Cisco’s Catalyst C9000 series switches are a new addition to their line of enterprise-grade networking equipment. These switches are designed to meet the needs of modern data centers, offering high-performance, scalability, and security features.
One of the key features of the C9000 series is its high-performance architecture. These switches are built on Cisco’s ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) technology, which allows them to handle large amounts of data traffic with minimal latency. This makes them well-suited for use in data centers and other high-traffic environments.
Another important feature of the C9000 series is its scalability. These switches can be easily expanded to accommodate growing network needs, making them a great choice for organizations that are looking to expand their data centers. Additionally, the C9000 series is built to work with other Cisco networking equipment, making it easy to integrate into existing networks.
Finally, the C9000 series is designed with security in mind. These switches include a variety of security features, such as advanced threat protection and secure boot, to help protect against cyber threats. Additionally, they can be integrated with other security tools, such as Cisco’s Identity Services Engine, to provide a comprehensive security solution.
Overall, the Cisco Catalyst C9000 series switches are a powerful and flexible option for organizations looking to upgrade their data center networks. With high-performance, scalability, and security features, these switches are well-suited to meet the needs of modern data centers.
What we will focus on today is the Catalyst 9300 series. Let’s dive in.
What is the Catalyst 9300 series?
Cisco’s Catalyst 9300 series switches are a popular choice for enterprise networks. These switches are designed to provide a high-performance, secure, and scalable network infrastructure.
One of the key features of the 9300 series is its high-performance architecture. These switches are built on Cisco’s unified access data plane (UADP) ASIC, which allows them to handle large amounts of data traffic with minimal latency. This makes them ideal for use in data centers and other high-traffic environments.
Another important feature of the 9300 series is its security. These switches include a variety of security features, such as advanced threat protection, secure boot, and Cisco DNA Center for network management and security. Additionally, they can be integrated with other security tools, such as Cisco’s Identity Services Engine, to provide a comprehensive security solution.
The 9300 series also boasts scalability, with the ability to support a wide range of network topologies and architectures. The switch can be easily expanded to accommodate growing network needs, making it a great choice for organizations that are looking to expand their networks. Additionally, the 9300 series is built to work with other Cisco networking equipment, making it easy to integrate into existing networks.
The 9300 series also supports a wide range of network protocols, including IPv4 and IPv6, ensuring compatibility with a variety of devices and applications. Additionally, it includes advanced QoS and telemetry features, which can help organizations optimize their network performance and troubleshoot issues.
In summary, the Cisco Catalyst 9300 series is a powerful and versatile option for organizations looking to upgrade their network infrastructure. With high-performance, scalability, and security features, these switches are well-suited to meet the needs of modern enterprise networks.
A limitation of the Cisco Catalyst series is that an Ethernet port on a Cisco Catalyst Switch running IOS can only be configured as either an access port or a trunk port, but not both at the same time. Access ports are used to connect devices such as PCs and servers to the switch, while trunk ports are used to connect the switch to other switches or routers.
How does the Catalyst 9300 series offer scalability?
Scalability is a crucial aspect of network infrastructure, and the Cisco Catalyst 9300 series switches are designed to provide a highly scalable solution for enterprise networks.
One of the key features of the 9300 series that contribute to its scalability is its modular design. The switches can be easily expanded with additional modules and power supply modules to accommodate growing network needs. This allows organizations to start with a smaller configuration and expand as needed, without having to replace the entire switch.
Below is a list of modules that work best with the Cisco Catalyst 9300 series:
Network module | Details |
Catalyst 9300X 8x 10G/1G Multigigabit Network Module | |
Catalyst 9300X 8x 25G/10G/1G Network Module | |
Catalyst 9300X 2x 100G/40G Network Module | |
Catalyst 9300X 4x 100G/40G Network Module | |
Catalyst 9300 Series 4x 1G Network Module | |
Catalyst 9300 Series 4x Multigigabit Network Module | |
Catalyst 9300 Series 8x 10G/1G Network Module | |
Catalyst 9300 Series 2x 40G Network Module | |
Catalyst 9300 Series 2x 25G/10G/1G Network Module |
Catalyst C9300 Modules
Another aspect of the 9300 series that contributes to its scalability is its support for virtualization. These switches support virtualization technologies such as Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) and Cisco SD-Access, which allow for the creation of virtual networks within a physical network. This makes it easy to segment networks and create isolated environments for different departments or applications, while still maintaining a single physical infrastructure.
