Cisco Catalyst WS-C2960CX-8PC-L Full English Product Description
1. Short Sales Title (For Quotation & E-commerce Listing)
Cisco WS-C2960CX-8PC-L Fanless Compact Layer 2 All-Gigabit Managed Switch, 8×10/100/1000BASE-T IEEE 802.3at PoE+ Ports, 2×1G Copper Uplinks + 2×Hot-Swappable 1G SFP Uplink Slots, LAN Base IOS Image, 124W Integrated PoE Power Budget, Fanless Silent Design, Full NAC Security, Multilayer DSCP QoS, DHCP Snooping, DAI, Cisco EnergyWise & IPv4/IPv6 Dual Stack, Cost-Effective Mini PoE+ Converged Edge Switch, Ideal for Small Offices, Retail Counters, Hotel Guest Floors, Classroom Auxiliary & Tiny Branch Voice/Wi-Fi/IP Camera Deployments
WS-C2960CX-8PC-L Front Panel
2. Official Product Overview
The Cisco Catalyst WS-C2960CX-8PC-L is a fanless compact fixed all-Gigabit Layer 2 managed switch from the modern Catalyst 2960-CX compact series, designed for silent, space-limited edge deployments requiring PoE+ power for high-power endpoints such as Wi-Fi 6 APs, video IP cameras and premium Cisco IP Phones. It features 8 full Gigabit PoE+ capable access ports paired with four uplink interfaces: two permanent 10/100/1000BASE-T copper uplinks plus two independent hot-swappable 1G SFP slots for flexible fiber long-distance trunking. Distinguished from fan-equipped 2960C models, this CX variant adopts passive heat sink fanless design for zero-noise wall-mount, desktop or under-counter installation. The suffix -L denotes factory preloaded complete LAN Base IOS firmware, delivering full enterprise-grade identity authentication, anti-spoofing protection, encrypted secure management and intelligent energy management functions unavailable on entry-level LAN Lite (-S) firmware variantsCisco.
Model Suffix Breakdown
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2960CX: Next-gen fanless compact Catalyst 2960 fixed managed switch platform (passive cooling, distinct from fan-based 2960C half-rack switches)
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8: Total eight 10/100/1000BASE-T all-Gigabit downlink ports
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PC: P = All 8 ports support IEEE 802.3at PoE+ (up to 30W per port); C = Dual media uplink group (2×1G copper + 2×1G SFP hot-swappable expansion slots)
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L: LAN Base full-feature IOS image with advanced NAC authentication, anti-spoofing security, multilayer QoS, IPv6 dual-stack and Cisco EnergyWise power optimization
This compact slim metal chassis integrates an internal autoranging AC power supply with dedicated 124W PoE+ power budget and large passive heat sink for completely silent operation without cooling fans, ideal for office, retail and classroom environments where fan noise is prohibited. It supports Cisco Cluster Management Suite (CMS) to unify up to 16 compatible Catalyst switches under a single management IP for simplified centralized configuration. All RJ45 ports comply with IEEE auto-negotiation, auto MDI-X and full-duplex flow control, delivering up to 30W IEEE 802.3at PoE+ power to high-power PoE endpoints without external power injectors. Hot-swappable SFP slots support live transceiver replacement without full power cycle to minimize maintenance downtime, compatible with Cisco GLC-SX-MM, GLC-LH-SM, GLC-ZX-SM and GLC-T copper SFP transceivers.
Equipped with 512MB DRAM and 128MB onboard flash memory, the WS-C2960CX-8PC-L delivers 24 Gbps full-duplex non-blocking switching capacity and 17.9 Mpps wire-speed forwarding rate for 64-byte frames, supporting lossless concurrent VoIP voice, high-power wireless data, 4K IP surveillance and small-office business traffic across all 8 PoE+ access ports and four Gigabit uplinks. It adopts store-and-forward switching architecture to isolate corrupted frames and suppress broadcast flooding across LAN segments, with native full IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack Layer 2 switching support.
