The IP Base License for the Cisco Catalyst 3560-X and 3750-X Series Switches

Dynamic routing gives you network scalability, flexibility and resilience. IP Base is a standard enterprise services license intended for the 3560-X and 3750-X switches having dynamic routing support. It comprises all layer 2 functions included in the LAN Base license, along with a remarkable list of layer 3 abilities like static routing, RIP, EIGRP stub, Protocol Independent Multicast (PIM) stub and OSPF for Routed Access. Here EIGRP implies that the switch partakes in EIGRP routing as a counterfoil and the EIGRP paths will not be drawn-out to any downstream hardware connected with the switch. Also, please note that OSPF for Routed Access is developed precisely to encompass Layer 3 routing aptitudes to the wiring closet. It supports only one OSPFv2 and one OSPFv3 occurrence, with a maximum number of 200 dynamically learned paths. On the security facade, a large amount of network security features are incliuded in IP Base. Some examples are ACLs, Private VLANs, TrustSec SXP, and IEEE 802.1AE (also known as MACsec). A novel and stimulating security advantage is device sensor. It is part of the IOS software running on the Cisco switch and gathers definite endpoint device characteristics and directs such information to the Cisco Identify Services Engine (ISE) via RADIUS accounting packets. Cisco ISE then relates the suitable rules as a component of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) solution. In addition, innovative management competences have been added to the Cisco IP Base image. A worthy example is Embedded Event Manager (EEM). This is a policy-based structure which permits you to adapt a script for real-time network event discovery and onboard computerization. Also, Cisco Medianet support empowers you with the capability to troubleshoot and tailor business apps like video-based collaborations.

The IP Services License for Cisco Catalyst 3560-X and 3750-X Series Switches

Cisco IP Services is a complete enterprise services license. It supports all the functionality given by IP Base. It then further includes competencies to allow a high-quality user experience which one comes to expect from the next-generation modern day workplace. At the top of the list are complete abilities of EIGRP and OSPF routing protocols with no limits on network topology or routing table size. In addition, the BGP routing protocol is supported which we have seen was not a part of IP Base. Another significant area is IPv6 support. IP Services gives OSPFv3 and EIGRP for IPv6 which are not a feature of IP Base. As many clients are running out of IPv4 addresses, IPv6 support is quickly becoming a great concern and an integral requirement for the networks. Yet another critical area is full scale support for PIM for IP multicast routing, including PIM sparse mode (PIM-SM), PIM dense mode (PIM-DM), PIM sparse-dense mode and Source Specific Multicast (SSM). The full PIM routing support vastly enhances network efficacy as multimedia, interactive video and business collaborations produce explosive traffic growth. Here is another critical improvement whch IP Services enables: VRF-lite support is not in a feature of IP Base but it is included in IP Services. As you may recollect, VRF-lite is a great method to divide a physical network into numerous logical networks for the purpose of network virtualization. Additional IP Services competences are Web Cache Coordination Protocol (WCCP) and policy-based routing (PRB) support.

Now let’s see some data on the assorted license SKUs, so we can easily distinguish between them.

For the Cisco Catalyst 2960 and 2960S series switches, the SKU group ending with

-S signifies LAN Lite

-L signifies LAN Base

For the Cisco Catalyst 3560-X and 3750-X series switches, the SKU group ending with

-L signifies LAN base

-S signifies IP Base

-E signifies IP Services

To find out more, please speak with our Cisco Licensing Specialists here.