Cisco is extending the widely deployed Cisco Catalyst® 4948E Ethernet Switch to offer back-to-front airflow with the Cisco Catalyst 4948E-F Switch. In addition to back-to-front airflow, the Cisco Catalyst 4948E-F offers forty-eight 10/100/1000-Gbps RJ45 downlink ports and four fiber uplink ports capable of Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet. This switch is designed to simplify data center architecture and operations by offering enterprise-class hardware and software in a one-rack-unit (1RU) form factor optimized for smart top-of-rack (ToR) data center deployments (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Cisco Catalyst 4948E-F
Hot-aisle and cold-aisle deployment remains the widely adopted best practice for data center cabinet layouts today. Networking switches and computing servers mounted in a single cabinet need to maintain the separation of the inlet cold air and the exhaust hot air for efficient use of cooling resources. The Cisco Catalyst 4948E and 4948E-F switches provide the option of front-to-back airflow (Cisco Catalyst 4948E) and back-to-front airflow (Cisco Catalyst 4948E-F) in ToR switch deployments. Table 1 summarizes the deployment scenarios for the Cisco Catalyst 4948E and 4948E-F to help you decide which switch to use.
Table 1. Deployment Decision Factors and Switch Selection
Switch Choice
Decision Factors
Cisco Catalyst 4948E
• Server-to-switch cable patch panel facing the cold aisle
• Network ports face the cold aisle
• Upgrading from traditional front-connected ToR switches
Cisco Catalyst 4948E-F
• Cable patch panel facing the hot aisle
• Network ports face the hot aisle
• Server-to-switch connectivity is without the patch panel
Figures 2 and 3 show data center server-to-switch connectivity scenarios for the Cisco Catalyst 4948E and 4948E-F.
Figure 2. Cold-Aisle and Hot-Aisle Isolation Using Back-to-Front Airflow with Cisco Catalyst 4948E-F
Figure 3. Cold-Aisle and Hot-Aisle Isolation Using Front-to-Back Airflow with Cisco Catalyst 4948E
New Features
The Cisco Catalyst 4948E-F offers:
• Hardware and software feature parity with the Cisco Catalyst 4948E
• True back-to-front airflow
Table 2 summarizes the main features of the Cisco Catalyst 4900 Series Switches.
Table 2. Cisco Catalyst 4900 Series Features
Feature and Description
Cisco Catalyst 4948 Switch
Cisco Catalyst 4948 10 Gigabit Ethernet Switch
Cisco Catalyst 4900M Switch
Cisco Catalyst 4948E and 4948E-F Switches
Environmental
Height
1RU
1RU
2RU
1RU
Dimensions (H x W x D)
1.71 x 17.3 x 16.1 in. (4.3 x 43.9 x 40.9 cm)
1.71 x 17.3 x 16.1 in. (4.3 x 43.9 x 40.9 cm)
3.5 x 17.2 x 17.9 in. (8.9 x 43.7 x 45.5 cm)
1.75 x 17.5 x 19.4 in. (4.4 x 44.4 x 49.3 cm)
Power redundancy
1+1 AC or DC
1+1 AC or DC
1+1 AC or DC
1+1 AC or DC
Unit weight
16.5 lb (7.48 kg)
16.5 lb (7.48 kg)
34.0 lb (15.4 kg)
19 lb (8.62 kg)
Hot-swappable fan
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Average and maximum power consumption (in watts [W])
176W average
300W maximum
212W average
300W maximum
300W average
446W maximum
230W average
275W maximum
Airflow
Side to back
Side to back
Side to back
Front to back (Cisco Catalyst 4948E)
Back to front (Cisco Catalyst 4948E-F)
Rack-mounting options
Front and rear mount
Front and rear mount
High-performance rear mount
Four-post rack-side rail mount
High-performance mount
Front and rear mount
High-performance rear mount
Uplink optic types
Four Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) optics
Two X2 (10 Gigabit Ethernet) optics
Eight X2 (10 Gigabit Ethernet) optics
SFP and SFP+
Cisco® TwinGig Converter Module support
No
No
Yes (WS-X4908-10GE only)
No
Cisco OneX Converter Module support (X2 to SFP+)
No
No
Yes
No
Optics
LH, SX, ZX, and CWDM
LR, CX4, LX4, SR, ER, LRM, ZR, and DWDM
X2: LR, CX4, LX4, SR, ER, LRM, ZR, and DWDM
SFP+: SR
CWDM, DWDM, SR, LR, LRM, and CX4
Modular half-card slots
0
0
2
0
Ports
Maximum 10/100/1000-Gbps ports
48
48
40
48
Maximum Gigabit Ethernet (fiber) ports
4
0
32 (Cisco TwinGig Converter Module)
4
Maximum 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GBASE-T) ports
0
0
16
0
Maximum 10 Gigabit Ethernet (fiber) ports
0
2 (X2)
24 (X2)*
4 (SFP+)
Performance and Scalability
Switching capacity
96 Gbps
136 Gbps
320 Gbps
176 Gbps
Throughput
72 million packets per second (mpps)
102 mpps
250 mpps for IPv4
125 mpps for IPv6
131 mpps for IPv4
110 mpps for IPv6
Routes supported
32,000
32,000
256,000
57,000
MAC addresses
32,000
55,000
55,000
55,000
Per-VLAN Spanning Tree (PVST) Protocol and VLAN IDs
4094
4094
4094
4094
Spanning Tree Protocol instances
4094
4094
4094
4094
Switched virtual interfaces (SVIs)
2000
2000
4094
4094
Active VLANs
4094
4094
4094
4094
Multicast routes
28,000
28,000
28,000
28,000
Security and quality-of-service (QoS) hardware entries
32,000
32,000
128,000
32,000
Switched Port Analyzer (SPAN)
2 ingress and 4 egress
2 ingress and 4 egress
8 ingress and 8 egress
8 ingress and 8 egress
Shared buffer
16 MB
16 MB
17.5 MB
17.5 MB
CPU
266 MHz
666 MHz
1.3 GHz
1 GHz
Synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM)
256 MB
256 MB
512 MB
1 GB
Multilayer switching
LAN Base, IP Base, and Enterprise Services options
LAN Base, IP Base, and Enterprise Services options
LAN Base, IP Base, and Enterprise Services options
LAN Base, IP Base, and Enterprise Services options
IPv6 support
Software switched
Software switched
Hardware switched
Hardware switched
USB port
No
No
Yes
No
Compact flash memory support
No
No
Yes
No
System reset button
No
No
Yes
Yes
Minimum software requirements
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(46)SG or later
Cisco IOS Software Release 12.2(54)SG or later (Cisco Catalyst 4948E)
Cisco IOS Software Release 12.2(54)WO or later (Cisco Catalyst 4948E-F)
* X2 can be converted to SFP+ using the Cisco OneX Converter Module.
