Cisco C9600-LC-40YL4CD Full Product Description

1. Short Overview

C9600-LC-40YL4CDis a hot-swappable universal combo multi-rate fiber line card exclusively designed for Cisco Catalyst 9600 redundant modular core chassis (C9604R, C9606R, C9610R), supported starting from Cisco IOS XE 16.11.1 and later firmware releases. It integrates mixed-density low-speed aggregation ports and ultra-high-speed uplink ports in a single card: 40×SFP56 multi-rate downlink ports, plus 2×QSFP56 200G ports and 2×QSFP-DD 400G uplink ports. Port speed and feature support vary drastically based on whether the chassis runs Gen1 C9600-SUP-1 (UADP ASIC) or Gen2 C9600X-SUP-2 (Silicon One Q200 ASIC) supervisors.

This fiber-only module contains zero PoE power circuitry, delivers full non-blocking wire-speed Layer 2–Layer 4 packet forwarding, supports OIR hitless hot-swap maintenance without chassis power shutdown, hardware MACsec encryption, and IEEE 1588v2 PTP precision timing. It is Cisco’s flexible all-in-one combo fiber card for modern converged SD-Access campus core, hybrid data center spine-leaf fabric, and multi-cloud interconnection deployments, eliminating the need to deploy separate downlink and uplink line cards in one slot.

Suffix Breakdown

C9600: Catalyst 9600 high-performance Silicon One modular core switch platform
LC: Line Card modular combo fiber aggregation/uplink module
40: Total 40 SFP56 low-speed aggregation ports
YL: Multi-rate SFP56 interface (1G/10G/25G/50G fiber downlink)
4: Total 4 high-speed uplink ports (2×QSFP56 + 2×QSFP-DD)
CD: Mixed high-speed uplink interfaces (QSFP56 for 200G, QSFP-DD for 400G)

Core Differentiators

vs single-function line cards (LC-48YL / LC-24C): LC-40YL4CD combines dense 25G/50G downlinks and native 200G/400G ultra-high uplinks in one slot; separate cards require two chassis slots for identical port mix, consuming extra rack capacity.
vs Gen1-only fiber cards: Only this combo card supports native 400G QSFP-DD and 200G QSFP56 when paired with C9600X-SUP-2 Gen2 supervisors.
vs copper line cards (LC-48TX): Pure fiber design for long-distance cross-building/campus trunking; copper cards only serve short-range rack-local server aggregation without long-haul optical support.
Supervisor feature split: C9600-SUP-1 limits ports to max 25G downlink / 100G uplink with only LAN MACsec; C9600X-SUP-2 unlocks 50G downlink, 200G/400G uplink and WAN MACsec with HSEC licenseCisco.
vs C9600X-LC-32CD high-density 400G card: LC-32CD prioritizes pure high-speed 100G/400G uplinks; LC-40YL4CD balances massive 40-port low-speed aggregation plus 4×high-speed uplinks for mixed-traffic core workloads.

2. Hardware & Bandwidth Specifications

Port Composition & Speed Matrix (Supervisor Dependent)

Total ports on front panel:

40 × SFP56 transceiver slots (downlink aggregation)
2 × QSFP56 transceiver slots (mid-tier uplink)
2 × QSFP-DD transceiver slots (top-tier 400G uplink)

Speed Support by Supervisor

Deployed with C9600-SUP-1 (Gen1 UADP ASIC):
- SFP56 ports: 1GE / 10GE / 25GE only (no 50GE)
- QSFP56 ports: Fallback to QSFP28 mode for 40GE / 100GE
- QSFP-DD ports: Fallback to QSFP28 mode for 40GE / 100GE
- Slot bandwidth cap: 2.4 Tbps full-duplex per slot
- Encryption: LAN MACsec only; no WAN MACsec support
Deployed with C9600X-SUP-2 (Gen2 Silicon One Q200 ASIC):
- SFP56 ports: 10GE / 25GE / 50GE (native 50G support; 1GE disabled)
- QSFP56 ports: 40GE / 100GE / 200GE native
- QSFP-DD ports: 40GE / 100GE / 200GE / 400GE native
- Slot bandwidth cap: 6.4 Tbps full-duplex wire-speed per slot
- Encryption: LAN MACsec + WAN MACsec (requires HSEC license)Cisco

Compatible Transceiver Types

SFP56 ports: SFP56 50G/25G/10G optical modules, backward-compatible SFP28 25G/10G, SFP+ 10G, SFP 1G optics, SFP56 twinax copper cables
QSFP56 ports: QSFP56 200G/100G/40G transceivers, QSFP28 100G/40G backward compatibility
QSFP-DD ports: QSFP-DD 400G/200G/100G/40G transceivers, QSFP56/QSFP28 breakout cables for multi-port fan-out

Throughput & Jumbo Frame

Gen1 SUP total card throughput: Max 2.4 Tbps full-duplex
Gen2 SUP-2 total card throughput: Max 6.4 Tbps full-duplex non-blocking
Jumbo frame support: L2–L4 jumbo frames up to 9216 bytes for video, virtualization, storage backup, and cloud workloads
Shared large packet buffer pool to absorb burst traffic from mixed-speed 50G/100G/200G/400G ports

