Cisco Catalyst 3550

Chapter 1 Product Overview
Front-Panel Description
1-4
Catalyst 3550 Multilayer Switch Hardware Installation Guide
78-11358-01
Note 100BASE-TX and 1000BASE-T traffic requires Category 5 cable. 10BASE-T
traffic can use Category 3 or 4 cables.
When connecting the switch to workstations, servers, routers, and Cisco IP
Phones, be sure that the cable is a straight-through, twisted-pair cable. When
connecting the switch to switches or hubs, use a crossover cable. Pinouts for
the cables are described in Appendix B, “Connector and Cable
Specifications.”
GBIC Module Slots
The GBIC module slots support these modules to provide flexibility in media and
distance options:
• 1000BASE-SX GBIC module for fiber-optic connections of up to
550 meters.
• 1000BASE-LX/LH GBIC module for fiber-optic connections of up to
10 kilometers.
• 1000BASE-ZX GBIC module for fiber-optic connections of up to
100 kilometers.
• 1000BASE-T GBIC module for copper connections of up to 100 meters.
• GigaStack GBIC module for creating a 1-Gbps stack configuration of up to
nine supported switches. The GigaStack GBIC supports one full-duplex link
(in a point-to-point configuration) or up to nine half-duplex links (in a stack
configuration) to other Gigabit Ethernet devices. Using the required Cisco
proprietary signaling and cabling, the maximum distance for a GigaStack
GBIC-to-GigaStack GBIC connection is 1 meter. Refer to your GigaStack
GBIC documentation for more information on supported switches.