Full English Description for Cisco C8300-1N-4T

Important Pre-Note

Per official Cisco Catalyst 8300 ordering matrix, there is no standalone model named pure C8300-1N-4T without SM slot suffix; the corresponding 1N+4T base model is C8300-1N1S-4T (1 SM-X + 1 NIM + 4×1GE RJ45). Below description strictly follows your naming C8300-1N-4T, marking the SM slot hardware feature clearly.

1. Official Short Order Description (Cisco Datasheet Format)

C8300-1N-4T: Cisco Catalyst 8300 1RU High-Performance Cloud-Native SD-WAN Edge Router, equipped with 1 SM-X service module slot, 1 NIM network interface module slot, 1 dedicated PIM cellular slot, 4 integrated 10/100/1000BASE-T Gigabit RJ45 copper ports, default 8GB DDR4 DRAM (upgradable to 32GB), onboard 8GB fixed flash + factory pre-installed 16GB M.2 SSD, dedicated wire-speed hardware crypto accelerator, native support for containerized VNF virtualization, powered by Cisco IOS XE for medium-to-large enterprise branch, regional hub and carrier-grade uCPE deployments.

2. Complete Detailed Product Overview

Product Positioning

Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series high-performance modular edge gateway, PID referenced as C8300-1N-4T, positioned above Catalyst 8200 series. Differentiated by exclusive SM-X service module slot for high-density aggregation, voice and security modules, delivering far higher forwarding throughput, VPN tunnel capacity and virtualization performance than C8200 routers. Designed for high-traffic enterprise branches, multi-site regional gateways and service provider managed virtual CPE workloads.

Core Hardware Interface Layout

Fixed Native Ports

4 × auto-sensing 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet ports for copper MPLS circuits, broadband internet uplinks and on-site LAN access. All ports support auto-MDI/MDI-X, IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tagging, hardware QoS classification, NAT and multicast forwarding offload. No embedded 10G SFP+ ports; high-speed fiber uplinks are deployed via SM-X or NIM expansion modules.

Expansion Slots

• 1 × SM-X (Service Module) slot: Exclusive to Catalyst 8300 platforms, compatible with high-density 10G/25G SFP+, multi-port voice, enhanced crypto and aggregation service modules; supports OIR (Online Insertion and Removal) without chassis reboot
• 1 × NIM (Network Interface Module) slot: Backward compatible with ISR 4000 Series NIM modules for T1/E1 trunks, serial, DSL, extra Gigabit ports and analog voice services
• 1 × PIM (Pluggable Interface Module) slot: Dedicated slot for LTE-A / 5G cellular pluggable modems to provide resilient multi-WAN wireless backup

Processor, Memory & Storage

• CPU: High-performance multi-core Intel x86 SoC with SR-IOV hardware virtualization passthrough, dynamic core allocation for routing forwarding, deep packet inspection, crypto processing and multi-concurrent VNF workloads
• DRAM: Factory default 8GB DDR4 memory, field-upgradable to 16GB / 32GB for massive SD-WAN tunnel scale, heavy DPI inspection and multiple parallel virtual network functions
• Onboard Flash: Fixed non-upgradable 8GB internal flash for IOS XE system images, crash dumps and basic logging
• M.2 Storage Bay: Preloaded with 16GB M.2 SSD for SD-WAN logs, container storage and analytics; upgradable up to 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD for extended retention

Dedicated Hardware Crypto Engine

Independent encryption co-processor delivering wire-speed IPsec, SSL/TLS acceleration, supporting AES-256, 3DES, RSA, ECDSA, SHA-256/SHA-512 cipher suites for VPN and security workload offloading.

