Introduction

The Cisco® Catalyst® 9500 Series Switches are the next generation of enterprise-class core and aggregation layer switches, supporting full programmability and serviceability. Based on an x86 CPU, the Catalyst 9500 Series is Cisco's lead purpose-built fixed core and aggregation enterprise switching platform, built for security, IoT, and cloud. The switches come with a 4-core, 2.4-GHz CPU, 16-GB DDR4 memory, and 16-GB internal storage.

The Catalyst 9500 Series is the industry's first purpose-built 40 Gigabit Ethernet line of switches targeted for the enterprise campus. These switches deliver unmatched table scale (MAC/route/ACL) and buffering for enterprise applications. The Catalyst 9500 Series includes nonblocking 40G Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable (QSFP+) and 1G/10G Small Form-factor Pluggable Plus (SFP/SFP+) switches with granular port densities that fit diverse campus needs. The switches support advanced routing and infrastructure services (such as Multiprotocol Label Switching [MPLS] Layer 2 and Layer 3 VPNs, Multicast VPN [MVPN], and Network Address Translation [NAT]); software-defined access border capabilities (such as a host tracking database, cross-domain connectivity, and VPN Routing and Forwarding [VRF]-aware Locator/ID Separation Protocol [LISP]); and network system virtualization with Cisco StackWise® virtual technology that are critical for their placement in the campus core. The platform also supports all the foundational high-availability capabilities such as patching, Graceful Insertion and Removal (GIR), Cisco Nonstop Forwarding with Stateful Switchover (NSF/SSO), redundant platinum-rated power supplies, and fans.