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 leading purpose-built fixed core and aggregation enterprise switching platform, designed 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 non-blocking 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.