Cisco switch with power over ethernet

warquezho

Hi
How would I know that the switch i'll be buying has a Power Over Ethernet capability? I'm trying to buy a couple of 3550 switch at ebay and want to make sure that it is at least PoE capable

Also is this switch still good to invest for CCIE v4 as this is comming to its EOS/EOL in May 2011 EOS/EOL Announcement Cisco Catalyst 3550 Series Switches [Cisco Catalyst 3550 Series Switches] - Cisco Systems
when I can see that I cant get to take the exam until the end of 2011?

Thanks:)

luke_bibby

The model your looking for is the 3550-24 PWR model, which has integrated inline power.

In a show version output, look for the following line: Model number: WS-C3550-24PWR-SMI or Model number: WS-C3550-24PWR-EMI

The 3550 is still a great addition to a lab, and probably offers better bang for buck than, say, a 3560 when you consider the limited benefits you get over it (purely in the context of a home lab anyway - features like 802.3af PoE and pVLANs are obviously import to an enterprise).

I'm sure someone who has a CCIE or is at least studying for their CCIE can probably comment further on that.

Forsaken_GA

You can still do the majority of CCIE tasks on 3550's, the major one that's missing is the ability to do private vlans, which you can either buy 3560's for later, or rent rack time with them instead of buying them

warquezho

Forsaken_GA wrote: »

You can still do the majority of CCIE tasks on 3550's, the major one that's missing is the ability to do private vlans, which you can either buy 3560's for later, or rent rack time with them instead of buying them

Do you know up to until when will the 3550 be good for CCIE v4? And only private vlan is the one critical not in 3550 but is on 3560? How about QoS stuff can it be done using GNS3? Or 3560 is needed for QoS?

@luke
Thanks for the advice, I'll ask the seller to show me Model Number in the show version command. But how about on the physical form of a 3550 with PoE and 3550 without PoE? I read somewhere that a 3550 PoE does have a marking of PoE on the front of the switch? Is this true?

mikej412

I've got 2 3550 and 2 3750 switches in my home CCIE R&S Lab.

Internetwork Expert had posted a list of the 3550/3560 differences on their website when the 3560s were originally added to the lab. You can find that -- and some of the 3550/3560 QoS differences -- on the INE Free Resources web Page: CCIE Lab Preparation Resources | INE

As you study and go through the written and lab exam blueprints you should be able to figure out what tasks you'll need the 3650 (or 3750) for -- and either buy another switch (or two) or use rack rental for those tasks.

warquezho

Hi mike/all
If I bought a cisco 3550 which has SMI installed IOS and a PoE ready switch, can I upgrade it to EMI via tftp if I have this IOS image?

c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-44.SE6.bin

ColbyG

warquezho wrote: »

Hi mike/all
If I bought a cisco 3550 which has SMI installed IOS and a PoE ready switch, can I upgrade it to EMI via tftp if I have this IOS image?

c3550-ipservicesk9-mz.122-44.SE6.bin

Legally, no. But yea, you can do it.