$50 Cisco 4006 Network switch

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pc-tecky

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May 1, 2013
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Well, I found [a new toy in] a Cisco 4006 at a local University Surplus Sale. Several more units available if interested. One had 48x 1GbE and several others had 24x 1GbE and a slue of 24x 10/100 enthernet. What else do I need to get this up and running? Can I Aggregate Links together with this bad boy?

Edit: I think I need a Cisco USB or DB9 Serial Console cable. Well, that sucks because I don't have one yet.
 
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Mike Bailey

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Sep 24, 2015
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Are you talking about the Catalyst 4000 series? Those need line cards (for ports) and supervisors (for control logic).

Even if you get a console cable, if you don't have a supervisor installed it's useless.
 

aero

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Apr 27, 2016
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Sup iv (WS-X4515) for the 4006 is amazingly cheap. And yes, it can do link aggregation.
 
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pc-tecky

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May 1, 2013
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The Cisco 4006 has 1x ws-x4013 Supervisor II Engine with 3x WS-X4148-RJ 48-port 10/100 Ethernet Switching Module and 1x WS-X4424-GB-RJ45 10/100/1000 Multi-Speed Gigabit Ethernet Switching Module. (tried posting pic, no luck yet)
 

Scott Laird

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Aug 30, 2014
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IIRC, the original 4006 only has 6 Gbps of bandwidth per line card, so the 48-port GigE card is pretty heavily oversubscribed. Fine for lab or (most) desktop uses, but not a great call for anything with a high average utilization. They also drew a lot of power and produced a lot of noise. Still, $50 is an impressive price.
 

pc-tecky

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May 1, 2013
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Hmm... Good to know; I didn't get the unit with the WS-X4448 48-port Gb Ethernet module; I got the unit with the 24-port Gb Ethernet and 3x 48-port 10/100 Mb Ethernet modules. Sooo, was it worth $25? Discounts over time kick in, the longer they sit, the cheaper they get. The remaining three units should be priced around $10 this week [or next week??]. Worth while getting the remainder to part out?
 
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pc-tecky

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May 1, 2013
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Hmm, looking at the Cisco 4500/4500E chassis and related modules. Is there away to tell the difference between the two chassis models? The 4500E can support higher bandwidth modules (24-/48-Gbps fabric vs older 6Gbps fabric); like 12-port 10Gb SPF+ or Base-T Ethernet (newer) modules, and 48-port 10/100/1000 Ethernet (older) modules. But the ones posted as 4500E don't have that "label" on the back chassis photos. As far as I can tell, the newer modules won't work in older non-E chassis, but the older modules will work in the newer E chassis. It'd be cool to find 120V/1200W unit with 12x 10GbE and 24x/36x/48x 1GbE. Or is it purely supervisor engine based?
 

pc-tecky

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May 1, 2013
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Hmmm, so now I have more unanswered questions. I lucked out as my computer still has a serial port and I was given a Cisco console/rollover cable (DB-9 to RJ45). Windows no longer includes HyperTerminal as a system utility, so Putty is the go to option for Windows 10 Pro x64. I can connect once to the Catalyst 4006, but subsequent attempts to connect end with a system ding and no other terminal screens. Serial settings used are: 9600 baud, data bits=8, stop bits=1, no parity, and no flow control. To get it working again is unproven, perhaps removing the serial port from device manager, and a few reboots, and a lot of wishing that it to work this time. Is there a proper way to close the terminal when I'm done [with Cisco] for a while (the day, the night, a few hours)? Maybe Linux would be a better option?
 

aero

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Apr 27, 2016
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No, there's nothing in particular you need to do when you end your console session, but I do suggest you back out to the login prompt for the sake of security. Connecting to the serial console session should put you back exactly where you left off previously. I prefer putty, and never had any issues with it. Your serial port settings look correct.

I also use linux SCREEN in a pinch, but it's not as friendly; I always forget the commands for closing/suspending/resuming sessions.

On subsequent attempts does the console session appear to be connected, and you're just not getting any output? If you restart the 4006 while it's in this state does it start working?

Do you have a USB to serial adapter you can try instead?
 

pc-tecky

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May 1, 2013
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No USB to DB-9. USB to serial for Raspberry Pi - maybe not quite the same.
Very perplexed. Well, that's new, I saved settings for serial console connection. So I'm not having that problem anymore. Also edited serial/COM1 settings, but cancelled out of dialog box. Very strange stuff.

This little unit has the Supervisor II Engine with CatOS 8.4.11 GLX, and not Cisco's iOS which requires Supervisor II+ Engine or above; I don't see having Cisco View (local web administration and simplistic configuration) version either.

Is this powerful enough to allow routing functions? Or is it too old and full of security issues, etc., for such use? Will it work as a basic switch or is that even sketchy?

Do I want too and How do I configure the 10/100MGT (management) port?

How do I configure this beast so the switches pass along traffic?
 

pc-tecky

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May 1, 2013
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Update: I didn't thank you for the suggestion @aero. I finally took action, found, and ordered a USB FTDI console cable (RJ45 plug), the WS-X4515 Supervisor Engine IV and another WS-X4448-GB-RJ45 48-port 10/100/1000 Ethernet Switch line card. If that doesn't work, then I might spring for a newer 4503E or 4506E chassis and its PSU(s) with greater use benefits. I might try getting a large USB hub and a few more cables for each box - hopefully it will be a set and forget situation. And I think Adafruit.com has a USB to CAT5 extender (purely for extending USB) which sounds interesting as well to get away from the noise.
 
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pc-tecky

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May 1, 2013
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More questions: What capacity CF flash card do I need for Cisco Supervisor Engine IV and Cisco 1841 Routers? Are they the same or does the capacity not matter? I'll need to copy and format the only flash card I have for the two 1841 Routers and an archive copy as well. What commands do I need to run to do this? Do I need to register these things for personal home lab use??
 

aero

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Apr 27, 2016
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Just make sure the CF card will fit the files you need, and don't get one greater than 2GB. I have read that some cisco devices have problems with anything larger than 2GB.

various instructions for CF cards. I think you just need to "format flash:"

Cisco 1800 Series Software Configuration Guide - Troubleshooting and Maintenance: Using CompactFlash Memory Cards [Cisco 1841 Integrated Services Router]

As for registering...the Catalyst 4000 series went EOL so long ago they appear to offer the CatOS/IOS software for "free". What I mean by that is I have a Cisco account with no such devices on my support contracts, but I can still download the IP Base images for the 4000/4500 switches. Not entitled for the Enterprise Services though.
 

pc-tecky

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May 1, 2013
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Oh really? What a relief that is to know they might still have them. I just grabbed 4x Cisco 512MB CF cards (no real good way to test) just for that purpose (~$8/ea, and better than $15/ea single of other sellers). Yeah, I found out last night that he WS-X4515 has the 4500 IOS image which loads, errors out saying the chassis is invalid, and then reboots. I can break out and get to ROMMON, which is also good. I want to copy the existing image off and then get the 4000 IOS image up and running. Registered for a Cisco account, any tips on how to register the hardware to get access to the IOS images? Where do I find the SN's at?

Err.. all the needed downloads are marked as deferred. I just got something downloaded, and I don't know how, but so far I can't get the older 4000 IOS related images. I have 1xs Cisco 881-W, 2x Cisco 1841, and the Catalyst 4006 chassis, with Supervisor Engine II and WS-X4515 Supervisor Engine IV. Having loads of fun. (Yeah, not really.:() Let me know if you can actually access any of the 4000 IOS images.
 
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