Cisco Catalyst WS-C3850-24U-L Full English Product Description

1. Short Sales Title

2. Official Product Overview

Model Suffix Breakdown

• 3850: Next-gen stackable unified access multilayer switch platform with UADP ASIC, StackWise-480 stacking, hot-swappable power/fan/uplink modules, integrated wireless termination
• 24: Twenty-four front-panel standard Gigabit RJ45 downlink ports
• U: Cisco UPOE power architecture, maximum 60W per port, total 360W usable UPOE power budget
• L: LAN Base IOS XE feature set (pure Layer 2 only, limited static inter-VLAN routing, max 255 VLANs, all dynamic routing protocols disabled, basic lightweight CAPWAP AP management only)

Three IOS XE Feature Tier Comparison for Catalyst 3850

1. LAN Base (WS-C3850-24U-L): Complete Layer 2 functions, only static inter-VLAN routing, maximum 255 VLANs, basic lightweight wireless AP termination, all dynamic routing protocols disabled, no HSRP/VRRP gateway redundancy, restricted Flexible NetFlow Lite only, limited CAPWAP AP scale.
2. IP Base (WS-C3850-24U-S): All LAN Base features + Static/RIP/EIGRP stub/PIM stub routing, HSRP/VRRP redundancy, full unified wireless mobility controller, 4000 VLANs, complete Flexible NetFlow Lite, IPv6 stub dynamic routing, cross-stack Layer 3 replication, support for up to 100 CAPWAP APs and 2000 wireless clients per stack.
3. IP Services (WS-C3850-24U-E): All IP Base features + full multi-area OSPF, full EIGRP, BGPv4, full PIM sparse-dense multicast, complete end-to-end IPv6 dynamic routing, PBR, WCCP v2, VRF-Lite multi-tenancy, full Flexible NetFlow v9, WIDS/WIPS wireless security, TrustSec & MACsec link encryption.

Stacking Architecture

• StackWise-480 480Gbps full-duplex stacking bus: Up to eight Catalyst 3850 switches can be chained into a single logical stack under one unified IP management plane, supporting distributed wire-speed Layer 2 forwarding, cross-stack EtherChannel aggregation, cross-stack RSPAN port mirroring and cross-stack wireless AP policy replication. StackWise-480 stacking cables sold separately as optional accessoriesCisco.
• Unified wireless stack domain: LAN Base license only supports basic lightweight CAPWAP AP termination, limited AP capacity, basic RF monitoring and simple rogue AP detection without full cross-stack mobility orchestration.
• StackPower compatible: Supports power sharing across stacked switches when paired with StackPower cables and optional dual power supply tray kit for redundant UPOE power distribution.

Power & Port Hardware Design

3. Port & Hardware Specifications

• Front Downlink Ports: 24 × 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 auto-sensing Gigabit copper, auto MDI-X, Cisco UPOE (60W max per port)
• Rear Uplink Slot: 1 modular hot-swappable network module slot (supports 4×10G SFP+ or 2×40G QSFP+ uplink modules)
• Local Management Interfaces: RJ45 serial console, USB Type-B mini console, USB Type-A flash storage, dedicated out-of-band 10/100 Fast Ethernet management port
• Stack Interfaces: Dual StackWise-480 480Gbps stacking connectors
• Power Supply: Single modular 1100W AC auto-ranging unit; optional second redundant 1100W AC PSU for 1+1 redundancy; input 100–240V AC 50/60Hz; total usable UPOE power budget 360W
• Front Panel LEDs: Per-port link/activity/speed/UPOE indicators; global system fault, power, stack member ID, wireless status LEDs
• Mounting: Standard 19-inch 1RU rack-mount brackets included; wall-mount adapter optional, desktop rubber anti-slip feet supplied
• Thermal Envelope: Triple redundant hot-swappable variable-speed fan trays; operating temperature 0°C ~ +45°C, storage -25°C ~ +70°C, relative humidity 10–85% non-condensing
• Compliance Certifications: CE, FCC Class A, UL listed, VCCI Class A, RoHS compliant, NEBS Level 3 certified
• Physical Dimensions: 445 mm (W) × 44.5 mm (H, 1RU) × 488 mm (D) / 17.5 × 1.75 × 19.2 inches
• Unit Weight: 5.1 kg (11.2 lbs) with single 1100W power supply
• Memory: 4 GB DRAM, 2 GB onboard flash memory for IOS XE universal images and configuration files
• Switching Fabric: 640 Gbps full-duplex non-blocking per-chassis capacity
• Forwarding Rate: 68.4 Mpps wire-speed Layer 2 forwarding for 64-byte packets
• MAC Address Table: Up to 32,000 unicast MAC entries
• VLAN Capacity: LAN Base hard limit 255 active IEEE 802.1Q tagged VLANs (VLAN ID range 1–4094)
• Multicast Groups: 1024 IPv4 CGMP snooping groups (PIM multicast routing fully disabled under LAN Base)
• Jumbo Frame Support: Up to 9000 bytes on all UPOE Gigabit downlinks and SFP/SFP+/QSFP+ uplink ports
• Wireless Scale: Limited lightweight CAPWAP AP termination only, basic RF monitoring, no full unified mobility controller capacity
• MTBF: 303,230 hours under standard office enterprise operating conditions
• Warranty: Cisco Enhanced Limited Lifetime Warranty (E-LLW)

