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Release Notes for Cisco Small Business SFE2000 Series 24-port 10/100 Ethernet Switches 1
Release Notes
Release Notes for Cisco Small Business
SFE2000 Series 24-port 10/100 Ethernet
Switches
November 20, 2008
These release notes contain important information about the
Cisco SFE2000 24-port 10/100 Ethernet Switch family and any limitations,
restrictions, or caveats that apply to the firmware in the following Cisco SFE2000
Series models:
•Cisco SFE2000
•Cisco SFE2000P
Contents
These release notes contain the following sections:
•Introduction, page 2
•System Requirements, page 2
•New and Changed Information, page 3
•Limitations and Restrictions, page 3
•System Features, page 4
•Caveats, page 16
•Where to Go From Here, page 20

Release Notes for Cisco Small Business SFE2000 Series 24-port 10/100 Ethernet Switches 2
Release Notes
Introduction
Formerly Linksys Business Series, now Cisco Small Business Managed Switches,
the Cisco SFE2000 Managed Switch plays a central role in keeping your data safe.
It supports a wide assortment of features, including dual firmware images and
redundant power configuration when using an external RPSU to maximize your
system's availability.
Additional features of the SFE2000 Ethernet Switch include:
•Nonblocking switching capacity of 12.8 Gbps
•Two additional gigabit SFP slots for network expansion
•Support for up to 256 port- and 802.1q-based VLANs
For more information about the Cisco SFE2000 Ethernet Switches, see the
Cisco Small Business Managed Switches home page on Cisco.com.
System Requirements
This section contains the following system information:
•Platform Support, page 2
•Firmware Download, page 3
Platform Support
The following platform information is supported:
Platform Supported Features
SFE2000
SFE2000P
•24FE ports (10BASE-T/100BASE-TX)
•2 GE Copper and 2 GE additional Combo ports (Either
Copper or Fiber)
•Stackable unit
SFE2000P •Power over Ethernet (PoE)

Release Notes for Cisco Small Business SFE2000 Series 24-port 10/100 Ethernet Switches 3
Release Notes
Firmware Download
To download software images, go to the Cisco Download Software page at the
following URL:
http://www.cisco.com/kobayashi/sw-center/index.shtml
The following boot code is supported.
The following firmware is supported:
New and Changed Information
Firmware version 1.0.1.1 supports a chipset part change. There is no change in
functionality from previous versions of the firmware. Firmware version 1.0.1.1 is
backward compatible on devices using earlier versions of the software.
Limitations and Restrictions
Devices that are factory loaded with firmware version 1.0.1.1 should not be
downgraded to earlier versions of the firmware: These devices may not function
properly in a stack.
Boot Code
Version
Image Name Release Date
1.0.0.05 linksys_bp24_boot-10005.bin August, 2006
Firmware
Version
Image Name Release Date
1.0.1.1 linksys1_bp_fe_bx-1011.ros November, 2008
1.0.0.48 linksys1_bp_fe_bx-10048.ros January, 2007

Release Notes for Cisco Small Business SFE2000 Series 24-port 10/100 Ethernet Switches 4
Release Notes
System Features
The Cisco SFE2000 Series switches support the following features:
•Firmware Features, page 4
•Layer 2 Features, page 6
•Environmental Monitoring, page 7
•Stacking, page 7
•VLAN Supported Features, page 9
•Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) Features, page 10
•Link Aggregation Support, page 11
•Access Control Lists, page 11
•Quality of Service Features, page 12
•Device Management Features, page 12
•Security Features, page 14
Firmware Features
Power over Ethernet (On SFE2000P only)
Power over Ethernet (PoE) provides power to devices over existing LAN cabling,
without updating or modifying the network infrastructure. Power over Ethernet
removes the necessity of placing network devices next to power sources.
Head of Line Blocking
Head of Line (HOL) blocking results in traffic delays and frame loss caused by
traffic competing for the same egress port resources. HOL blocking queues
packets, and the packets at the head of the queue are forwarded before packets
at the end of the queue.
Flow Control Support (IEEE 802.3X)
Flow control enables lower speed devices to communicate with higher speed
devices by requesting that the higher speed device refrains from sending packets.
Transmissions are temporarily halted to prevent buffer overflows.

