The Cisco Catalyst 2960XR-48LPD-I puts 48 Gigabit PoE+ access ports on a 370 W budget alongside 2 SFP+ uplink slots that run at 1 or 10 Gbps and the IP Lite image. The budget is a property of this particular chassis and Cisco rates it at the same figure with one internal supply fitted or two, principally so the second bay protects the deployment rather than extending it.
Size the budget at purchase, because the chassis fixes it
This is the model to specify when the powered devices are a subset of the ports rather than all of them. Cisco publishes 12 ports at up to 30 W for a PoE+ endpoint and 24 ports at up to 15.4 W for standard PoE against the 370 W budget, and those counts are fixed: a second supply does not move them, and no module raises an LP chassis to the 740 W an FP chassis carries.
That makes the power decision a purchase decision rather than a later one. A closet that will eventually need every port powered at full PoE+ class is an FP model from the outset. A closet whose powered devices number a dozen at PoE+ class, or up to two dozen at the standard class, is exactly what this budget is scaled for, and the second supply bay is then about protecting the deployment rather than extending it.
| Specification | Catalyst 2960XR-48LPD-I |
|---|---|
| Access ports | 48 x 10/100/1000 Ethernet |
| Uplinks | 2 x SFP+, 1/10 Gbps |
| Software image | IP Lite |
| Available PoE, one or two supplies | 370 W |
| Ports at up to 30 W PoE+ | 12 |
| Ports at up to 15.4 W PoE | 24 |
| PoE retained if one supply fails | 370 W |
| Power supply | PWR-C2-640WAC, 2 bays, one populated by default |
| Stacking | FlexStack-Plus, 80 Gbps, 8 members |
What the second supply does not do
It does not add Power over Ethernet. Cisco's combination table gives 370 W of available PoE+ for one 640 W supply and 370 W for two, so an LP chassis stays at 370 W however many modules are in it and never reaches the 740 W of the full-PoE models. LP and FP are different chassis with different power stages, and that gap is closed by choosing the other part number rather than by fitting a part.
It also does not pool across a stack. Each member powers its own ports from its own supplies, so two of these switches stacked provide two separate budgets rather than one combined pool, and an endpoint on a member that has exhausted its watts will be refused power regardless of what the other member has spare.
Ten Gigabit uplinks on a fixed power budget
The 2 SFP+ slots run at either 1 or 10 Gbps, so the same switch that starts behind a Gigabit core can move to a 10 Gigabit one without being replaced. That is the axis this chassis genuinely leaves open, and it is worth separating from the power side, which is settled by the part number at the point of purchase.
Read together the two make a coherent specification for a closet whose traffic will grow faster than its powered device count. The uplinks follow the core when the core is refreshed; the 370 W budget is sized once, for the endpoints the room is designed to carry, and protected thereafter by the second supply bay.
Where the 48LPD-I sits in the 2960-XR range
The comparison that decides this purchase is against the full-budget model with the same uplinks and against the 24-port version of the same power tier.
| Model | Access ports | PoE budget | PoE retained if a supply fails |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2960XR-48LPD-I | 48 Gigabit | 370 W | 370 W |
| 2960XR-48FPD-I | 48 Gigabit | 740 W | 740 W |
| 2960XR-24PD-I | 24 Gigabit | 370 W | 370 W |
Where internal redundancy and the IP Lite image are not required, the Catalyst 2960X-48FPD-L is the LAN Base equivalent at the full 740 W budget. The current-generation counterpart is a Catalyst 9300 48-port model, and the routing tier that usually accompanies a growing site is the Cisco ISR 4000 family.
Lifecycle and support horizon
Cisco's end-of-life notice EOL13602 names this model with the rest of the Catalyst 2960-XR product family. End-of-Sale for the hardware was 31 October 2022, the Last Ship Date was 30 January 2023 and End of Software Maintenance was 31 October 2023. The Last Date of Support and End of Vulnerability and Security Support both fall on 31 October 2027, and End of Service Contract Renewal is 29 January 2027.
Since those dates are identical to the Catalyst 2960-X family's, the support window is common to both sub-series and is not a differentiator. It does bound the growth argument on this page in a useful way: a chassis bought to grow into over the next few years is buying into a platform Cisco supports until late 2027, and the plan should account for that rather than assume an open-ended horizon.
Condition, testing and what ships
Units are refurbished enterprise hardware carrying the original Cisco part number. Each is tested on receipt, then disassembled, cleaned, inventoried and returned to stock; at order time it is rebuilt, configured and bench tested again before packing, with each fitted supply exercised individually. Whole systems including this switch carry the 2-year Enterasource warranty, and delivery is free FedEx Ground to the lower 48 states.
The chassis has two supply bays and ships with one filled, so the count is confirmed at order rather than assumed. SFP+ transceivers, stacking modules and cables are separate lines. Cisco software entitlement does not transfer with used hardware.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the second supply raise the PoE budget on a 2960XR-48LPD-I?
No. Cisco rates the available PoE+ at 370 W for a single 640 W supply and at 370 W for a pair of them, so the budget is identical either way. The second module changes the failure case instead: with both bays populated the full 370 W is still available after one supply fails, so the 12 endpoints this chassis can run at full PoE+ class stay powered through the event.
Can a 2960XR-48LPD-I reach the 740 W budget of the full-PoE model?
No. LP and FP are different chassis with different power stages, and no supply module moves one to the other: this switch is rated at 370 W of available PoE+ with either supply configuration, against 740 W on the FP equivalent. A closet that will eventually need every port powered at full PoE+ class should be specified as an FP model at the outset rather than upgraded later.
If I stack two of these switches, do their power budgets combine?
They do not. Every member of a stack powers its own ports from its own supplies, so two of these chassis provide two separate budgets rather than one larger pool. A device plugged into a member that has used its watts will be refused power even when another member in the same stack has capacity available.
Will the SFP+ uplinks on a 2960XR-48LPD-I work with Gigabit optics?
Yes, the slots are dual-rate and accept either 1 or 10 Gigabit transceivers. That lets the switch be commissioned behind an existing Gigabit core and moved to 10 Gigabit later without replacement, which pairs naturally with a power budget that can also be raised in place. Transceivers are separate items and are not supplied with the chassis.
What condition is a refurbished 2960XR-48LPD-I in when it arrives?
Cleaned, tested and configured to the order, with the number of fitted supplies recorded against that specific chassis. Both bench passes exercise each supply on its own, and the outbound pass covers the powered ports and both uplink slots immediately before packing. Any cosmetic or physical defect is published on that unit's listing. The full range is on the Cisco networking hardware page.
