Cisco offers stackable alternatives

San Jose - Cisco's new fixed-configuration and modular LAN switches are designed to offer users a cost-competitive alternative to stackable wiring closet switches.

The switches - the fixed-configuration Catalyst 2948G and the three-slot Catalyst 4003 - are designed for use in wiring closets to support workgroup, backbone uplink and server farm applications.

The 2948G sports 48 10/100M bit/sec Ethernet ports and two Gigabit Ethernet uplinks. The Catalyst 4003 offers up to 96 10/100 ports and 36 Gigabit Ethernets via 48- and 18-port modules, respectively.

Cisco's new offerings provide about the same number of switch ports that customers can get by assembling a tower of stackable switches, which are popular among companies that need a flexible switching growth path.

While Cisco currently does not offer stackable 10/100 switches, analysts expect the company to do so in the near future.

Cisco customers are probably comfortable with Cisco's current modular switches, given their significant port density, says Esmeralda Silva, an analyst at International Data Corp., a Framingham, Mass., market research firm. But she says many companies prefer stackables for use in wiring closets.

"Cisco's never been one to ignore market trends, and if stackables start to become the dominant workgroup platform, it'll do whatever it needs to do to get its box out there," Silva says.

Les Poltrack, a Cisco product marketing manager, says the company is not ruling out the addition of 10/100 stackables to its product portfolio.

Cisco's 2948G costs $8,995 and will be available in the first quarter of 1999. The Catalyst 4003 costs $187 per 10/100 port and $1,277 per Gigabit Ethernet port. It will also be available in the first quarter.

Cisco: (408) 526-4000.

Catalyst 4003 and 2948G overviews from Cisco

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