Cisco Catalyst instant access is a solution to dramatically simplify the campus network operations, a game changer for business transformation creating opportunities for innovation in the campus. It simplifies operation through a single point of operation and management for campus access and backbone. The Cisco Catalyst 6800ia access switches are connected to the Cisco Catalyst 6500 or 6800, and the entire configuration works as a single extended switch with a single management domain. This allows Catalyst 6800 features to be extended to network access e.g. MPLS/EVN in access. This solution is optimized for wired devices with centralized wireless. The access switches can support Power over Ethernet Plus (PoE+), and the access switches can be stacked together for higher port density and resiliency. IT has flexibility to deploy the Cisco Catalyst Instant Access solution on all or a subset of the campus network. IT can reuse existing network cabling infrastructure to deploy this solution.

The Cisco Catalyst 6800ia solution offers network administrators the ability to look at buildings in a campus network as a single switch. The entire building can be viewed as a single management entity. The Cisco Catalyst 6800ia solution is managed by the parent Cisco Catalyst 6800 switch. The Cisco Catalyst 6800ia solution offers feature consistency across the access and distribution layers of the campus Ethernet network. The Cisco Catalyst 6800ia is an extension of the Cisco Catalyst 6800 parent switch. The Cisco Catalyst 6800ia solution is very resilient with its support of multichassis Ether Channel and stacking. The Cisco Catalyst 6800ia solution does not use Spanning Tree protocol in the links between the Cisco Catalyst 6800ia switch and the Cisco Catalyst 6800 parent switch.