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.
Platforms and configurations
The C8500-20X6C platform allows all ports to be enabled simultaneously. It offers:
The C8500-12X4QC platform allows for a maximum of 240GE ports to be enabled simultaneously. It offers:
The C8500-12X platform offers 12x 1/10GE ports.
The C8500L-8S4X platform offers 4x 1/10GE and 8x 1GE ports.
Nomenclature Note
Catalyst 8500 Edge Platforms refer to C8500-12X, C8500-12X4QC and C8500-20X6C.
Catalyst 8500L Edge Platform refers to C8500L-8S4X.
Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms refer to Catalyst 8500 and Catalyst 8500L Edge Platforms together.
Foundation for Software-Defined WAN
Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms (Catalyst 8500 and Catalyst 8500L) with Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software deliver Cisco’s secure, cloud-scale SD-WAN solution for aggregation sites. The Catalyst 8500 Edge Platforms feature 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 8500L Edge Platform features an x86 based platform architecture that is purpose built to continue delivering the same experience as an ASR1000 platform. The Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms are compact 1RU or 3U (Catalyst C8500-20X6C) devices with flexible interface 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.
Table 1. Catalyst 8500 Edge Platform Product highlights
Product feature | Benefits and description |
All-new third-generation Quantum Flow Processor (QFP) ASIC | ●Inline hardware-accelerated encryption for high-throughput IPsec and MACsec ●High-performance routing and SD-WAN with services |
IPsec | ●Up to 5X higher IPsec throughput than 2nd Gen QFP devices |
Multicore control processor | ●Intel x86 CPU with 16 GB memory default (up to 64 GB memory) for high-speed control plane processes |
Interface flexibility | ●Options for 1GE, 10GE, 40GE, and 100GE ports |
DRAM | ●All Catalyst 8500 Edge Platforms have 16 GB default DRAM and can be upgraded to 32 GB and 64 GB for higher scale. C8500-20X6C has 64GB of DRAM by default |
SSD storage | ●Default 32-GB eUSB for storage with optional 480-GB SSD upgrade. C8500-20X6C has 480-GB-SSD as default (Maximum available). |
Redundancy | ●High-efficiency dual power supplies by default for power supply redundancy ●N+1 redundancy High-efficiency power supplies by default for power supply redundancy on the C8500-20X6C ●All Catalyst 8500 Edge Platforms support software redundancy with 2 Cisco IOS processes running on a single device (IOS XE routing mode) |
Form factor | ●Compact 1RU form factor on the C8500-12X and C8500-12X4QC ●Enhanced 3RU form factor C8500-20X6C |
Integrated security | ●Hardware-anchored Secure Boot and Secure Unique Device Identification (SUDI) support for Plug and Play to verify the identity of the hardware and software |
Table 2. Catalyst 8500L Edge Platform Product highlights
Product feature | Benefits and description |
x86 Based Platform Architecture | ●Advanced flow based forwarding reduces overhead for stateful features ●Dynamic core allocation architecture that can leverage data plane cores for I/O and service plane as per-user configuration. ●Higher performance routing and SD-WAN with services |
IPsec | ●Double the IPsec throughput compared to ASR1001-X, 11Gbps (double the ASR1001-X IPSEC performance of 4.5 Gbps) |
High Performance Control Plane | ●Intel x86 CPU with multiple cores allocated to control plane with 16 GB memory default (up to 64 GB memory) for high-speed control plane processes |
Interface flexibility | ●Includes 1G and flexible 1G/10G interfaces |
DRAM | ●All Catalyst 8500 Edge Platforms have 16 GB default DRAM and can be upgraded to 32 GB or 64 GB for higher scale |
Flash storage | ●Default 16G eUSB for storage and can be upgraded 32G eUSB for additional storage on the platform |
SSD Storage | ●Optional SSD M.2 NVMe 2TB upgrade for additional storage on the platform |
Redundancy | ●High-efficiency dual power supplies by default for power supply redundancy ●All Catalyst 8500 Edge Platforms support software redundancy with 2 Cisco IOS processes running on a single device (IOS XE routing mode) |
Form factor | ●Compact 1RU form factor |
Integrated security | ●Hardware-anchored Secure Boot and Secure Unique Device Identification (SUDI) support for Plug and Play to verify the identity of the hardware and software |
Table 3. Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series configurations and port density
Platform | Description | Max 1GE ports | Max 10GE ports | Max 40GE ports | Max 100GE ports |
C8500-20X6C* | 20-port 1/10GE, | 20* | 20* | 6* | 6* |
C8500-12X4QC** | 12-port 1/10GE, | 12** | 12**, *** | 4** | 2** |
C8500-12X | 12-port 1/10GE | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
C8500L-8S4X | 4-port 1/10GE, | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
* All interfaces (total of 800 Gbps bandwidth) can be enabled simultaneously
* Up to 240GE of ports can be enabled simultaneously
* By using 4x10GE breakout cables for the QSFP 40G ports, a total of 24 10GE interfaces can be configured. This is not supported in SD-WAN mode.
