Cisco 3500XL series

singh8281

Has anybody looked into geting 3500XL (3512/24) series switch for there CCNP lab. They are ENT switches and seem to go cheaper than 2950/60 series.

If anybody's familiar with 3500XL switch fabric, then please share the difference and why would you prefer one over other, as price seems to be the factor here.

cisco_trooper

singh8281 wrote:

Has anybody looked into geting 3500XL (3512/24) series switch for there CCNP lab. They are ENT switches and seem to go cheaper than 2950/60 series.

If anybody's familiar with 3500XL switch fabric, then please share the difference and why would you prefer one over other, as price seems to be the factor here.

I don't think the 3500 does any multilayer switching, which will be a factor in determining which switches to get for your CCNP lab. I don't have one yet, but I will be funding the purchase for at least one 3550 for this specific purpose....

singh8281

3500XL is a Layer 2 switch whereas 3550/60 supports layer 3. My question is how 3500XL stacks up against 2950/60. Since you'll need one layer 3 switch and at least two layer 2 switches. Is 3512 worth buying over 2950/60??

cisco_trooper

singh8281 wrote:

3500XL is a Layer 2 switch whereas 3550/60 supports layer 3. My question is how 3500XL stacks up against 2950/60. Since you'll need one layer 3 switch and at least two layer 2 switches. Is 3512 worth buying over 2950/60??

How much money are you talking about here? The 3500 has been end of lifed. The 2950 is still supported so you should be able to benefit from future IOS releases. The 3500 isn't even in Cisco Feature Navigator so I can't tell you much about it. Maybe someone who has used that switch before can offer you some advice. If it were me I would stick with the 2950 because I can't find a compelling reason to use the 3500.

mikej412

http://www.techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=29910

mgeorge27 wrote:

If you can stay away from the 3500XL's, their is ALOT of stuff that is totally different from the 2950's.

On the 3500XL's, you cannot do ssh, port group interfaces, etherchannel configuration is limited, port sec mac agiging, bpdu guard, multicast, rstp, mstp, those are just some things remember at the top of my head theirs alot more.

Their is alot of commands you'll find in the 3500XL that are there, but they simply just dont work. You'll type them in right even if you use the ? and they are correct, it will give you "invalid input detected"

dtlokee wrote:

They're ok but they have a slightly different command set than the 2950/2960 which is what the CCNA is based on. If you can upgrade them to the latest IOS it will give the best chances of using them effectively, and some switches are better than none.

For the CCNP you'll want the 2950/2960 for the QOS/Multicast.

The 3500s are still nice switches and okay as a 3rd switch in a CCNA lab or in a home network. The inline power version is nice for a Voice lab so you don't need all the IP Phone power cubes.

singh8281

Ok, but most of the 2950's on ebay don't have the word 'EN' in there tittle. So i just assume that enterprise feature is standard on them. What feature set should i be looking for or ask a seller about before I make a buying decision.

cisco_trooper

singh8281 wrote:

Ok, but most of the 2950's on ebay don't have the word 'EN' in there tittle. So i just assume that enterprise feature is standard on them. What feature set should i be looking for or ask a seller about before I make a buying decision.

Have them do a show version (gosh, i think that's it) so you can see the IOS version and all that good stuff.

Humper

3500XL is a fine piece of ****! We take these switches out in the back parking lot and beat them with sludge hammers for fun!!

singh8281

I can't be more convinced about why I shouldn't waste my hard earned money on 3500XL, I appreciate you all for providing the insight. I guess i'll add couple of 2950's to my collection since techies here are swearing by it.

Netwurk

A 3500XL is not really any better for a lab than a 2900XL unless you need a PoE model.

The 3500s and 2900s can't run anything over IOS 12.0

A 2950 can run 12.1, which gives you something close to the current command set.

A 3550 is even better, since it is a layer 2/3 switch. Only problem is, a 2950 costs around $150 and a 3550 goes for at least $600.

3550's can run 12.2 (I think the ipservices version is the fave for CCNP labs)

For what's it worth, my lab has: 2950 x 1, 2900XL x 2, and 2926 x 1 (2926 is CatOS and is basically a giant paperweight). I have a 3550 on order.

singh8281

2950 comes in 3 or 4 different flavors. I wonder if the base model covers all the necessary CCNP commands. For example there's Catalyst 2950 which is a standalone switch, does that mean it won't support trunking. Then there is 2950C, which is not a standalone switch and runs enhanced software image. There are couple other as wel. I wonder which hardware model would suffice for CCNP.

darkuser

I'd spend the money on 3550's
the 3500xl's are useless ....

Claymoore

The 3500XL can't support RSTP or PVRST+. Using it will force your other switches to downgrade themselves to only support regular Spanning Tree, so you wouldn't be able to lab out any of those exercises.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk389/tk621/technologies_white_paper09186a0080094cfa.shtml