Native IOS

There are some limitations to running two operating systems, not including the most obvious
one of having to understand and remember two different sets of commands. The CatOS was
written before Cisco acquired the Catalyst company, and it represents a different configuration
philosophy. It is cumbersome, unfriendly, and very limited when compared with the Cisco IOS,
which is mature and flexible.
It makes sense to be able to integrate the complete layer 2 and layer 3 functionality available
in the combined switching engines, and this can only be leveraged through the use of an operating
system that understands everything. Enter IOS, ready to run in native format on the integrated
platform.
Upgrading the IOS is a well-defined process involving a series of steps:
 Confirm that your platform will support the new IOS.
 Confirm that you have the correct IOS from Cisco.
 Establish a Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server that your switch can access.
 Ensure that your switch has sufficient flash memory for the new image.
 Copy the new IOS into flash.
 Reload the switch with the new IOS running.