Switches and LED Switch Status

LEDs

You can use the switch LEDs to monitor switch activity and its performance. Figure 1-23 shows the switch LEDs and the Mode button that you use to select one of the port modes.

All LEDs are visible through the GUI management applications—Network Assistant for multiple switches and the device manager for a single switch. The switch software configuration guide describes how to use the CLI to configure and to monitor individual switches and switch clusters.

Only the Catalyst 2960 PoE switches have a PoE LED.

The four Catalyst 2960 8-port switches and these models do not have an RPS connector or an RPS LED: Catalyst 2960-24-S, Catalyst 2960-24TC-S, Catalyst 2960-48TT-S, Catalyst 2960-48TC-S.

Figure 1-23 Catalyst 2960 Switch LEDs


1	SYST LED	5	Speed LED
2	RPS LED	6	PoE LED¹
3	Status LED	7	Mode button
4	Duplex LED	8	Port LEDs

¹The PoE LED is only on the Catalyst 2960 PoE switches.

System LED

The System LED shows whether the system is receiving power and is functioning properly. Table 1-2 lists the LED colors and their meanings.

Table 1-2 System LED


Color	System Status
Off	System is not powered on.
Green	System is operating normally.
Amber	System is receiving power but is not functioning properly.

RPS LED

The RPS LED shows the RPS status. Table 1-3 lists the LED colors and their meanings.

Note The Catalyst 2960 8-port switches, and the Catalyst 2960-24-S, 2960-24TC-S, 2960-48TC-S, and 2960-48TT-S switches do not have an RPS LED.

Table 1-3 RPS LED


Color	RPS Status
Off	RPS is off or not properly connected.
Green	RPS is connected and ready to provide back-up power, if required.
Blinking green	RPS is connected but is unavailable because it is providing power to another device (redundancy has been allocated to a neighboring device).
Amber	The RPS is in standby mode or in a fault condition. Press the Standby/Active button on the RPS, and the LED should turn green. If it does not, the RPS fan could have failed. Contact Cisco Systems.
Blinking amber	The internal power supply in a switch has failed, and the RPS is providing power to the switch (redundancy has been allocated to this device).

For more information about the Cisco RPS 2300 or the Cisco RPS 675, see the related hardware installation guide for that power system.

Port LEDs and Modes

The port LEDs, as a group or individually, display information about the switch and about the individual ports (Table 1-4):

Table 1-4 Modes for Port LEDs


Selected Mode LED	Port Mode	Description
STAT	Port status	The port status. This is the default mode.
DUPLX	Port duplex mode	The port duplex mode: full duplex or half duplex.
SPEED¹	Port speed	The port operating speed: 10, 100, or 1000 Mb/s.
PoE²	PoE port power	The PoE status.

¹When installed in Catalyst 2960 switches, 1000BASE-T SFP modules can operate at 10, 100, or 1000 Mb/s in full-duplex mode or at 10 or 100 Mb/s in half-duplex mode.

²The PoE LED is only on the Catalyst 2960 PoE switches.

Even if the PoE mode is not selected, the PoE LED shows PoE problems when they are detected (Table 1-5). The PoE LED applies only to Catalyst 2960 switches that support PoE.

Table 1-5 PoE Mode LED


Color	PoE Status
Off	PoE mode is not selected. None of the 10/100 PoE ports have been denied power or are in a fault condition.
Green	PoE mode is selected, and the PoE status is shown on the port LEDs.
Blinking amber	PoE mode is not selected. At least one of the 10/100 PoE ports has been denied power, or at least one of the ports has a PoE fault.

To select or change a mode, press the Mode button until the desired mode is highlighted. When you change port modes, the meanings of the port LED colors also change. Table 1-6 explains how to interpret the port LED colors in different port modes.

Table 1-6 Meaning of Port LED Colors in Different Modes on the Switch


Port Mode	LED Color	Meaning
STAT (port status)	Off	No link, or port was administratively shut down.
	Green	Link present.
	Blinking green	Activity. Port is sending or receiving data.
	Alternating green-amber	Link fault. Error frames can affect connectivity, and errors such as excessive collisions, cyclic redundancy check (CRC) errors, and alignment and jabber errors are monitored for a link-fault indication.
	Amber	Port is blocked by Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) and is not forwarding data. Note After a port is reconfigured, the port LED can remain amber for up to 30 seconds as STP checks the network topology for possible loops.
	Blinking amber	Port is blocked by STP and is not sending or receiving packets.
DUPLX (duplex)	Off	Port is operating in half duplex.
DUPLX (duplex)	Green	Port is operating in full duplex.
SPEED	10/100 and 10/100/1000 ports
	Off	Port is operating at 10 Mb/s.
	Green	Port is operating at 100 Mb/s.
	Blinking green	Port is operating at 1000 Mb/s.
	SFP ports
	Off	Port is operating at 10 Mb/s.
	Green	Port is operating at 100 Mb/s.
	Blinking green	Port is operating at 1000 Mb/s. Note When installed in Catalyst 2960 switches, 1000BASE-T SFP modules can operate at 10, 100, or 1000 Mb/s in full-duplex mode or at 10 or 100 Mb/s in half-duplex mode.
PoE	Off	PoE is off. If the powered device is receiving power from an AC power source, the PoE port LED is off even if the powered device is connected to the switch port.
	Green	PoE is on. The port LED is green only when the switch port is providing power.
	Alternating green and amber	PoE is denied because providing power to the powered device will exceed the switch power capacity. The Catalyst 2960-24PC-L, 2960 48PST-L, 2960-48PST-S, and 2960-24PC-S switches provide up to 370 W of power. The Catalyst 2960-24LT-L and 2960-24LC-S switches provide up to 124 W of power.
	Blinking amber	PoE is off due to a fault. Caution PoE faults are caused when noncompliant cabling or powered devices are connected to a PoE port. Only standard-compliant cabling can be used to connect Cisco prestandard IP Phones or wireless access points or IEEE 802.3af-compliant devices to PoE ports. You must remove from the network the cable or device that causes a PoE fault.
	Amber	PoE for the port has been disabled. By default, PoE is enabled.

Dual-Purpose Port LEDs

The LEDs on a dual-purpose port show whether an RJ-45 connector is connected to the port, or if an SFP module is installed in the slot. See the example in Figure 1-24. You can configure each port as either a 10/100/1000 port through the RJ-45 connector or as an SFP module, but not both at the same time. The LEDs show how the port is being used (Ethernet or SFP module).

The LED colors have the same meanings as described in Table 1-4 and Table 1-6.

Figure 1-24 Dual-Purpose Port LEDs


1	RJ-45 connector	3	SFP module port in-use LED
2	RJ-45 port in-use LED	4	SFP module slot

Rear Panel Description

•Internal Power Supply

•Cisco RPS

•Console Port

Depending on the Catalyst 2960 switch model, the switch can have an RJ-45 console port, a fan exhaust, an RPS connector, and an AC power connector (see Figure 1-25 for an example of a Catalyst 2960 rear panel).

Figure 1-25 Catalyst 2960 Switch Rear Panel


1	RJ-45 console port¹	3	RPS connector ²
2	Fan exhaust³	4	AC power connector⁴

¹The Catalyst 2960 8-port switches have the console port on the front panel rather than on the rear panel.

²These Catalyst 2960 switches do not have an RPS connector: Catalyst 8-port switches, 2960-24-S, 2960-24TC-S, 2960-48TC-S, and 2960-48TT-S switches.

³The Catalyst 2960 8-port switches do not have a fan.

⁴The Catalyst 2960PD-8TT-L switch does not have an AC internal power supply.