Release Notes for Cisco Small Business SFE2000 Series 24-port 10/100 Ethernet Switches 5
Release Notes
Back Pressure Support
On half-duplex links, the receiving port prevents buffer overflows by occupying
the link so that it is unavailable for additional traffic.
Virtual Cable Testing (VCT)
VCT detects and reports copper link cabling occurrences, such as open cables
and cable shorts.
Optical Transceiver Analysis
The Finisar optical transceiver provides access to a set of parameters that can be
monitored and displayed to the system administrator.
MDI/MDIX Support
The device automatically detects whether the cable connected to an RJ-45 port is
crossed or straight through, when auto-negotiation is enabled. Standard wiring for
end stations is Media-Dependent Interface (MDI) and the standard wiring for hubs
and switches is known as Media-Dependent Interface with Crossover (MDIX).
Auto Negotiation
Auto negotiation allows the device to advertise modes of operation. The auto
negotiation function provides the means to exchange information between two
devices that share a point-to-point link segment, and to automatically configure
both devices to take maximum advantage of their transmission capabilities.
Auto-negotiation advertisement is also supported. Port advertisement allows the
system administrator to configure the port speeds advertised.
Manual Port Control and Identification
While port settings can be derived automatically, as described above, many
settings can be set by the user manually.
MAC Address Supported Features
•MAC Address Capacity Support—This device supports up to 8K MAC
addresses. It reserves specific MAC addresses for system use.
•Static MAC Entries— MAC entries can be manually entered in the Bridging
Table, as an alternative to learning them from incoming frames. These user-
defined entries are not subject to aging and are preserved across resets
and reboots.

Release Notes for Cisco Small Business SFE2000 Series 24-port 10/100 Ethernet Switches 6
Release Notes
•Automatic Aging for MAC Addresses—MAC addresses from which no
traffic is received for a given period are aged out. This prevents the
Bridging Table from overflowing.
•VLAN-aware MAC-based Switching—The device always performs VLAN-
aware bridging. Classic bridging (IEEE802.1D) is not performed, where
frames are forwarded based only on their destination MAC address.
However, a similar functionality may be configured for untagged frames.
Frames addressed to a destination MAC address that are not associated
with any port are flooded to all ports of the relevant VLAN.
•MAC/IP Address to Port View—Displays the MAC addresses and IP
addresses that are associated with a given port. For each port, it is possible
to display the MAC addresses and IP addresses that are associated with
that port. The information is based on information available in the ARP table,
but is presented differently.
Layer 2 Features
IGMP Snooping IGMP
Snooping examines IGMP frame contents when they are forwarded by the device
from work stations to an upstream Multicast router. From the frame, the device
identifies work stations configured for Multicast sessions and identifies which
Multicast routers are sending Multicast frames.
Port Mirroring
Port mirroring monitors and mirrors network traffic by forwarding copies of
incoming and outgoing packets from a monitored port to a monitoring port. Users
specify which target port receives copies of all traffic passing through a specified
source port.
Packet Broadcast Storm Control
Storm Control enables limiting the amount of Multicast and Broadcast frames
accepted and forwarded by the device. When Layer 2 frames are forwarded,
Broadcast and Multicast frames are flooded to all ports on the relevant VLAN. This
occupies bandwidth and loads all nodes connected on all ports.
L2 Multicast Forwarding and Filtering
When a frame arrives on any switch port and its destination address is in an L2
multicast address, it is forwarded to all relevant ports – that is, ports that are
members of the relevant multicast group.

Release Notes for Cisco Small Business SFE2000 Series 24-port 10/100 Ethernet Switches 7
Release Notes
Static Multicast Groups
The user may define multicast groups to be supported, per port. Each such group
is defined in the context of a specific single VLAN. In general, this feature allows
the user to manually achieve what IGMP snooping can do automatically as a
replacement (when it is undesirable to use IGMP snooping) or as a supplement
(e.g. to handle hosts that do not generate IGMP reports correctly).
Environmental Monitoring
Power Supply Status
The system is capable of having two power supplies. If more than one power
supply is present, the power supplies are hot swappable, and the system is able
to monitor their status.
Fan Status
The system monitors the status of the fans, if they are present.
Stacking
Stack Management
The stack is controlled and managed from a single unit called the master unit. Any
other unit member of the stack is named stack slave. The stack master provides
the following features:
•Single point of control and management for every member of the stack,
including itself
•Single interface for the user to control and mange the stack
Stand-Alone and Stack-Mode Operation
Each unit may work in one of two modes: Stand-alone, or Stack-mode. The
operational mode is determined at Boot time of the software, and can only be
changed by a unit reset.

