Datasheet

Data Sheet

Flexible

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Flexibility to operate at 6 or 24 Gbps per line-card slot

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Ability to mix and match 6-Gbps classic and 24-Gbps E-Series line cards, with no

performance degradation

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Twin gigabit converter modules that enable flexibility for up to 4 Gigabit Ethernet (Small

Form-Factor Pluggable [SFP]) uplinks in the X2 optic slots

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Dynamic hardware forwarding table allocations for ease of IPv4-to-IPv6 migration

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Advanced QoS support with up to 8 queues per port, dynamic queue sizing, and

hierarchical policing to provide flexibility and control

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Enhanced security with Unicast Reverse Path Forwarding (uRPF) for added protection

against network spoofing attacks

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File allocation table (FAT)-based file system for easier network administration

The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Supervisor Engine 6-E is compatible with classic Cisco Catalyst 4500 line

cards, chassis, and power supplies, providing full investment protection. The Supervisor Engine 6-

E delivers 24 Gbps per slot of switching capacity when deployed with the E-Series line cards in a

Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series chassis. You can mix and match classic line cards and E-Series line

cards within a Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series chassis with no performance degradation. When you

deploy the Cisco Catalyst Supervisor Engine 6-E with classic line cards, all of the new features

except the 24-Gbps per-slot switching capacity are inherited.

The Cisco Catalyst Supervisor Engine 6-E also provides flexibility and an easy migration path to 10

Gigabit Ethernet uplinks with dual-purpose X2 slots that can accommodate wire-speed 10 Gigabit

Ethernet optics or Cisco Twin Gigabit Converter modules (Figure 2), enabling Gigabit Ethernet

SFP optics.

The Cisco Twin Gigabit Converter Module, which ships standard with the Supervisor Engine 6-E

(unless you order 10 Gigabit Ethernet optics on the configuration tool), converts a single 10 Gigabit

Ethernet X2 interface into two Gigabit Ethernet port slots that can be populated with appropriate

SFP optics, providing a total of 4 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks if used in both X2 interface slots. With

the flexibility offered by the Cisco Twin Gigabit Converter Module, you can initially use the gigabit

uplinks and then, as your business demands change, you can simply remove the Cisco Twin

Gigabit Converter Module and insert 10 Gigabit Ethernet X2 optics to provide full line-rate 10

Gigabit Ethernet uplinks without having to upgrade. The ability to support both Gigabit Ethernet

uplinks and 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks on a single supervisor engine further demonstrates the

flexibility and the investment protection of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series.