10/5/2004 -- Last week, Cisco Systems Inc. unveiled several new Catalyst switching products and services designed for SMB customers. The new deliverables are part of the SMB-Class program Cisco launched in April of this year.

For starters, Cisco announced the new Catalyst 4503 Supervisor II-Plus-TS, which supports integrated connectivity to servers, wireless access points, IP phones, or printers. It features 20 built-in 10/100/1000 Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) ports that expand its capacity to 116 ports. It also ships with four new line cards including 6- and 24-port configurations that Cisco says are optimized for SMB requirements.

The networking giant also trumpeted its new Network Assistant, software that offers centralized management of Cisco SMB-Class networks. Like the Catalyst 4503, its designed specifically for SMB-Class networks and provides centralized management, configuration, and troubleshooting assistance for both simple and advanced network management tasks. It features a Smartports technology that can simplify the deployment of certain Cisco network configurations.

Finally, Cisco announced a new fixed switch, the Catalyst 4948, that is optimized for server aggregation. The new Catalyst 4948 Switch is a one-rack-unit, 48-port 10/100/1000, Layer 2/3/4 fixed switch. It features hot-swappable dual internal power supplies; and wire-speed, low-latency performance for 10/100/1000 connectivity on all ports.

Ciscos announcement also had a services component, as well. The company introduced a value-priced services and support option called SMARTnet that encompasses the new product offerings. Cisco also unveiled a new financing program that it claims offers a 48-hour turn around time on financing applications, as well as affordable ($99) unrestricted access package to Cisco e-learning programs for two months. -Stephen Swoyer