3. Port & Hardware Specifications
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8 × 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 auto-sensing all-Gigabit copper access ports, auto MDI-X, IEEE 802.3x full-duplex flow control, IEEE 802.3at PoE+ (max 30W per PoE+ port, backward compatible with IEEE 802.3af Class 0–3 devices)
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Total integrated PoE+ power budget: 124W built-in dedicated PoE power supply (supports up to four full Class 4 30W PoE+ devices simultaneously, or eight Class 3 15.4W PoE devices)
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Uplink interfaces (4 total):
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2 × fixed 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 copper uplink ports
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2 × hot-swappable 1000BASE-X SFP Gigabit uplink expansion slots
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Dual out-of-band console ports: 1×RJ45 RS232 serial console + 1×Mini-USB console port for offline CLI configuration
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No FlexStack stacking capability; supports Cisco CMS cluster management via copper or SFP fiber inter-switch trunk links
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Power supply: Internal fixed autoranging AC input (100–240 VAC 50/60Hz), max total system power consumption 145W including full PoE+ load
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No rear RPS redundant power connector (no support for external redundant power supplies)
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Front panel LED indicators: Per-port link/activity, speed, duplex, PoE power delivery priority status; SFP slot operational status, system health fault alarm
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Mounting options: Wall-mount brackets included; rubber desktop stand feet supplied
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Thermal design: Fanless passive heat sink cooling, zero acoustic noise
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Environmental operating range: 0°C to 45°C (32°F–113°F); storage -25°C to 70°C; relative humidity 10–85% non-condensing
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Safety & EMI certifications: CE, FCC Class A, UL listed, VCCI Class A, RoHS compliant
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Physical dimensions: 269mm (W) × 44.5mm (H) × 172mm (D) (Ultra-compact slim form factor)
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Unit weight: 1.08 kg (2.4 lbs)
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MAC address table capacity: Up to 8,192 MAC entries
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Max supported VLANs: 255 active IEEE 802.1Q tagged VLANs, VLAN ID range 1–4094
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Jumbo frame support: Up to 9198-byte jumbo frames on all Gigabit ports
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MTBF: 540,000 hours under standard office operating conditions
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Warranty: Cisco Limited Lifetime Hardware Warranty with free IOS software updates
4. Layer 2 Switching, PoE+ & LAN Base IOS Full Feature Set
Core Base Switching, Full PoE+ & QoS Core Functions
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Up to 255 active IEEE 802.1Q tagged VLANs, VTPv2 dynamic VLAN synchronization, MSTP 802.1s multiple spanning tree
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IEEE 802.1p CoS / DSCP multilayer QoS with 4 egress priority queues; Strict Priority / WRR scheduling for voice/video/data classification
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IEEE 802.3ad Gigabit EtherChannel static link aggregation for multi-port copper/SFP trunk bundling
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IEEE 802.1D STP + Rapid STP (802.1w), BPDU guard / Root guard to eliminate Layer 2 switching loops
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Port security: Static MAC binding, sticky dynamic MAC learning, port shutdown violation mode
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Broadcast/multicast/unicast storm control to mitigate Layer 2 flooding DoS attacks
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SPAN local port mirroring + RSPAN remote span for cross-switch traffic capture and troubleshooting
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IGMP Snooping v1/v2/v3 to reduce redundant multicast bandwidth consumption for video surveillance and IPTV
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Voice VLAN, Auto QoS for automatic Cisco IP Phone traffic priority marking
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IEEE 802.3at PoE+ intelligent management: PoE port priority classification, real-time 124W budget monitoring, automatic low-priority port power shutdown under overload protection
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Cisco EnergyWise intelligent port power management to reduce idle PoE+ device power draw
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Cisco Cluster Management Suite (CMS) single-pane unified management for clustered switch groups
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RMON Groups 1,2,3,9 real-time traffic statistics monitoring
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NTP time synchronization for consistent system log timestamps
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CDP Cisco Discovery Protocol, Cisco IP SAA Service Assurance Agent for end-to-end network performance testing
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Web-based embedded Device Manager for zero-CLI initial deployment
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Full IPv6 dual-stack Layer 2 switching: IPv6 Snooping, IPv6 ACLs, IPv6 QoS marking, IPv6 static neighbor discovery
Exclusive Advanced LAN Base Security & Management Features (Not Supported on LAN Lite -S)
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IEEE 802.1X port-based NAC authentication with RADIUS/TACACS+ AAA remote access control
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SSHv2 encrypted remote CLI management; SNMPv3 secure encrypted monitoring
