky port security
● Secure Copy Protocol (SCP)
● IEEE 802.1X inaccessible authentication bypass
● MAC authentication bypass
● Cisco EtherChannel trunk port security
Traffic and Congestion Management
● Four queues per port
● Dynamic buffers
Switch Architecture
● Dynamic packet buffering, 16 MB shared memory
● 266-MHz CPU speed
● 6-MB flash memory
Volume Discount 
