United States
Q
What are the key performance specifications of the Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches?
A
Cisco Catalyst 6800 switches deliver up to 11.4 Tbps of switching capacity per chassis and 2.88 Bpps forwarding performance, ensuring low latency and line-rate forwarding across all ports.
Q
Which models and form factors are available in the Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series?
A
The Catalyst 6800 family includes the fixed-port 6807-XL chassis and modular 6848-X and 6880-X platforms, providing 48-port and 80-port 10/25 GbE configurations with optional 100 GbE uplinks.
Q
How many ports and PoE++ capabilities does the Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series offer?
A
The 6800 Series supports up to 288 10/100/1000 PoE+ ports per chassis and up to 144 PoE++ (up to 60W per port) when equipped with high-density power supplies.
Q
What high-availability features are built into the Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series?
A
Built-in redundancy includes hitless software upgrades (ISSU), redundant supervisor engines, dual fabric modules and dual power feeds, delivering 99.999% uptime for mission-critical networks.
Q
How does Cisco Virtual Switching System (VSS) enhance Catalyst 6800 scalability?
A
VSS pairs two Catalyst 6800 switches into a single logical device with up to 22.8 Tbps of throughput and sub-microsecond synchronization, simplifying management and eliminating inter-chassis Spanning Tree.
Q
What advanced Layer 3 features does the Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series support?
A
The Catalyst 6800 provides full L3 routing with OSPF, EIGRP, BGP, IS-IS, PIM and VRF-Lite, supporting up to 16,000 IPv4/IPv6 routes for scalable campus and data center deployments.
Q
Which QoS capabilities are available on the Catalyst 6800 for traffic prioritization?
A
Cisco Catalyst 6800 switches offer wire-rate hierarchical QoS, platform-wide shaping, Policing, four-level scheduling and 8,000 entries for policy maps, ensuring real-time application performance.
Q
What security features protect network traffic on the Cisco Catalyst 6800?
A
Integrated features include MACsec encryption, Secure Boot, Trust Anchor, DHCP snooping, IP source guard and Cisco TrustSec, delivering endpoint-to-edge protection for data integrity and compliance.
Q
How can I manage and automate the Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series?
A
Management options include Cisco DNA Center, Cisco Prime Infrastructure and CLI, plus programmability via REST APIs, NETCONF/YANG and Cisco Embedded Event Manager for policy-driven automation.
Q
What uplink module options are available for the Catalyst 6800 Series?
A
Uplink modules include 4-port 100G, 8-port 40G and 12-port 25G fiber modules, enabling flexible aggregation, inter-data center links and high-capacity spine-leaf topologies.
Q
Which software licenses are required for advanced Catalyst 6800 features?
A
Cisco offers Network Essentials and Network Advantage licenses; Essentials covers core L2/L3 and basic security, while Advantage adds advanced telemetry, VXLAN, multicast and advanced routing protocols.
Q
What energy-efficiency technologies does the Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series include?
A
The Catalyst 6800 incorporates Energy Efficient Ethernet, adaptive power management for PoE, and front-to-back air cooling, reducing operational costs and environmental impact.
Q
How do I upgrade from an older Catalyst campus switch to the 6800 Series?
A
Migrating is seamless via feature parity with Catalyst 4500/6500, reuse of existing SFP/SFP+ optics, consistent IOS XE software and support for VSS/StackWise Virtual for simplified integration.
Q
What warranty and support options are available for the Cisco Catalyst 6800?
A
Every Catalyst 6800 includes a limited lifetime warranty; Cisco SMARTnet provides 24×7 technical support, accelerated hardware replacement and software updates to protect your investment.
Q
What are the ideal deployment scenarios for the Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series?
A
The Catalyst 6800 excels as a campus core or distribution switch, data center leaf/spine, and high-performance aggregation platform, scaling enterprise and service provider networks.