Cisco IOS Software
Cisco IOS Software is a proven network OS that offers best-in-class availability, manageability, and scalability.
The Cisco Catalyst 4948E and 4948E-F support three levels of Cisco IOS Software. The basic level is LAN Base, developed for deployments that require data center-class hardware along with Layer 2 switching but not advanced features such as routing and Cisco IOS Embedded Event Manager (EEM). The next level of software is IP Base; this level supports static routes, Routing Information Protocol (RIP) Versions and 2, and Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol Stub (EIGRP-Stub) for limited routing. The top level of software is Enterprise Services; this level adds support for advanced routing protocols such as Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS) Protocol, and EIGRP. For a detailed list of supported software features, please refer to the software release notes at http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/catalyst4500/release/note/OL_23985.html.
Ordering Information
Table 3 provides ordering information for the Cisco Catalyst 4948E and 4948E-F switches.
Table 3. Ordering Information
Description
Part Number
Hardware
Front to Back Cooling
Back to Front Cooling
48x 10/100/1000(RJ45)+4x 10GbE(SFP+), no p/s
WS-C4948E
WS-C4948E-F
48x 10/100/1000(RJ45)+4x10GbE(SFP+), IP Base IOS, AC p/s
WS-C4948E-S
WS-C4948E-F-S
48x 10/100/1000(RJ45)+4x10GbE(SFP+), Ent Ser IOS, AC p/s
WS-C4948E-E
WS-C4948E-F-E
Green Bundle 10x WS-C4948E
WS-C4948E-BDL
WS-C4948E-F-BDL
Catalyst 4948E 300WAC power supply (spare)
PWR-C49E-300AC-R(=)
PWR-C49E-300AC-F(=)
Catalyst 4948E 300WAC redundant power supply
PWR-C49E-300AC-R/2
PWR-C49E-300AC-F/2
Catalyst 4948E 300WDC power supply (spare)
PWR-C49-300DC(=)
Not Available at this time
Catalyst 4948E 300WDC redundant power supply (spare)
PWR-C49-300DC/2
Not Available at this time
Software
Cisco IOS Software for Cisco Catalyst 4948E Series Switches (LAN Base image)
S49ELB-12254SG(=)
S49ELB-12254WO(=)
Cisco IOS Software for Cisco Catalyst 4948E Series Switches (LAN Base image with Triple Data Encryption)
S49ELBK9-12254SG(=)
S49ELBK9-12254WO(=)
Cisco IOS Software for Cisco Catalyst 4948E Series Switches (IP Base image)
S49EIPB-12254SG(=)
S49EIPB-12254WO (=)
Cisco IOS Software for Cisco Catalyst 4948E Series Switches (IP Base image with Triple Data Encryption)
S49EIPBK9-12254SG(=)
S49EIPBK9-12254WO (=)
Cisco IOS Software for Cisco Catalyst 4948E Series Switches (Enterprise Services image with BGP support)
S49EES-12254SG(=)
S49EES-12254WO(=)
Cisco IOS Software for Cisco Catalyst 4948E Series Switches (Enterprise Services image with 3DES and BGP support)
S49EESK9-12254SG(=)
S49EESK9-12254WO(=)
Catalyst 4948 IP Base Upgrade License for LAN Base IOS
WS-C4900-SW-LIC
WS-C4900-SW-LIC
Accessories
Cisco Catalyst 4948E spare fan tray rear exhaust
WS-X4993(=)
WS-X4993-F(=)
Power Cables
AC Power cord, 110V North America, Japan
CAB-US515-C15-US(=)
AC Power cord, 220V North America
CAB-N5K6A-NA(=)
AC Power cord (Australia, New Zealand)
CAB-AS3112-C15-AU(=)
AC Power cord (Europe)
CAB-CEE77-C15-EU(=)
AC Power cord CD12 (Italy)
CAB-C2316-C15-IT(=)
AC Power cord (Argentina)
CAB-IR2073-C15-AR(=)
AC Power cord (South Africa, India)
CAB-SABS-C15-IND(=)
AC Power cord (United Kingdom)
CAB-BS1363-C15-UK(=)
AC Power cord (Switzerland)
CAB-9K10A-SW(=)
Cisco Services
Cisco Services makes networks, applications, and the people who use them work better together.
Today, the network is a strategic platform in a world that demands better integration of people, information, and ideas. The network works better when services, together with products, create solutions aligned with business needs and opportunities.
The unique Cisco Lifecycle approach to services defines the requisite activities at each phase of the network lifecycle to help ensure service excellence. With a collaborative delivery methodology that joins the forces of Cisco, our skilled network of partners, and our customers, we achieve the best results.
