Cisco LAN Switching Fundamentals

Catalyst Supervisor and Switch Fabric Redundancy

A question often asked of Cisco is “Where should I have Supervisor redundancy, and where should I not?” Although it seems like a relatively simple question, the answer is not always a simple one. Not all switching platforms support Supervisor redundancy. For example, the option to install redundant supervisors on the Catalyst 4000/4500 series did not become available until the introduction of the 4507R, the “R” signifying redundant. The Catalyst 3750 series creates Supervisor-like redundancy by interconnecting multiple switches to form one logical switching entity. Although Supervisor redundancy has been available since day one on the Catalyst 6000/6500 platforms, the amount of time it takes to ...