Comparison of Cisco Switches: (2960 vs 3560), (Cisco 3560 X vs 3650 vs 3750-X vs 3850)

For Branch Routers, please check Comparison of Cisco Integrated Services Routers: (1800,2800,3800) vs (1900,2900,3900) vs 4000

Cisco 2960 vs 3560 Switch

2960 series switches are L2 only switches. Meaning that you can setup VLANs but you won't be able to route between then. 3500 series switches are L3 switches. Hence you will be able to route between VLANs. Basically between 2960 and 3560 main difference is Layer 3 capabilities on the 3560 range.

Cisco WS-C2960S-24TD-L

	2960-S	2960 LAN Base	2960 LAN Lite	3750-X IP Base	3560-X IP Base	3K-X LAN Base
Uplinks	1 GE, 10 GE	GE	GE	1 GE, 10 GE (modular)	1 GE, 10 GE (modular)	1 GE, 10 GE (modular)
PoE	Partial PoE+	FE  PoE	FE PoE	Full PoE+	Full PoE+	Full PoE+
Stacking	FlexStack 20G (modular)	No	No	StackWise+ 64G	No	StackWise+ (3750-X Only)
DRAM/Flash	128/64MB & USB	128/32MB	128/32 MB USB (2960-S)	256/238MB & USB	256/238MB & USB	256/238MB & USB
StackPower	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Upgradable IOS	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Modular Uplinks	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Modular PS/Fan	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
MACSec	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
Enhanced LLW	Yes	No	Yes (2960-S)	Yes	Yes	Yes
RPS / XPS	RPS	RPS	No	XPS	XPS	XPS

Cisco 3560X-24T-L

One of the major benefits is the ability to stack a maximum of 4 2960S to form one logical switch. The 2960S, particularly models that have a "D" in it's product ID (or PID), supports SFP+ 10Gb interface (up to 2 SFP+ or 2 SFP 1 Gb or a combination of both).

Hardware

	Catalyst 2960	Catalyst 3560
Auto-MDIX	Yes	Yes
Digital Optical Monitoring	Yes	Yes
Generic Online Diagnostics (GOLD)	-	Yes
IEEE 802.3af (PoE) support	Yes	Yes
SDM Templates	Yes	Yes

Layer Two

	Catalyst 2960	Catalyst 3560
Errdisable Autorecovery	Yes	Yes
Flex Links	Yes	Yes
IEEE 802.1ab (LLDP)	Yes	Yes
IEEE 802.1D STP	Yes	Yes
IEEE 802.1Q Tunneling	-	Yes
IEEE 802.1Q Trunking	Yes	Yes
IEEE 802.1s (MST)	Yes	Yes
IEEE 802.1W (RSTP)	Yes	Yes
IEEE 802.1x	Yes	Yes
IEEE 802.3ad (LACP)	Yes	Yes
Jumbo Frames	Yes	Yes
Layer 2 Protocol Tunneling (L2PT)	-	Yes
Per-port VLAN Policing	-	Yes
Port Security	Yes	Yes
Private VLANs	-	Yes
Storm Control	Yes	Yes
STP BackboneFast	Yes	Yes
STP Loop Guard	Yes	Yes
STP PortFast	Yes	Yes
STP Root Guard	Yes	Yes
STP UplinkFast	Yes	Yes
SPAN	Yes	Yes
RSPAN	Yes	Yes
UDLD	Yes	Yes
VLAN ACLs	-	Yes
VLAN-aware Port Security	Yes	Yes
VTPv2	Yes	Yes

Layer Three

	Catalyst 2960	Catalyst 3560
Cisco Express Forwarding	-	Yes
DHCP Server	-	Yes
DHCP Snooping	Yes	Yes
DHCPv6	-	Yes
HSRP	-	Yes
IGMP Snooping	Yes	Yes
IP SLA Monitor	-	Yes
IP Source Guard	-	Yes
IPv4 Routing	-	Yes
IPv6 Routing	-	Yes
MLD Snooping	Yes	Yes
NSF Awareness	-	Yes
Policy Routing	-	Yes
Source-Specific Multicast (SSM)	-	Yes
VRF Lite	-	Yes
WCCPv1	-	Yes
WCCPv2	-	Yes