Built-In Hardware Acceleration Features

IEEE 802.1AE MACsec-256 AES-256 port encryption
- C9600-SUP-1: Only LAN MACsec for local fiber trunks
- C9600X-SUP-2: LAN + WAN MACsec (HSEC license mandatory for WAN MACsec)
IEEE 1588v2 / 802.1AS PTP hardware timestamping for campus-wide broadcast video, unified VoIP, and industrial control clock synchronization
Wire-speed L2/L3/L4 ACL filtering, QoS policing, marking, shaping, NAT, and full IPv4/IPv6 hardware forwarding
Intelligent transceiver power management to reduce idle power consumption on empty optical slots

Physical & Power Parameters

Form Factor: Standard full-width Catalyst 9600 series line card, compatible with all empty line card slots of C9604R / C9606R / C9610R chassis
Typical full-load power consumption: 265W
Physical weight: 3.75 kg (8.27 lbs)
Rated MTBF: 580,420 hours under nominal standard operating environment
Asset tracking: Embedded passive UHF RFID tag for centralized enterprise asset lifecycle management
Cooling: Passive multi-heatsink thermal design, fully reliant on chassis side-to-side horizontal airflow; no independent onboard fan
No PoE capability: This module cannot supply any IEEE 802.3af/at/bt inline power to connected endpoints
Laser safety: Class 1 laser product compliant for all fiber optical ports

Supported Chassis & Supervisor Compatibility

Compatible chassis: C9604R, C9606R, C9610R

Supported supervisors with strict feature limitations:

C9600-SUP-1 (Gen1 UADP ASIC): Limited 1/10/25G downlink, max 100G uplink, LAN MACsec only
C9600X-SUP-2 (Gen2 Silicon One): Full 50G downlink, native 200G/400G uplink, WAN MACsec support with HSEC license

3. Front Panel Layout & Status LEDs

Port layout (3 horizontal rows):
- Top two rows: 40 × SFP56 multi-rate downlink ports (20 ports per row)
- Bottom row left: 2 × QSFP56 200G uplink ports
- Bottom row right: 2 × QSFP-DD 400G uplink ports
Per-port bi-color link/activity LED for each transceiver slot:
- Solid Green: Valid optical link established, normal data forwarding operation
- Blinking Green: Bidirectional data transmission/reception active
- Solid Amber: Link down, missing transceiver, fiber cable fault, or port hardware error alarm
Global module status indicators at card edge:
- STATUS LED: Green = fully initialized and online; Amber = booting / minor warning; Red = critical hardware or backplane communication failure
- LOCATE blue beacon LED: Remotely triggered to identify the line card during rack maintenance
Dual mechanical ejector latches on both sides to support OIR hot insertion/removal without chassis power shutdown

4. IOS XE Comprehensive Software Feature Suite

Layer 2 Campus & Fabric Aggregation Functions

IEEE 802.1Q VLAN trunking (4096 maximum VLANs), PVLAN private VLAN multi-tenant isolation
Cross-line-card LACP/PAGP EtherChannel link aggregation for mixed-speed redundant fiber trunks
MSTP/RSTP spanning tree toolkit with BPDU guard, root guard, loop guard, UplinkFast fast convergence
DHCP Snooping, Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI), IP Source Guard, and MAC address port security
IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet for idle port power saving

Layer 3 & SD-Access EVPN Fabric Capabilities

Hardware-accelerated IPv4 / IPv6 unicast & multicast routing (static routes, OSPF, EIGRP, BGP, IS-IS)
Up to 32-way ECMP equal-cost multi-path uplink load balancing for 400G high-speed core paths
Native VXLAN EVPN hardware forwarding for Cisco SD-Access intent-based wired/wireless fabric border aggregation
Anycast gateway, LISP host mobility, and large-scale overlay mixed-speed traffic aggregation
Hardware VRF-lite multi-tenancy segmentation, supporting up to 2,000 independent isolated forwarding tables

Hardware-Accelerated Security Features

Wire-speed port-level MACsec-256 fiber trunk encryption (LAN-only on SUP-1; LAN+WAN on SUP-2 with HSEC license)
TrustSec SGT end-to-end policy segmentation, Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA) for hidden malware detection
Hardware ACL filtering, CoPP control plane policing to protect supervisor CPU resources
IEEE 802.1X, MAB, WebAuth wired access authentication; AAA TACACS+/RADIUS/LDAP authentication support

QoS & Precision Timing

8 independent hardware priority queues per port, WRR/DRR congestion scheduling, per-port policing/marking/shaping
IEEE 1588v2 PTP hardware timestamping for broadcast media, unified voice, and industrial synchronization

Automation, Programmability & Observability

Model-driven open programmability: NETCONF, RESTCONF, YANG data models, gNMI, on-box Python scripting
Real-time streaming telemetry, IPFIX flexible NetFlow export, continuous port latency and buffer utilization monitoring
GOLD non-disruptive online diagnostic tests for real-time line card hardware health inspection
Native seamless integration with Cisco DNA Center for zero-touch provisioning, unified policy management, and full network lifecycle automation