4. Layer 2 + LAN Base IOS XE Full Feature Set

Core Layer 2 Switching & Converged Wired-Wireless QoS Functions

• Up to 255 IEEE 802.1Q tagged VLANs, VTPv3 dynamic VLAN synchronization, MSTP 802.1s multiple spanning tree
• Dual trunk encapsulation: Cisco ISL trunk + IEEE 802.1Q standard trunk on all Gigabit copper and SFP/SFP+/QSFP+ fiber ports
• Hierarchical IEEE 802.1p CoS / DSCP MQC QoS, 4 egress priority queues per port; Auto-QoS template optimized for VoIP and video traffic prioritization
• Gigabit / 10G / 40G EtherChannel link aggregation (LACP / static PAgP), up to 8 bundled ports for uplink redundancy and cross-stack load balancing
• Rapid STP (802.1w), UplinkFast, BackboneFast, BPDU Guard, Root Guard, UDLD to eliminate Layer 2 switching loops
• Port security: Static MAC assignment, sticky dynamic MAC learning, configurable port shutdown violation actions
• Per-port broadcast/multicast/unicast storm control to mitigate flooding DoS attacks
• Local SPAN + cross-stack RSPAN port mirroring supported via StackWise-480 stacking
• CGMP (Cisco Group Management Protocol) to reduce redundant multicast flooding across unified wired/wireless domains
• Voice VLAN dedicated VoIP traffic segmentation, automated Auto QoS marking for UPOE IP voice endpoints
• Cisco EnergyWise intelligent power management to lower idle chassis and UPOE power consumption
• RMON Groups 1,2,3,9 real-time traffic statistics monitoring
• NTP time synchronization, CDP Cisco Discovery Protocol for end-to-end network device visibility
• Embedded web-based Device Manager, Cisco Network Assistant zero-touch stack-wide provisioning
• Basic IPv6 dual-stack Layer 2 switching: IPv6 Snooping, IPv6 ACL, IPv6 QoS marking, IPv6 neighbor discovery
• Integrated Lightweight Wireless AP Termination: Limited CAPWAP AP access, basic RF monitoring, simple rogue AP detection, basic wired-wireless Layer 2 policy enforcement
• Flexible NetFlow Lite restricted mode for limited traffic visibility (full Flexible NetFlow v9 requires IP Services license upgrade)

LAN Base Layer 3 Routing Hard Limitations

• Only static inter-VLAN routing supported; all dynamic Layer 3 routing protocols fully disabled: OSPF, full multi-area EIGRP, BGP inter-domain routing, PIM stub / full PIM sparse-dense multicast routing unavailable.
• No HSRP / VRRP first-hop gateway redundancy protocols (requires IP Base license).
• Limited IPv6 Layer 2 snooping only; no IPv6 dynamic routing suites (OSPFv3/EIGRPv6/BGPv6).
• No policy-based routing (PBR), no WCCP web cache redirection, no DVMRP multicast tunneling.