Management

	Catalyst 2960	Catalyst 3560
AutoQoS VOIP	Yes	Yes
Configuration Rollback	Yes	Yes
Configuration Diff	Yes	Yes
Embedded Event Manager	-	Yes
Enhanced Tracking Support	-	Yes
NTP	Yes	Yes
RADIUS Authentication	Yes	Yes
RMON	Yes	Yes
SCP	Yes	Yes
SSHv2	Yes	Yes
SNMPv2c	Yes	Yes
SNMPv3	Yes	Yes
Syslog over IPv6	Yes	Yes
TACACS+ Authentication	Yes	Yes

Cisco 3560 X vs 3650 vs 3750-X vs 3850

Feature Comparison:

Features	Previous Access Switches			Latest Unified Access Switches	Benefits
	Cisco Catalyst	Cisco Catalyst	Cisco Catalyst	Cisco Catalyst
	3560-X	3750-G (EoS)	3750-X	3850/3650
Bandwidth per stack	No stacking	32 Gbps	64 Gbps	480 Gbps (3850) 160 Gbps (3650)	Support gigabit access growth for wired and wireless/ 802.11ac
10 GE1 uplinks	2x10GE	4x1 GE	2x10 GE	4x10 GE or 2x10 GE
Integrated wireless LAN controller	N/A	N/A	N/A	x	Enable converged wired-wireless access for operational simplicity and scale
Common wired-wireless features	N/A	N/A	N/A	x
UADP2 ASIC for wired-wireless convergence	N/A	N/A	N/A	x
Application visibility across wired-wireless	N/A	N/A	N/A	x
Hierarchical wireless QoS	N/A	N/A	N/A	x
Native Flexible NetFlow	N/A	N/A	N/A	x	Orchestrate role based access to corporate resources by an user, with any device, from any location at any time
Cisco TrustSec/SGT3 for wired	x	N/A	x	x
Cisco TrustSec/SGT for wireless	N/A	N/A	N/A	x
Native MACsec encryption	Need service module	N/A	Need service module	Need service module
Common features for wired-wireless	N/A	N/A	N/A	x	Simplicity and business agility
SmartOperations	x	N/A	x	x
SDN4/programmability: •Cisco onePK ready •OpenFlow ready	N/A	N/A	N/A	x
Video/collaboration •Medianet	x	N/A	x	x	Uncompromised user experience: assess, monitor, and troubleshot network proactively

Cisco 3750X-24T-S

New Catalyst 3850 Switch

Reference:

• Comparison of Catalyst 2950, Catalyst 2960, Catalyst 3550, Catalyst 3560 Switches
• Cisco 2960 vs. Catalyst 3560
• Cisco 3560X, Cisco 3750X to Cisco Catalyst 3850 & 3650 Switches
• Benefits of Migrating to Cisco® Catalyst® 3850 and 3650 Switches
• Cisco Switch Comparison-catalyst 2960 VS 3560 VS 3750 VS 4500 VS 6500
• BRKARC-1009 - Cisco Catalyst 2960-X Series Switching Architecture (2015 San Diego)
• BRKCRS-3146 - Troubleshooting Cisco Catalyst 3650 / 3850 Series Switches (2015 San Diego)
• BRKARC-3438 - Cisco Catalyst 3850 and 3650 Series Switching Architecture (2015 San Diego)
• BRKARC-3445 - Cisco Catalyst 4500E Switch Architecture (2015 San Diego)
• BRKARC-3465 - Cisco Catalyst 6800 Switch Architectures (2015 San Diego)
• BRKARC-3001 - Cisco Integrated Services Router - Architectural Overview and Use Cases (2015 San Diego)
• BRKDCT-3101 - Nexus 9000 (Standalone) Architecture Brief and Troubleshooting (2015 San Diego)
• BRKARC-3452 - Cisco Nexus 5600/6000 Switch Architecture (2015 San Diego)