Release Notes for Cisco Small Business SFE2000 Series 24-port 10/100 Ethernet Switches 8
Release Notes
Stack Membership
•A stack is comprised of units based on the same types of Packet
Processors. A stack can include up to eight FE devices, or up to eight GE
devices.
•A stack cannot include devices from different families; i.e., it cannot be
comprised of FE units and GE units.
•A stack can be comprised of different types of units in the same family; i.e.,
a stack can support different kinds of FE units OR different kinds of GE units.
•PoE and non-PoE devices can be members of the same stack, as long as
they are from the same family.
Stacking Ports
•A standard copper GE cable is used to connect the stacked units.
•If the unit is a “standalone” mode, all the GE ports are available to the user.
•If the unit is in a “stack” mode, there are two dedicated GE ports that are
used for stack connection.
•The default ports used for stacking are two pre-determined GE copper
ports.
•However, the user can define the stacking links to be the fiber links, instead
of the copper ones. This can be done after the system starts up, and the
configuration takes effect after the stack is reset. (A stack is reset by
resetting the master unit.) The configuration is for the entire stack.
Stack Members Numbers - Unit ID
A stack member is identified by a unique number.
Stack Master Election Process
Only two Units at most in the entire stack can be “Master Enabled” unit, in other
words can be elected as a Master of the stack or Master Backup of the stack.
“Master Enabled” units are determined by setting their UNIT ID to one or two.
Master Failure Backup
The Master and its Master Backup maintain a “Warm Standby” approach in case
an active Master fails. If this happens, the Backup Master takes its place and
continues to operate the Stack normally.

Release Notes for Cisco Small Business SFE2000 Series 24-port 10/100 Ethernet Switches 9
Release Notes
Hot Extraction /Unit Failure/Stacking Cable Disconnection or Failure
Failure of a unit, hot extraction of a unit, or any stacking link failure causes a
topology change, which is monitored and kept by the Master of the stack.
VLAN Supported Features
VLANs are collections of switching ports that comprise a single broadcast domain.
Packets are classified as belonging to a VLAN based on either the VLAN tag or
based on a combination of the ingress port and packet contents. Packets sharing
common attributes can be grouped in the same VLAN.
Port Based Virtual LANs (VLANs)
Port-based VLANs classify incoming packets to VLANs based on their ingress
port.
Full 802.1Q VLAN Tagging Compliance
IEEE 802.1Q defines an architecture for virtual bridged LANs, the services provided in
VLANs and the protocols and algorithms involved in the provision of these services.
Protocol Based VLAN
VLAN classification rules are defined on data-link layer (Layer 2) protocol identification.
Protocol based VLANs are used for isolating Layer 2 traffic for differing Layer 3 protocols.
GVRP Support GARP
VLAN Registration Protocol (GVRP) provides IEEE 802.1Q-compliant VLAN pruning and
dynamic VLAN creation on 802.1Q trunk ports. When GVRP is enabled, the device
registers and propagates VLAN membership on all ports that are part of the active
underlying “Spanning Tree Protocol Features” topology.
Private VLAN Edge
A port can be defined as a Private VLAN Edge port of an uplink port, so that it will be
isolated from other ports.

Release Notes for Cisco Small Business SFE2000 Series 24-port 10/100 Ethernet Switches 10
Release Notes
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) Features
802.1d Spanning tree is a standard Layer 2 switch requirement that allows bridges
to automatically prevent and resolve L2 forwarding loops. Switches exchange
configuration messages using specifically formatted frames and selectively
enable and disable forwarding on ports.
Fast Link
STP can take up to 30-60 seconds to converge. During this time, STP detects
possible loops, allowing time for status changes to propagate and for relevant
devices to respond. 30-60 seconds is considered too long of a response time for
many applications. The Fast Link option bypasses this delay and can be used in
network topologies where forwarding loops do not occur.
IEEE 802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree
Spanning Tree can take 30-60 seconds for each host to decide whether its ports
are actively forwarding traffic. Rapid Spanning Tree (RSTP) detects uses of
network topologies to enable faster convergence, without creating forwarding
loops.
IEEE 802.1s Multiple Spanning Tree
Multiple Spanning Tree (MSTP) operation maps VLANs into STP instances. MSTP
provides differing load balancing scenario. Packets assigned to various VLANs are
transmitted along different paths within MSTP Regions (MST Regions). Regions
are one or more MSTP bridges by which frames can be transmitted. The standard
lets administrators assign VLAN traffic to unique paths.
STP Root Guard
Network administrators may want to prevent devices outside of the core of the network
from being assigned the spanning tree role of “root”. Spanning Tree Root Guard is used to
prevent an unauthorized device from becoming the root of a spanning tree. If root guard is
enabled on a port, it is never selected as the STP root port; the roles it can be assigned
are: Designated, Alternate, Backup or Disabled. Root guard functionality enables detection
and resolution of miss configurations, while preventing loops or loss of connectivity.
BPDU Filtering
When STP is disabled. On a LAN interconnected by multiple bridges, Spanning
Tree selects a controlling Root Bridge and Port for the entire bridged LAN, and a
Designated Bridge and Port for each individual LAN segment. When traffic passes
from one end station to another across the LAN, it is forwarded through the