Cisco C9500-32QC-M Full English Product Description

Product Overview

Port Configuration

• 32× universal QSFP28 fiber ports: support 40G QSFP+ or 100G QSFP28 transceivers; each port supports breakout to 4×10G or 4×25G via split cables for flexible low-speed aggregation
• Out-of-band management interfaces: 1×RJ45 console, 1×Mini-USB console, 1×USB Type-A storage port, 1×dedicated 1G out-of-band management port
• All ports support hardware-accelerated 256-bit MACsec encryption, LACP link aggregation and jumbo frames up to 9198 bytes
• No built-in copper or PoE ports, fully optimized for high-speed fiber interconnection

Core Hardware Specifications

• Switching Capacity: 3.2 Tbps full-duplex non-blocking
• Forwarding Rate: 1 Bpps wire-speed packet forwarding for 64-byte frames
• Form Factor: 1U rack-mount, front-to-back airflow design
• Computing & Storage: 2.4 GHz 4-core x86 CPU, 16 GB DDR4 DRAM, 16 GB SSD flash storage, large unified deep packet buffer to absorb burst traffic
• Stacking: StackWise-480 stacking (480 Gbps stacking bandwidth), up to 8 switches per logical stack; compatible with StackWise Virtual dual-box virtualization for chassis-level redundancy
• Power & Cooling: Dual hot-swappable platinum high-efficiency AC power supply slots; N+1 redundant field-replaceable fan trays for non-disruptive maintenance
• Environmental Parameters: Operating temperature 0°C–40°C; storage -20°C–65°C; relative humidity 5%–90% non-condensing
• Reliability: Extended MTBF for 24/7 continuous core network operation

Scalability Table Capacities

• MAC Address Table: 64,000 entries
• IPv4 Routes: Up to 256,000 combined direct & indirect routes
• IPv6 Routes: Up to 256,000 combined direct & indirect routes
• Total IPv4/IPv6 Multicast Routes: 48,000
• Hardware-Accelerated Security ACL Entries: 18,000
• Hardware-Accelerated QoS ACL Entries: 18,000
• Flexible NetFlow Records: Up to 512,000
• Supported VLAN IDs: 4,094; full SVI Layer 3 inter-VLAN routing

Network Meraki (M License) Complete Feature Suite

Hybrid Meraki Cloud + IOS XE Local Management

• Native Meraki Dashboard single-pane-of-glass cloud orchestration: unified configuration, real-time telemetry, alerting, zero-touch provisioning and packet capture across Meraki MX/MR/MS devices and Catalyst 9500 core switches
• Full local IOS XE CLI, on-box web UI access for granular advanced tuning alongside cloud automation workflows
• Meraki open API for cross-platform network automation and custom reporting

Full Enterprise Layer 2 & Layer 3 Routing

• Complete Layer 2 toolkit: STP/RSTP/MSTP, LACP, private VLAN, Q-in-Q tunneling, SPAN/RSPAN/ERSPAN
• Full dynamic routing stack: Static routing, RIP, multi-area OSPF, full EIGRP, BGP, IS-IS, PIM-SM/SSM multicast, HSRP, VRRP, VRF-lite multi-tenancy, policy-based routing (PBR), basic NAT/PAT, MPLS L2/L3 VPN

Hardware-Accelerated Zero-Trust Security

• Secure boot, Trust Anchor module, digital image signature validation to prevent firmware tampering
• Line-rate 256-bit MACsec port encryption, 802.1X/EAP authentication, CoPP control plane protection
• Cisco TrustSec SGT micro-segmentation, native ISE integration, hardware ACL filtering, threat traffic policing and encrypted traffic analytics

Programmability & Automation

• Local APIs: NETCONF/YANG, RESTCONF, Python Guest Shell, on-board container hosting via SSD storage
• Full compatibility with Cisco DNA Center for SD-Access fabric deployment, intent-based networking and fabric border node functions

High Availability Mechanisms

• SSO/NSF graceful restart, cross-stack LACP multi-chassis link aggregation, ISSU hitless stacking firmware upgrades
• Hot-swappable redundant power supplies and fans with zero service interruption during maintenance

Advanced QoS & Multicast Optimization

• Hierarchical multi-level QoS scheduling, traffic policing/shaping, WRED congestion avoidance
• Dedicated hardware multicast replication optimized for IPTV, video conferencing and large-scale media streaming

Key Difference vs C9500-32QC-A (Network Advantage)

• C9500-32QC-M: Network Meraki license with identical full Layer3, security and automation features as Network Advantage, plus exclusive native Meraki cloud unified dashboard management
• C9500-32QC-A: Network Advantage license, primary management via Cisco DNA Center, no built-in Meraki cloud integration

Typical Deployment Scenarios

• Hybrid Meraki wireless/security + Catalyst core unified campus aggregation layer
• Medium-to-large data center leaf-spine fabric with dense 40G/100G fiber interconnections
• Multi-campus inter-building high-speed fiber backbone core
• SD-Access fabric border or aggregation nodes requiring centralized Meraki cloud monitoring
• Enterprise networks mixing Meraki access gear and Catalyst high-speed core switches

Short Catalog Version (For BOM & Quotation)