The Cisco 3850 series switch is a layer switch that allows for full wired and wireless junction on a single multilayer switch platform. Cisco’s new Unified Access Data Plane (UADP) application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) powers the switch and enables uniform wired-wireless policy enforcement, application visibility, flexibility and application OPTimization.This junction between wired and wireless is built on the Cisco StackWise-480 technology. The Cisco 3850 series switches support full IEEE 802.3at Power over Ethernet Plus (PoE+), Cisco Universal Power over Ethernet (Cisco UPOE is not offered on all models), plug and play network modules, RJ45 and fiber-based downlink interfaces, and redundant fans and power supplies. With speeds that reach 10Gbps, the Cisco 3850 MultigigABIt Ethernet Switches support current and next-generation wireless speeds and standards including 802.11ac Wave 2.
The Cisco 3850 will generate up to 40 Gigs of wireless capacity per switch (on 48 port models). Even when acting independently, each switch has the ability to support up to 100 individual access points and 2000 wireless clients. The Stackwise-480 technology will enable the switch to operate at a speed of 480 Gbps of stack throughput/bandwidth. The 3850 models have speed ratings based on the type of the switch. The 24 and 48 port version has 10/100/1000Mbps data, Poe+, and UPOE options. There is also a 12 and 24 port: 1 and 10 gigabit Ethernet SFP based models. Each switch has the option of adding an additional uplink modules. 4 x Gigabit Ethernet, 2 x 10 Gigabit Ethernet, 4 x 10 Gigabit Ethernet, 8 x 10 Gigabit Ethernet, or 2 x 40 Gigabit Ethernet QSFP+ ports.
Cisco's innovative wireless design has integrated the ability to BYOD or bring your own device. Each switch will have; integrated wireless LAN (local area network) controller, commonly used wired and wireless features, UADP (Unified Access Data Plane) ASIC for wired and wireless convergence, application visibility across both wired and wireless networks, and Hierarchical wireless QoS. Security on these devices will include; Native Flexiable Netflow, Cisco TrustSec/SGT (Securit Group Tag) for both wired and wireless, and Native MACsec encryption. The Cisco 3850 also as simplicity and SDN (software defined networking) for ease of use and set up.
The Cisco 3850 is also equipped with Cisco's popular StackPower technology. StackPower is an innovative power sharing and redundancy technology available on the Cisco 3850 series of switches. This configuration allows members of the stack to share in one of two power pooling topologies. The first, power sharing mode, aggregates then distributes the power among the stack. Power is dynamically allocated where it’s needed. The second, redundant mode, polls the stack, identifies the supply with the greatest wattage then reserves its use for failure. Power is then allocated to the stack from the remainder of the supplies. Once the reserved power supply is activated, the stack migrates to power sharing mode automatically. This technology eliminates the need for an external RPS unit and allows users to simply add another power supply for either redundancy or additional power to the pool.