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Chapter 14: Web Management
In Depth
Imagine having to manage all the com closets throughout your enterprise without the use of a remote
management tool. It’s a scary thought. What if you were in San Francisco and you needed to reconfigure a
switch in Atlanta? Yes, Telnet would work, but Cisco also has a Web−based client management tool that is
second to none: Cisco Visual Switch Manager (CVSM). The GUI interface helps make remote network
management easier and less time consuming.
Standard and Enterprise Edition CVSM
Cisco Catalyst 1900 and 2820 series Ethernet switches both include the CVSM. However, if you are using the
Standard Edition and you upgrade to the Enterprise Edition IOS, you will see a difference in the CVSM. The
Standard Edition is designed to work out of the box; it simply connects desktops to its switch and then to
high−speed network backbones. The Enterprise Edition, however, adds scalability. For example, when you’re
using the Standard Edition IOS, you can only join an existing switch cluster. If you’re using an Enterprise
Edition IOS, you can join and manage a clustered switch environment. This is just one example of the many
differences between the two editions. The upgrade kits to the Enterprise Edition for the Catalyst 1900/2820
series switches are as follows:
Enterprise Edition Upgrade Kit—WS−C19/28EEUG•
Enterprise Edition Upgrade Kit, 10−pack—WS−C19/28UG10•
All Catalyst 1900 and 2820 series switches offer an intuitive and comprehensive Web−based management
interface. The subtle differences between the two versions are that the Enterprise Edition software enables
these switches to manage more complex networks when using the CVSM. It does this by integrating advanced
features and more comprehensive switch management tools, such as options to manage Network Time
Protocol, port spanning, and port grouping to ease enterprise switch management. The Enterprise Edition IOS
is always pre−installed on Enterprise Edition switches, so no upgrade is needed.
CVSM Client Requirements
Let’s look at the characteristics and functionality that are available using CVSM, how to perform these
functions, what you need to get started, and various tips to better secure your CVSM environment.
The CVSM supports four OS platforms: Windows 95 (with Service Pack 1 update), Windows 98 (Second
Edition), Windows NT 4 (with Service Pack 3 update), and Solaris 2.5.1 or higher (Cisco also recommends
applying the Motif library patch 103461−24 found at http://www.sun.com/). Cisco suggests the following
hardware minimums for optimal system and Web site performance:
Windows−based system—Pentium 166MHz, 64MB RAM, small fonts•
SunOS 5.6 system—SunUltra 1, 64MB RAM, small fonts•
Cisco recommends using either Internet Explorer (IE) or Netscape Communicator as your browser. The
following versions are supported:
IE 4.01a, 5.0 (40− and 128−bit versions)•
Netscape Communicator 4.5, 4.51, and 4.611•
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