As Campus Access ‘downlink’ speeds (e.g., 2.5G, 5G and 10G) and the number of Access switches continue to grow, this forces Enterprises to also increase the ‘uplink’ speeds and number of links to Core/Distribution to prevent bottlenecks and ensure optimal performance. Enterprises also prefer to reuse the existing cable infrastructure to migrate from existing 1/10G SFP to 25G or 50G SFP, or from existing 40G to 100G or 400G QSFP for cost-savings and to minimize disruptions during the upgrade. So, there is a need for a higher port-density line card in Catalyst 9600 series with a larger number of “downlink” 10/25/50G speeds ports, and a small number of “uplink” 40G/100G speeds ports.
In 2022, Cisco launched the 2nd Generation Catalyst 9600 X-series Supervisor 2 (C9600X-SUP-2), based on the SiliconOne Q200 ASIC, along with 2nd Generation line cards (C9600-LC-40YL4CD and C9600X-LC-32CD) to help transition from Catalyst 6K XL install base. The Catalyst C9606R with C9600X-SUP-2 unlocks up to a 12.8Tbps system capacity, with up to 3.2Tbps per-slot capacity, but still does not solve the higher port-density challenge.
Now, Cisco is introducing a new 2nd Generation high-density C9600X-LC-56YL4C (10G/25G/50G SFP56 + 40G/100G QSFP28) combo line card for the Catalyst 9600 Modular Campus Core Switching Platform with an innovative 3 row SFP cage for the first time. This new line card can provide up to 256 ports of 10/25G SFP interfaces on a C9606 chassis (224 native ports + 32 ports from breakout* ports). This is also the first line card in Catalyst 9600 Series which can support IPsec* in Hardware.
Here are the details of line card :
- 3.2Tbps with Supervisor 2
- 56 x SFP56 ports, 10/25/50GE
- 4 x QSFP28 ports, 40/100GE
- NOT supported with Supervisor 1
- 8 x CDR5M 2.0 PHYs
- MACsec, WAN-MACsec (ClearTag) and IPsec*
- IEEE 1588 & PTPv2 (Precision Time Protocol)*
- Hitless MUX (HMUX)
*Software Roadmap
In summary, the networking landscape is evolving with a focus on higher speeds, migration to secure technologies, and the importance of maintaining compatibility with existing infrastructure. The demand for high port-density in the Catalyst 9600 Series requires scalable and versatile networking solutions to meet the diverse needs of enterprise customers in the face of increasing data demands.
With up to 56-64 10/25/50G SFP ports per line card – the new C9600X-LC-56YL4C will be particularly attractive to Enterprise customers who require a large and high-dense Core layer campus network environments beyond the number provided by C9600-LC-40YL4CD and C9600-LC-48YL. Finally, this line card is ready to enable large scale and high-performance secure transport with MACsec and WAN MACsec available at FCS and IPsec in the future.
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