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Question

Difficulty: EasyPhysical Interface and Cabling Types

A network administrator needs to perform the initial out-of-band configuration of a newly unboxed Cisco Catalyst switch by connecting a laptop directly to the switch RJ-45 console port. Which cable type must be used to establish this management connection?

  1. Rollover cableAnswer
  2. B
    Straight-through cable
  3. C
    Crossover cable
  4. D
    Single-mode fiber patch cable

Answer

Rollover cable
A rollover cable is designed specifically for out-of-band management access to Cisco networking device console ports. It completely reverses the pin order from pin 1 through 8 on one connector to pins 8 through 1 on the opposing RJ-45 connector, allowing serial communication between a terminal/laptop and the device management hardware.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the purpose of the interface link
The objective is local out-of-band administrative access through the switch's RJ-45 console interface.
Console management uses serial communication signal pinouts rather than standard Ethernet network data pinouts.
2
Determine the required cabling pinout structure
A rollover cable (also known as a Yost cable or console cable) reverses the pin ordering from end to end (pin 1 to pin 8, pin 2 to pin 7, etc.), aligning the terminal adapter serial signals with the Cisco console port.
Standard Ethernet cable pinouts (T568A or T568B straight-through and crossover cables) do not map the required serial transmit and receive signals correctly.

Key Concept

Cisco Console Port Cabling and Rollover Pinouts
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Topics

Physical Interface and Cabling Types

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