Enterprise Security Feature Suite

• IEEE 802.1X port-based NAC authentication with RADIUS/TACACS+ AAA remote access control (unified wired/wireless Layer 2 NAC enforcement only)
• SSH v2 encrypted CLI management; SNMPv3 secure monitoring (fallback unencrypted Telnet/SNMPv1/v2c available)
• Layer 2 ingress access control lists for granular inbound traffic filtering
• Time-based ACL policy scheduling for restricted network access hours
• Private VLAN edge isolation to separate host communication within the same broadcast domain
• DHCP Snooping, Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI), IP Source Guard to block IP/MAC spoofing attacks
• Encrypted startup-config files, strong password encryption for local administrative credentials
• Wireless baseline security suite: WPA2/WPA3 enterprise, 802.11r fast roaming, basic ISE identity services engine integration, simple rogue AP containment

5. Full Management Interfaces

1. Local Out-of-Band: RJ45 serial console port for offline configuration without network connectivity
2. Secure Remote CLI: SSH v2 encrypted command-line access; fallback unencrypted Telnet
3. In-Band Management: Embedded web GUI, SNMP v1/v2c/v3, CDP Cisco Discovery Protocol, NTP time synchronization
4. Auxiliary Interfaces: USB Type-A flash storage port for IOS XE image / config backup, dedicated out-of-band 10/100 Fast Ethernet management port
5. Stack & Wireless Management: Single unified IP management plane for entire StackWise-480 stack; centralized basic wireless AP inventory and simple RF monitoring across all stack members

6. Integrated Security Mitigation Suite

• Multi-level privilege CLI access with encrypted local user password storage
• IEEE 802.1X port authentication to validate wired/wireless endpoints before granting LAN access
• Port MAC address security to restrict unauthorized device connection
• STP BPDU guard and root guard to block rogue switches from altering spanning-tree topology
• Broadcast/multicast storm control to suppress flooding-based denial-of-service threats
• Private VLAN edge to isolate peer hosts on the same access VLAN
• DHCP Snooping + DAI ARP Inspection + IP Source Guard to eliminate address spoofing attacks
• SSHv2 and SNMPv3 encryption to secure remote switch management traffic over the LAN
• Manual permanent shutdown of unused RJ45/SFP/SFP+/QSFP+ ports to reduce unauthorized network attack vectors
• Dedicated management VLAN isolation to segregate switch control plane traffic from end-user data traffic
• Per-port PoE priority scheduling to protect critical voice/Wi-Fi devices during power budget shortages

7. Typical Deployment Scenarios

1. Small Enterprise Pure Layer 2 UPOE Stackable Access Switch: 24 standard UPOE Gigabit ports power high-power office IP phones, low-density lightweight Wi-Fi APs and UPOE PTZ cameras; modular uplink slot supports flexible 10G or 40G fiber core aggregation for small flat Layer 2 branch networks. LAN Base limited static inter-VLAN routing meets basic VLAN segmentation requirements without dynamic routing protocols, StackWise-480 stacking enables linear access-layer expansion as endpoint count grows.
2. Small K-12 / Remote Branch Campus Converged Wired-Wireless Network: UPOE Gigabit ports link classroom VoIP stacks and low-density student Wi-Fi APs; hot-swappable 10G uplink modules connect to central school data center backbone. MSTP eliminates spanning-tree broadcast loops across segmented VLAN domains, cost-efficient LAN Base firmware avoids premium IP tier licensing for simple flat campus networks.
3. Tiny Regional Office Wiring Closet Main Layer 2 Multilayer Switch: UPOE downlinks connect single-department high-power IP phones and small conference Wi-Fi APs; 10G SFP+ uplink delivers cost-effective fiber backhaul to corporate headquarters distribution layer. LAN Base pure Layer 2 architecture satisfies flat-VLAN access demands for organizations that centralize all dynamic routing at the core data center.
4. Small Retail / Satellite Office Access Pod: UPOE Gigabit ports power POS terminals and low-concurrency guest Wi-Fi APs; modular uplink slot allows future bandwidth upgrade to 40G aggregation as business scale expands, integrated lightweight CAPWAP termination eliminates standalone WLC hardware cost for minimal AP count small commercial venues.
5. Legacy Catalyst 3750 UPOE Access Network Refresh Hardware: Drop-in stackable LAN Base replacement for older 3750 UPOE switches, fully compatible with existing enterprise fiber uplink infrastructure, adds integrated basic wireless termination and modular high-speed uplink slots for gradual migration to Catalyst 9300 unified access platforms without core router replacement.

8. Standard Package Contents

Short Commercial Version (For Quotation & Product Catalog)