Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series
Modular campus core. The Catalyst 9600 is a chassis core for large aggregation and high-availability designs, with redundant supervisors and high-density 10/25/40/100G line cards.
The Catalyst 9600 is the modular campus core for large enterprises and agencies that need chassis-grade redundancy and the ability to scale the core by adding or upgrading line cards and supervisors. It anchors high-availability designs where many distribution blocks aggregate and convergence must be fast. Where the fixed 9500 fits most campus cores, the 9600 fits the largest aggregation and the longest refresh horizons.
Why Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series
- Modular chassis core with redundant supervisors and power.
- High-density 10/25/40/100G line cards for large aggregation.
- SUP-1 and SUP-2 (9600X) supervisor options for capacity and longevity.
- Built for the largest campus cores and non-stop operation.
What the platform brings
Dual ASIC supervisor choice (UADP 3.0 or Silicon One Q200)
The C9606R chassis takes either the C9600-SUP-1, built on three Cisco UADP 3.0 ASICs, or the C9600X-SUP-2, built on a single 7nm Cisco Silicon One Q200 ASIC with 8GB of on-chip high-bandwidth memory. SUP-1 is tuned for combined L2/L3 distribution and core roles, while SUP-2 targets high-scale L3 core and campus gateway designs.
1+1 supervisor redundancy with SSO, NSF, and ISSU
The redundant C9606R chassis runs two supervisor engines in a 1+1 configuration with Stateful Switchover, Nonstop Forwarding, and full-image In-Service Software Upgrades. Packet forwarding continues during a supervisor switchover so business-critical applications stay online during failures and upgrades.
StackWise Virtual and Graceful Insertion and Removal
Both supervisors support Cisco StackWise Virtual to operate two physical chassis as a single logical switch, plus Graceful Insertion and Removal (GIR) for maintenance. Software Maintenance Upgrade (SMU) hot patching lets you apply fixes for critical bugs and security issues without a reboot between maintenance releases.
MACsec-256 and WAN MACsec encryption
Line cards support 256-bit AES-GCM MACsec link-layer encryption. The C9600X-SUP-2 adds Cisco WAN MACsec (256-bit AES-GCM) when the Catalyst 9000 HSEC license is ordered, protecting traffic across carrier and metro links.
Trustworthy hardware with Trust Anchor Module
Built-in Cisco Trust Anchor Technologies (TAM/TPM) provide hardware and software authenticity for supply-chain trust and mitigation of man-in-the-middle firmware attacks. Trust Anchor capabilities include image signing, Secure Boot, and the Cisco Trust Anchor Module.
Cisco IOS XE programmability and telemetry
The platform runs the model-driven Cisco IOS XE network OS with open APIs over NETCONF and RESTCONF using YANG data models, plus gNMI/gNOI and model-driven streaming telemetry for near-real-time monitoring. Up to 960GB of SATA SSD supports container-based application hosting on the supervisor.
Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series by the numbers
- Chassis
- C9606R, 6 slots (4 line card + 2 supervisor), 8 RU
- System switching capacity
- Up to 9.6 Tbps with SUP-1; up to 25.6 Tbps with SUP-2
- Per-slot bandwidth
- Up to 2.4 Tbps (SUP-1); up to 6.4 Tbps (SUP-2)
- Forwarding rate
- 3 Bpps (SUP-1); 8 Bpps (SUP-2)
- Port density
- Up to 224 SFP56 (10/25/50G), up to 128 QSFP28 (40/100G), up to 8 QSFP-DD 400G
- MAC addresses
- Up to 128,000 (SUP-1); up to 256,000 (SUP-2)
- IPv4 routes
- Up to 256,000 (SUP-1); up to 2,000,000 (SUP-2)
- Packet buffer
- Up to 108 MB (SUP-1); 80 MB shared plus 8 GB HBM (SUP-2)
- Power supplies
- 3000W AC, 2000W AC, 2000W DC; up to 4 bays, Combined or N+1 redundant mode
- Redundancy
- 1+1 supervisors with SSO, NSF, full-image ISSU; 9-fan tray
Figures are from the published family data sheet and vary by model and configuration. Confirm exact specs for your SKUs in a validated quote.
Find the Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series model that fits
Compare the models in this family. Open any datasheet to read the full specs right here.
Modular chassis
Catalyst 9606 chassis
6-slot modular core.
- Redundant supervisors
- Redundant power
- High-density line cards
Supervisors
Supervisor 1
First-generation core supervisor.
- Stateful redundancy
- 10/25/40/100G line cards
Catalyst 9600X (SUP-2)
Next-generation capacity.
- Higher throughput
- 400G-ready roadmap
Datasheets & guides
Built for deployments like these
- Enterprise campus core or collapsed-core running Layer 3 routing at scale with redundant supervisors
- Distribution and aggregation layer with combined Layer 2 and Layer 3 forwarding and high SFP port density
- Campus internet gateway requiring high IPv4 or IPv6 route scale on the Silicon One Q200 supervisor
- SD-Access fabric border or spine and BGP EVPN VXLAN deployments
- High-speed aggregation with 100G and 400G QSFP-DD uplinks to service provider or data center switches
Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series questions, answered
What is the difference between the SUP-1 and SUP-2 supervisor engines?
The C9600-SUP-1 uses three Cisco UADP 3.0 ASICs for combined Layer 2 and Layer 3 distribution and core deployments, delivering up to 9.6 Tbps and 3 Bpps forwarding with up to 128,000 MAC addresses and 256,000 IPv4 routes. The C9600X-SUP-2 uses a single Cisco Silicon One Q200 ASIC for high-scale Layer 3 core and gateway roles, delivering up to 25.6 Tbps and 8 Bpps with up to 256,000 MAC addresses and 2,000,000 IPv4 routes. Both supervisors can coexist in the same network in complementary roles.
How does the Catalyst 9600 deliver high availability?
The C9606R chassis supports two supervisor engines in a 1+1 redundant configuration with Stateful Switchover, Nonstop Forwarding, and full-image In-Service Software Upgrades, so forwarding continues during a supervisor switchover. It also supports StackWise Virtual, Graceful Insertion and Removal, and Software Maintenance Upgrade hot patching without a reboot. The chassis adds a nine-fan redundant fan tray and up to four power supplies in Combined or N+1 redundant mode.
What encryption and trust features are built in?
Line cards support 256-bit AES-GCM MACsec link encryption, and the C9600X-SUP-2 adds Cisco WAN MACsec when the Catalyst 9000 HSEC license is ordered. The platform also includes Cisco Trust Anchor Technologies for hardware and software integrity, with image signing, Secure Boot, and the Cisco Trust Anchor Module to protect against compromised firmware and supply-chain attacks.
What port speeds and densities does the chassis support?
The C9606R scales up to 224 native 10/25/50-Gigabit SFP56 ports (or up to 256 SFP using QSFP-4SFP breakout cables), up to 128 native 40/100-Gigabit QSFP28 ports, and up to 8 native 400-Gigabit QSFP-DD ports, depending on the line cards and supervisor installed. A 48-port multigigabit RJ45 copper line card is also available for 100M through 10G over copper cabling.
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