Table 1. Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms Specifications
Part number | C8500-20X6C | C8500-12X4QC | C8500-12X | C8500L-8S4X |
SD-WAN IPsec Throughput (1400Bytes, clear text) | Up to 350Gbps | UP to 96Gbps | Up to 51Gbps | Up to 19Gbps |
SD-WAN IPsec Throughput (IMIX*, clear text**) | Up to 100Gbps | Up to 31.9Gbps | Up to 22.6Gbps | Up to 10Gbps |
SD-WAN Overlay Tunnels scale | 8000 | 8000 | 8000 | 6000 (8000) |
IPv4 Forwarding Throughput (1400 bytes) | Up to 500Gbps | Up to 197Gbps | Up to 118Gbps | Up to 39Gbps |
IPsec Throughput (1400 bytes, clear text**) | Up to 400Gbps | Up to 135Gbps | Up to 84Gbps | Up to 19Gbps |
Number of IPsec SVTI Tunnels | 4000 | 4000 | 4000 | 4000 |
Number of ACLs per system | 8000 | 4000 | 4000 | 4000 |
Number of IPv4 ACEs per system | 380K | 380K | 47K | 50K |
Number of IPv4 Routes | 4M | 4M w/ default 16GB | 4M w/ default 16GB | 4M w/ default 16GB |
Number of IPv6 Routes | 4M | 4M w/ default 16GB | 4M w/ default 16GB | 4M w/ default 16GB |
Number of Queues | 256K | 256K | 256K | 16K |
Number of NAT Sessions | 32M | 16M | 12M | 2M |
Number of Firewall Sessions | 32M | 6M | 6M | 2M |
Number of VRFs | 8000 | 8000 | 8000 | 8000 |
Dimensions (H x W x D) | 26.85 in. L x | 1.73 in. x | 1.73 in. x | 1.73 in.x |
Rack Units (RU) | 3RU | 1RU | 1RU | 1RU |
Chassis weight with 2x AC power supplies and fan tray | 77.5 lbs | 20.75 lbs | 20.25 lbs | 17 lbs |
Input voltage | AC: 90-264 V DC: 40-72V | AC: 85 to 264 VAC DC: -40 to 72V; 48V nominal | AC: 85 to 264 VAC DC: -40 to 72V; 48V nominal | AC: 100 to 240 VAC DC: -40 to -60 VDC HVAC: 100 to 277 VAC HVDC: 240 to 380 VDC |
Operating temperature | 32 to 104°F (0 to 40°C) | 32 to 104°F (0 to 40°C) | 32 to 104°F (0 to 40°C) | 32 to 104°F (0 to 40°C) |
Table 1. Orderable SKUs for the Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms
Product number | Product description |
L-DNA-C8500 | Cisco C8500 subscription |
C8500-20X6C | Cisco C8500-20X6C Edge Platform |
C8500-12X4QC | Cisco C8500-12X4QC Edge Platform |
C8500-12X | Cisco C8500-12X Edge Platform |
PWR-CH1-1100WAC | Cisco C8500 1100W AC Power |
PWR-CH1-1100WAC= | Cisco C8500 1100W AC Power, Spare |
PWR-CH1-750WACR | Cisco C8500 750W AC Power |
PWR-CH1-750WACR= | Cisco C8500 750W AC Power, Spare |
PWR-CH1-950WDCR | Cisco C8500 950W DC Power |
PWR-CH1-950WDCR= | Cisco C8500 950W DC Power, Spare |
SSD-M2SATA-480G | Cisco C8500 SSD M.2 SATA 480GB |
SSD-M2SATA-480G= | Cisco C8500 SSD M.2 SATA 480GB, Spare |
MEM-C8500-16GB= | Cisco C8500 16GB Memory, Spare |
MEM-C8500-32GB | Cisco C8500 32GB Memory |
MEM-C8500-32GB= | Cisco C8500 32GB Memory, Spare |
MEM-C8500-64GB | Cisco C8500 64GB Memory |
MEM-C8500-64GB= | Cisco C8500 64GB Memory, Spare |
C8500-FAN-3R= | Cisco C8500 Fan Tray, 3RU, Spare |
C8500-FAN-1R= | Cisco C8500 Fan Tray, 1RU, Spare |
C8500-ACCKIT3R-19 | Cisco C8500 Accessory Kit – 19” |
C8500-ACCKIT3R-19= | Cisco C8500 Accessory Kit – 19”, Spare |
C8500-ACCKIT-19 | Cisco C8500 Accessory Kit – 19” |
C8500-ACCKIT-19= | Cisco C8500 Accessory Kit – 19”, Spare |
C8500-ACCKIT-23 | Cisco C8500 Accessory Kit – 23” |
C8500-ACCKIT-23= | Cisco C8500 Accessory Kit – 23”, Spare |
C8500-4PT-KIT | Cisco C8500 Accessory Kit – 4 Post Kit |
C8500-4PT-KIT= | Cisco C8500 Accessory Kit – 4 Post Kit, Spare |
C8500-FILTER-ASSY | Cisco C8500 NEBs Level 3 Filter and assembly |
C8500-NEB3-FILTER= | Cisco C8500 NEBs Level 3 Filter replacement, Spare |
C8500-RFID-3R | Cisco C8500 RFID – 3RU |
C8500-RFID-1R | Cisco C8500 RFID – 1RU |
