Here we will have a look at four common Cisco IOS Software feature licenses for Cisco Catalyst 2K and 3K switches. A quick proviso before we advance any further: This post is for information-sharing purposes only. It does not embody or substitute any official Cisco product documentation. Product specifications can be modified very hastily and usage of this post is only at the readers’ own risk.

The four common Cisco IOS Software feature licenses for switching are specified below:

LAN Lite:             Enterprise Entry Level Layer 2 Switching

LAN Base:           Enterprise Access Layer 2 Switching

IP Base:               Enterprise Access Layer 3 Switching

IP Services:        Advanced Layer 3 Switching

To be exact, we will focus on the Cisco Catalyst 2960, Catalyst 2960-S, Catalyst 3560-X and Catalyst 3750-X series switches.

LAN Lite License: Catalyst 2960 and 2960-S Series Switches

LAN Lite and LAN Base are the two common licenses for the Cisco 2960 and 2960-S series switches. As the name implies, LAN Lite is an entry level license for Enterprise Layer 2 access switches with a lot of convenient features like 802.1Q trunking, (M)STP, STP extensions, CDP, DTP, UDLD, VTPv2, PAGP/LACP, and LLDP. It also provides support for vital protection features including TACACS+, RADIUS, port protection, 802.1X and DHCP snooping. At this layer, this license does not supply layer 3 routing abilities. Nor does it have advanced protection and management abilities like Dynamic ARP Inspection and advanced Quality of Service (QoS) beyond some basic functionality, like priority queuing.

LAN Base License: Catalyst 2960, 2960-S, 3560-X, and 3750-X Switches

LAN Base is a potent license for Cisco’s Layer 2 access switches. Its wide array of access features encompasses all the LAN Lite features and adds more forceful features such as VTPv3 and FlexLinks. VTP version 3 provides improved managerial control of VLAN topology data and information sharing to minimize unintentional or disrupting changes. It also provides increased VLAN environment support comprising more ISL VLAN support range. FlexLinks increases Layer 2 resilience by the addition of a pair of quickly converging active and backup links amongst the access and distribution switches. LAN Base permits layer 3 routing by the addition of static routing support. A lot of robust protection features are included in LAN Base, as well. Some examples are Flexible Authentication, Radius Change of Authorization and advanced 802.1X functionality. On the management side, a lengthy list of functionalities is available with LAN Base like a broader range of MIBs, Ingress policing, Trust Boundary, AutoQoS, and DSCP mapping.

Conclusion

We are aware that there are a lot of technical particulars here. The bottom line is that in case you possess a basic layer 2 access corporate network with fundamentally no routing requirements and no advanced protection or administration needs, you may want to think about getting LAN Lite. For a majority of enterprise layer 2 networks, LAN Base is the minimum necessity. It allows you a strong layer 2 access network with outstanding network administration, protection and user experience.