|
|
6.1 | |
Starting the Switch | |
| 6.1.1 | |
Physical startup of the Catalyst switch |
Switches are dedicated, specialized
computers, which contain a central processing unit (CPU), random
access memory (RAM), and an operating system. As shown in Figure
 ,
switches usually have several ports for the purpose of connecting
hosts, as well as specialized ports for the purpose of management. A
switch can be managed by connecting to the console port to view and
make changes to the configuration.
Switches typically have no power switch to turn them on and off. They simply connect or disconnect from a power source. Several switches from the Cisco Catalyst 2950 series are shown in Figure
|