Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms

The Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms are high-performance cloud edge platforms designed for accelerated services, multi-layer security, cloud-native agility, and edge intelligence to accelerate your journey to cloud.

Foundation for Software-Defined WAN

Cisco^® Catalyst^® 8500 Series Edge Platforms (Catalyst 8500) with Cisco IOS^® XE SD-WAN Software deliver Cisco’s secure, cloud-scale SD-WAN solution for aggregation sites. Featuring the all-new third-generation Cisco Quantum Flow Processor (QFP), the Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms are built for services from the ground up. The Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms are compact 1RU devices with interface flexibility options, including 1GE, 10GE, 40GE, and 100GE ports. Powered by Cisco IOS XE, fully programmable software architecture, and API support, these platforms can facilitate automation at scale to achieve zero-touch IT capability while migrating workloads to the cloud.

Product overview

Product highlights

Table 1.             Product highlights

Platform details

Models and configurations

The C8500-12X4QC model (Figure 1) allows for a maximum of 240GE ports to be enabled simultaneously. It offers:

●      12x 1/10GE ports

●      2x 40GE ports

●      2x 40/100GE ports

The C8500-12X model (Figure 2) offers 12x 1/10GE ports.

C8500-12X4QC

C8500-12X with 12x 1/10GE ports

Table 2 provides details on each model’s configurations and port density. Table 3 shows the maximum port configurations for the Cisco Catalyst C8500-12X4QC model.

Table 2.             Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series configurations and port density

Table 3.             Maximum ports configurations for Cisco Catalyst C8500-12X4QC

Figures 3 and 4 are a series of images that highlight the Cisco Catalyst C8500-12X4QC model’s port options in each of its bays.

Bay 0 + bay 1 port options

Bay 2 port options

Table 4a.        Cisco controller mode (SD-WAN) performance specifications

Table 4b.        Cisco autonomous mode (non SD-WAN) performance specifications

Table 4c.        Cisco autonomous mode (non SD-WAN) system scalability

Overall platform benefits

Accelerated services with Cisco Software-Defined WAN

Cisco SD-WAN is a set of intelligent software services that allow you to connect users, devices, and branch office locations reliably and securely across a diverse set of WAN transport links. Cisco Catalyst 8000 Series Edge Platforms can dynamically route traffic across the “best” link based on up-to-the-minute application and network conditions for great application experiences. You get tight control over application performance, bandwidth usage, data privacy, and availability of your WAN links—control you need as your branches conduct greater volumes of mission-critical business with both on-premises and cloud controllers.

Application optimization

Ensure that SD-WAN networks meet Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) and maintain strong performance, even if network problems occur. With multi-cloud access, you can accelerate your SaaS applications with a simple template push from the SD-WAN controller.

Multi-layer security

You can now move your traditional and complex WAN networks to a more agile software-defined WAN with integrated security. The Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms feature on-premises and cloud-based security options.

Cloud-native agility with programmable software architecture

Cisco continues to offer a feature-rich traditional IOS XE routing stack on the Cisco Catalyst 8000 Series Edge Platforms. IP Routing, IPSec, Quality of Service (QoS), firewall, Network Address Translation (NAT), Network-Based Application Recognition (NBAR), Flexible NetFlow (FNF), and many other features are part of Cisco IOS XE, a fully programmable software architecture with API support and a wide variety of protocols and configurations. With an integrated software image and a single binary file, you can now choose between Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN and Cisco IOS XE. And easily move from one to the other when you choose to do so.

5G-ready

The Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms are built for future 5G networks. These platforms support external cellular gateway modules with LTE/5G capability for improved throughputs and latency.

Compact form factor

The Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge platforms feature compact 1RU platforms with rich interface options, including 1G, 10G, 40G, and 100G ports. Featuring the highly efficient third-generation QFP, the Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms are built without compromising on performance and ports.