5. Typical Deployment Scenarios

Medium/Large Enterprise SD-Access Converged Fabric Border Node

Single C9600-LC-40YL4CD replaces separate downlink and uplink fiber cards: 40×25G/50G SFP56 ports aggregate Catalyst 9400 distribution switches, while 2×200G QSFP56 + 2×400G QSFP-DD ports deliver ultra-high-speed inter-core virtual switch trunks and multi-cloud gateway peering links.
Mid-Size Hybrid Data Center Spine Backbone

40×25G SFP56 downlinks connect leaf switches and storage arrays; 400G QSFP-DD uplinks provide low-latency inter-spine trunking for virtualized multi-tenant workloads, hardware VRF logically separates enterprise, cloud, and backup storage traffic.
Multi-Building Campus Unified Wireless Aggregation Core

Massive 40-port 25G/50G SFP56 capacity aggregates fleets of Wi-Fi 6/6E wireless controllers and enterprise APs; 200G/400G high-speed uplinks interconnect geographically separated campus core sites, MACsec encrypts all cross-campus backbone traffic.
Financial, Government & Education Mission-Critical Converged Core

All-in-one combo fiber design reduces total line card slot consumption to preserve expansion capacity for future growth; hitless OIR hot-swap maintenance meets strict zero-downtime regulatory requirements, centralized fabric security and bandwidth policy management via Cisco DNA Center.
Regional Headquarters Converged Voice/Video/Data Core

Balanced mixed-speed port density for cost-sensitive HQ core deployments, supporting legacy 1G campus links, modern 25G distribution downlinks, and future-proof 400G uplink capacity without chassis replacement.

6. Standard Package Contents of C9600-LC-40YL4CD SKU

1 × Cisco C9600-LC-40YL4CD combo multi-rate fiber line card module

Disposable plastic dust covers for all empty front SFP56/QSFP56/QSFP-DD port slots

Hardware installation guide, global safety, EMC, NEBS seismic, and RoHS regulatory compliance documentation

Separately Mandatory & Optional Add-On Components

Mandatory accessories for full operation
- SFP/SFP56 optical transceivers (1G/10G/25G/50G), QSFP56 (40G/100G/200G), QSFP-DD (40G/100G/200G/400G) optical modules or copper twinax breakout cables
- Single/multi-mode fiber patch cords, optical attenuators for long-haul cross-campus links
- Catalyst 9600 series chassis, supervisors, power supplies, and fan trays (sold separately)
Optional upgrade hardware
- Spare optical transceivers for on-site hot-swap inventory
- HSEC license required to enable WAN MACsec when deployed with C9600X-SUP-2 Gen2 supervisors
Software Licenses
- DNA Advantage perpetual license required for full VXLAN EVPN SD-Access, MACsec encryption, streaming telemetry, and advanced automation features
- DNA Essentials base license for fundamental Layer 2/Layer 3 switching and routing functionality

Short Commercial Catalog Summary for Quotation

Cisco C9600-LC-40YL4CD is a flexible hot-swappable combo multi-rate fiber line card for the Cisco Catalyst 9600 modular core switch platform, purpose-built for converged SD-Access campus core, hybrid data center spine and multi-cloud interconnection workloads requiring a single-slot mix of dense low-speed aggregation and native 200G/400G ultra-high uplink ports. It features 40 universal SFP56 downlink ports plus 2×QSFP56 + 2×QSFP-DD high-speed uplink ports, with port speed and feature set split by supervisor generation: limited 1G/10G/25G + max 100G uplink + LAN-only MACsec with C9600-SUP-1 Gen1; full 10G/25G/50G downlink + native 200G/400G uplink + WAN MACsec support with C9600X-SUP-2 Gen2 Silicon One supervisors, delivering 2.4 Tbps / 6.4 Tbps full-duplex slot bandwidth respectively. It provides wire-speed Layer 2/Layer 3 forwarding via UADP/Silicon One ASIC architecture, full OIR zero-downtime online maintenance, hardware PTP precision timing, with no PoE/UPOE power delivery functionality. Operating under secure containerized Cisco IOS XE (minimum 16.11.1 release), this combo module provides hardware-accelerated VXLAN EVPN SD-Access fabric, enterprise zero-trust security, hardware QoS and full Cisco DNA Center lifecycle automation capabilities. Fully compatible with all C9604R/C9606R/C9610R redundant chassis and both generations of Catalyst 9600 supervisors, it optimizes chassis slot utilization by combining downlink and uplink fiber ports in one card, balancing port density and future-proof high-speed 400G uplink capacity. Limitations require separate purchase of optical transceivers and fiber patch cords, strict feature restrictions between Gen1 and Gen2 supervisors, WAN MACsec requires additional HSEC license, and advanced fabric/security feature sets demand paid DNA Advantage licensing. The line card fully complies with UL, IEC, NEBS seismic, EMC and RoHS global standards for 24/7 mission-critical core fiber network deployment.


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