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Layer 2/Layer 3/Layer 4 ingress access control lists (ACLs) for IPv4 and IPv6 granular inbound traffic filtering
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Private VLAN edge for isolated host segmentation on shared access ports
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Ingress port bandwidth rate limiting and traffic policing
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Time-based ACLs for scheduled differentiated network access policies
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DHCP Snooping + Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI) + IP Source Guard to mitigate IP/MAC spoofing attacks
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Encrypted local user passwords and encrypted startup-config file storage
5. Full Management Interfaces
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Local Out-of-Band: Dual console ports (RJ45 RS232 + Mini-USB) for direct Cisco IOS CLI access without live network connectivity
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Secure Remote CLI: SSHv2 encrypted command-line access; fallback password-authenticated Telnet
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Embedded Web GUI: Browser-based Cisco Device Manager visual port, VLAN, QoS and PoE+ configuration panel
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SNMP v1/v2c/v3: Standard enterprise monitoring compatible with CiscoWorks and third-party NMS platforms
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RMON Traffic Analytics: Built-in bandwidth, error and utilization reporting for fundamental fault diagnosis and capacity planning
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Local Storage: 32 MB onboard flash memory to store IOS operating image, startup-config and running-config files
6. Integrated Enhanced Security Suite
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Multi-level privilege CLI access with encrypted local user password storage
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IEEE 802.1X port authentication to validate end-user devices before granting network access
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Port security to restrict unauthorized end-device MAC addresses per access port
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STP BPDU guard and root guard to block rogue unmanaged switches from corrupting Layer 2 topology
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Broadcast storm control to suppress flooding-based denial-of-service threats
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Private VLAN edge to isolate connected endpoints from each other on shared access ports
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DHCP Snooping + DAI ARP inspection + IP Source Guard to eliminate address spoofing attacks
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SSHv2 and SNMPv3 encryption to secure remote switch management traffic over the LAN
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Manual permanent shutdown of unused ports to reduce unauthorized network attack vectors
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Dedicated management VLAN isolation to segregate switch control plane traffic from end-user data
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PoE overload protection logic to cut power to low-priority PoE+ ports when total power consumption exceeds 124W budget threshold
7. Typical Deployment Scenarios
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Small office silent voice-first edge switch: 8 full PoE+ ports power high-power Wi-Fi 6 APs and premium Cisco IP phones; dual copper uplinks connect to building core switches, fanless design fits open office wall mounts without noise disturbance
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Retail store back-office compact aggregation: PoE+ budget powers store high-bandwidth wireless APs and 4K security cameras, fiber SFP uplinks deliver long-distance trunk paths to regional retail headquarters
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Small classroom auxiliary mini switch: PoE+ powers classroom wireless APs and HD IP cameras, flexible combo uplink media matches campus fiber cabling infrastructure
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Tiny remote branch office wiring closet core switch: Zero-fan design fits quiet compact wiring cabinets, fiber SFP uplinks provide long-distance backhaul to corporate HQ
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Small hospitality hotel guest floor edge LAN: Silent fanless operation avoids noise in guest corridor cabinets, PoE+ powers guest room IP phones and corridor wireless APs
8. Standard Package Contents
1 × Cisco Catalyst WS-C2960CX-8PC-L Fanless PoE+ All-Gigabit Compact Switch (LAN Base IOS Image Preinstalled)
1 × AC power cord
1 × RJ45-to-RS232 console rollover cable
Mini-USB console cable
Wall-mount hardware kit
Rubber desktop stand feet
Hardware installation guide & Cisco IOS configuration documentation
*SFP fiber/copper transceivers sold separately as optional accessories; no external redundant power supply support for this compact model
Short Commercial Version (For Quotation & Product Catalog)
The Cisco Catalyst WS-C2960CX-8PC-L is a compact fanless passive-cooled full IEEE 802.3at PoE+ Layer 2 managed all-Gigabit edge switch from the Cisco Catalyst 2960-CX Series, factory preloaded with full LAN Base IOS advanced feature set, equipped with 8×10/100/1000BASE-T PoE+ auto-sensing RJ45 copper access ports (124W total PoE+ budget) plus 2 fixed 1G copper uplinks + 2 hot-swappable 1G SFP uplink expansion slots. It supports Cisco CMS multi-switch cluster unified management and Cisco EnergyWise power saving, delivers 24 Gbps non-blocking switching capacity, 8K MAC address table, 255 VLANs, multilayer DSCP/CoS QoS, IGMP Snooping, Rapid STP, port security, 802.1X NAC authentication, SSHv2, DHCP Snooping, DAI and full IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack ACL filtering. Zero-noise mini PoE+ converged edge switch for small offices, retail stores and compact branch mixed fiber/copper LAN deployments, covered by Cisco Limited Lifetime Hardware Warranty with free IOS software updates.
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