In addition to the support for virtualization, the 9300 series also supports a wide range of network protocols, including IPv4 and IPv6, ensuring compatibility with a variety of devices and applications. This ensures that the switch can adapt to the changing needs of an organization and its network.
Finally, the 9300 series also includes advanced QoS and telemetry features, which can help organizations optimize their network performance and troubleshoot issues. These features provide visibility into network traffic patterns, allowing administrators to identify and resolve bottlenecks before they can impact performance.
In summary, the Cisco Catalyst 9300 series is a highly scalable network switch option for enterprise networks. Its modular design, support for virtualization, and advanced telemetry features allow organizations to easily adapt to changing network needs, while maintaining a single, unified infrastructure.
How does the Cisco Catalyst 9300 ensures security?
Security is a critical concern for any network, and the Cisco Catalyst 9300 series switches are designed to provide a secure and robust network infrastructure. These switches include a variety of security features, such as advanced threat protection, secure boot, and Cisco DNA Center for network management and security. Additionally, they can be integrated with other security tools, such as Cisco’s Identity Services Engine, to provide a comprehensive security solution.
One of the key security features of the 9300 series is its advanced threat protection. These switches include a variety of security features such as Cisco TrustSec, which helps to protect against cyber threats by identifying and isolating compromised devices on the network. Additionally, the 9300 series is designed to secure boot, ensuring that the switch is running only authorized software.
Another security feature of the 9300 series is its integration with Cisco DNA Center. This network management platform provides a single point of control for managing the security of the entire network. Cisco DNA Center allows administrators to easily identify and respond to security threats, as well as automate security and compliance tasks.
The 9300 series also integrates with Cisco’s Identity Services Engine (ISE), which is a network policy control platform. The ISE allows administrators to define and enforce security policies based on user and device attributes. This ensures that only authorized devices and users have access to the network.
In addition, the 9300 series supports a wide range of security protocols such as SSH, HTTPS, and SNMPv3, which helps to protect against unauthorized access and tampering. The switch also includes features such as Access Control Lists (ACLs) and Port Security, which can be used to restrict access to the network.
In summary, the Cisco Catalyst 9300 series switches provide a robust and secure network infrastructure, with advanced threat protection, secure boot, integration with Cisco DNA Center, and support for a wide range of security protocols. These features help organizations to protect their networks against cyber threats and ensure compliance with industry regulations.
Are the Cisco Catalyst 9300 switches stackable?
Stackability is an important feature of network switches as it allows multiple switches to be connected together to function as a single logical unit, providing increased availability, scalability, and ease of management. The Cisco Catalyst 9300 series switches are designed to provide a highly stackable solution for enterprise networks.
One of the key features of the 9300 series that contribute to its stackability is its support for Cisco StackWise-160 technology. This allows multiple 9300 switches to be connected together using special stacking cables, creating a single logical switch. This allows administrators to easily manage and configure multiple switches as a single unit, reducing the complexity of managing multiple devices.
Another aspect of the 9300 series that contributes to its stackability is its support for Cisco StackPower. This feature allows the power supplies of multiple switches to be connected together, providing redundancy and ensuring that the stack continues to function even if one power supply fails.
The 9300 series also supports the use of a Virtual Switching System (VSS), which allows two switches to work together as a single logical switch. This provides increased availability and scalability, as well as simplified management.
Finally, the 9300 series also includes advanced telemetry features, which can help organizations optimize their network performance and troubleshoot issues. These features provide visibility into network traffic patterns, allowing administrators to identify and resolve bottlenecks before they can impact performance.
In summary, the Cisco Catalyst 9300 series is a highly stackable network switch option for enterprise networks. Its support for Cisco StackWise-160, StackPower, and VSS, allows multiple switches to be connected together and function as a single logical unit, providing increased availability, scalability, and ease of management. Additionally, the advanced telemetry features provide visibility into the stack performance and allows for better troubleshooting.
Final Verdict on Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches
In a nutshell the CISCO Catalyst 9300 series offers all the basic recipe for a successfully run and administered network. Be it scalability, security or advanced level virtualization, the Catalyst 9300 series have you covered pretty darn well.
Although we have tried to cover most parts of the CISCO Catalyst C9300 series switches, you might also want to check out the datasheets for the Catalyst 9300 switches here.