Memory, storage, and accessory options

Table 5.             Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series memory, storage, and accessory options

Optics and transceivers modules

A full list of optics and transceivers is available at: https://tmgmatrix.cisco.com/?si=C8500

Resiliency and high availability

Platform redundancy is critical, as any downtime has direct impact to a customer’s business. The Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms ship with high-efficiency dual power supplies by default for power supply redundancy. All Catalyst 8500 models support software redundancy with two IOS XE processes running on a single device (IOS XE routing mode) for additional control-plane resiliency.

Power supplies

Table 6.             Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series power supply specifications

RFID tags: Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms have an embedded RFID tag that holds Serial Number and Product ID for easy asset and inventory management using commercial RFID readers.

The RFID tag is external and can be easily removed if needed or can be unselected at the time of ordering.

Software requirements

Table 7.             Minimum software requirements for Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms

Table 8.             Software features and protocols for autonomous mode

Table 9.             Software features and protocols for controller mode

Specifications

Mechanical specifications

Table 10.          Mechanical specifications for the Cisco Catalyst Series 8500 Edge Platforms

Safety and compliance

Table 11.          Safety and compliance specifications for the Cisco Catalyst Series 8500 Edge Platforms

Licensing

All Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms are offered only with a Cisco DNA Software subscription. Only Cisco DNA Advantage and Cisco DNA Premier are available for the Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms.

For more details, refer to this C8500 ordering guide:

Ordering information

Table 12.          Orderable SKUs for the Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms

Services

Cisco Customer Experience Support Services for Catalyst 8000 platforms and Cisco DNA Software for SD-WAN and Routing

This section discusses the Cisco Support Services available for Catalyst 8000 platforms and associated Cisco DNA Software for SD-WAN and Routing, as well as optional Support Service offers.

●      Catalyst 8000 platforms: Cisco Solution Support is the default and recommended Cisco Support Service. However, Cisco Solution Support is not mandatory; it can be removed or replaced with another Cisco support service or partner service per the customer’s preference.

●      Cisco DNA Software for SD-WAN and Routing: Cisco Solution Support is the default Cisco support service. However, Cisco Solution Support is not mandatory; the customer may choose to use the Cisco Subscription Embedded Software Support included with the purchase of this software.

Note:     

●      When Solution Support is selected, it must be ordered on both the Catalyst 8000 platform and Cisco DNA Software for SD-WAN and Routing for complete customer entitlement to this premium support service.

●      SD-WAN and Routing, with both Solution Support or Cisco Subscription Embedded Software Support, customers are entitled to maintenance releases and software updates for Cisco DNA SD-WAN and Routing software only. The support for the Catalyst 8000 platform’s OS and network stack, along with OS updates, is covered by the support contract on the Catalyst 8000 platform.

Cisco Solution Support is a premium support purpose-built for today’s multiproduct, multivendor network environments and provides:

●      A primary point of contact centralizing support across a solution deployment

●      Solution, product, and interoperability expertise

●      No requirement for customers to isolate their issue to a product to open a case

●      30-minute service response objective for Severity 1 and 2 cases

●      Prioritized case handling over product support cases

●      Product support team coordination (Cisco and Solution Support Alliance Partners)

●      Accountability for multiproduct, multivendor issue management from first call to resolution, no matter where the issue resides

Learn more about Cisco Solution Support at https://www.cisco.com/go/solutionsupport

Cisco Subscription Embedded Software Support includes:

●      Access to support and troubleshooting via online tools and web case submission. Case severity or escalation guidelines are not applicable.

●      Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) access 24 hours per day, 7 days per week to assist by telephone, or web case submission and online tools with application software use and troubleshooting issues.

●      Access to www.cisco.com, providing helpful technical and general information on Cisco products, as well as access to Cisco’s online Software Center library.

Note:     No additional products or fees are required to receive embedded support for Cisco DNA Software for SD-WAN and Routing. However, if using embedded support for this software, hardware support for the Catalyst 8000 platforms must be purchased separately, as Cisco Subscription Embedded Software Support does not cover hardware. In this case, Cisco Smart Net Total Care Service is recommended for Catalyst 8000 platforms.

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