The device manager is for basic configuration and monitoring of
the switch. Use this introduction to familiarize yourself with its
features.
The device manager is a graphical device management tool that provides
real-time views of the configuration and performance conditions
for a single switch. It provides features such as Express Setup
and Smartports to simplify switch management tasks. It also uses
graphical, color-coded displays such as a front panel view of the
switch, graphs, and animated indicators to simplify switch monitoring
tasks.
You can launch the device manager from anywhere in your network
through a web browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape
Navigator. See the switch release notes for the system requirements
for running the device manager. The Support
window provides a link to the switch documentation.
Note: If your switch is running the cryptographic
software image, we recommend that you use the option to run a secured
session with the switch. See Secured Sessions for
information on how to ensure that your device manager session is protected
from unauthorized access.
To use the device manager, you do need some basic knowledge about
networking. For an overview of networking fundamentals, see
"Networking
Essentials for Small and Medium-Sized Businesses."
The device manager features are
For comprehensive configuration and monitoring features, use
Network
Assistant or the switch command-line interface (CLI).
The Front Panel view is a graphical display of the switch front
panel. The display shows all the switch components color-coded according
to their status. The colors can help you to quickly see if a faulty
condition or an error condition exists. See the
Legend for the
meanings of the colors.
The Uptime field shows how long the switch has been operating since
it was last powered on or was restarted. Status is automatically
refreshed every 60 seconds or when you click
Refresh on the toolbar. The refresh counter shows
the number of seconds left before the next refresh cycle.

Move the pointer over a port to display the port number, description, status, speed,
duplex mode, and inline power status.
Note that the speed and duplex mode for a port only appear in the
pop-up window when a device is connected to the port.
The inline power status is available only
if the switch is an inline power switch. Inline power is also referred
to as Power over Ethernet (PoE).
The system, RPS, and port LEDs on the display match the LEDs on
the physical switch. To change the type of information displayed
through the port LEDs, you can choose a mode from the View
list or click the Mode button.
This list summarizes all the LEDs on the switch front panel. For
more information about the LEDs, see the
Legend or the
switch hardware installation guide.
LED |
Explanation |
SYST |
The status of the switch (system). |
RPS |
The status of the redundant power supply (RPS) if one is connected
to the switch. |
STAT |
The status of the ports. This is the default mode. |
DUPLX |
The duplex mode (full duplex or half duplex) of the ports.
Note: The 10/100/1000 ports operate only
in full-duplex mode. |
SPEED |
The operating speed (10, 100, or 1000 Mbps) of the ports.
|
LINE PWR |
The status of the inline power ports.
Note: The Catalyst 3550 inline power switches
support pre-standard PoE, which is not compliant with IEEE
802.1af. |
The Dashboard provides information about the switch and is the
main window for monitoring the switch status and the performance.
For more information about the gauges, indicators, and graphs, see
Dashboard.

|
The device manager has options under the Monitor, Configure,
and Tools menus to help you monitor and configure the switch:
- The Tools menu provides the Telnet option to display the
switch CLI and the Software Upgrade option to upgrade the
switch software. For more information, see Telnet
and Software
Upgrade. The software upgrade feature is available only
on the Cisco IOS Release 12.2 switch software image.
|
The switch uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol to secure
the HTTP communications between the switch and your network management
station. When you attempt to display the device manager, this protocol:
- Authenticates the web-based connection between the switch and
your network management station
- Encrypts and decrypts the information exchanged between the
switch and your network management station to protect the information
from unauthorized access over the Internet
SSL is enabled by default on the switch. It is available only on
the cryptographic version of the Cisco IOS Release 12.2 switch software
image.
When the device manager is first launched, it displays a message
that asks if you want a secured session with the switch. If you
choose Yes, the switch launches the device manager
in secure mode. You can also start a secured connection by entering
https:\\ before the switch IP address. (HTTP over
SSL is abbreviated as HTTPS.)
You can also click the Session: Standard | Secured
link at the top right corner of the device manager window. Click
Standard to launch an unsecured session.
Click Secured to launch a secured session.
There are several ways to determine if your device manager session
is secured:
- Look at the URL in the browser Address field. A URL that starts
with https:\\ means that the session is secured through
SSL. A URL that starts with http:\\ means that the session
is not secured.
- Look at the Session: Standard | Secured link
at the top right corner of the device manager window. If Standard
appears as Standard and is an active link,
the switch is running a secured session. If Secured
appears as Secured and is an active link,
the switch is not running a secured session.
- Look for a locked padlock image at the bottom of your browser
window. The padlock does not appear if the session is not secured.
Note: SSL is not supported on Telnet connections
with the switch. As a result, when you open a Telnet session from
the device manager, the transmission to and from the switch is not
secure even though the device manager might be running in secured
mode. Be careful with the information that you send through your
Telnet sessions.
|