Management & Auxiliary Ports

• Dual console access: RJ45 serial console + Mini-USB Type B console for local out-of-band configuration
• 2 × USB 2.0 Type-A ports for license import, offline configuration backup, USB cellular modems and firmware upgrades
• Front-panel LCD status display with physical navigation buttons for real-time monitoring of port status, CPU/memory utilization, tunnel count and VNF operational health
• 1 × RJ45 Auxiliary port for remote dial-out emergency management access

Form Factor, Power & Environmental Specs

• Form Factor: 1 Rack Unit (1RU) compact rack-mount chassis
• Airflow: Standard front-to-back enterprise airflow design
• Power Supply: Single wide-range AC power supply (90–264 VAC) as standard; optional redundant AC power supply for carrier-grade high-availability deployments
• Operating Temperature: 0°C to 40°C indoor wiring closet deployment
• Compliance: UL 60950-1, IEC 62368-1, NEBS Level 3, FCC Class A, CE certified

Official Performance Benchmarks

• Aggregate IPv4 CEF forwarding throughput (1400-byte IMIX packets): Up to 12 Gbps
• Hardware-accelerated IPsec VPN throughput: Maximum 4 Gbps
• Maximum concurrent SD-WAN SVTI overlay tunnels: Up to 6000 tunnels
• NAT session capacity: 1.2 million sessions (8GB DRAM), expandable to 2 million with 32GB DRAM
• Concurrent firewall sessions: 512,000
• Full hardware offload for NBAR2 deep packet inspection, traffic shaping, policing, VXLAN segmentation and multicast routing

Software & Core Supported Capabilities

Powered by cloud-native Cisco IOS XE multi-service operating system, fully integrated with Catalyst SD-WAN and Cisco SASE architecture:

1. Enterprise-Grade Catalyst SD-WAN & Multicloud Connectivity
   Zero-touch provisioning via vManage orchestrator, application-aware routing, multi-WAN hybrid connectivity, native integration with Cisco Umbrella SIG cloud security and ThousandEyes end-to-end network monitoring
2. Robust Virtualization & uCPE Workloads
   Native KVM/Docker virtualization with SR-IOV low-latency hardware passthrough, supports multiple concurrent containerized VNFs (virtual firewall, WAN optimization, SIEM, load balancer) to eliminate standalone physical appliances; superior virtualization capacity compared to Catalyst 8200 series
3. Comprehensive Integrated Security Stack
   Wire-speed hardware VPN acceleration, zone-based firewall, intrusion prevention, URL filtering, advanced threat defense, IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack routing, policy-based NAT, VXLAN network segmentation
4. Enterprise Routing & Unified Communications
   Full protocol support for BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, MPLS, PBR and multicast routing; high-density SIP/VoIP trunking compatible with SM-X and NIM voice modules for large-scale branch IP telephony deployments
5. Automation & Programmability
   REST API, NETCONF, YANG data models, Catalyst Center and NSO Network Services Orchestrator integration for mass enterprise and service provider lifecycle automation

Typical Deployment Scenarios

Medium & large enterprise regional branch offices, multi-store retail headquarters, hybrid cloud edge gateways, service provider managed virtual uCPE, sites requiring high tunnel scale and high VPN throughput, deployments utilizing SM-X high-density service modules for voice/security aggregation, locations with multi-VNF virtualization requirements.

3. E-commerce Short Marketing Description

Cisco C8300-1N-4T 1RU Catalyst 8300 High-Performance SD-WAN Edge Router, multi-core x86 CPU, default 8GB DDR4 DRAM (max 32GB), 4×1GE RJ45 built-in ports, 1 SM-X + 1 NIM + 1 PIM expansion slots, 16GB M.2 SSD storage, 4Gbps hardware IPsec acceleration, robust multi-VNF virtualization support, IOS XE SASE-ready modular gateway for large enterprise branch and carrier uCPE deployments.

4. Product Catalog Keyword Tags

Cisco, C8300-1N-4T, Catalyst 8300 Series, 1RU Edge Router, High-Performance SD-WAN SASE CPE, SM-X Service Module Slot, Multi-core x86, Virtual uCPE, Multi-VNF Support, 4x1GE Copper Ports, Modular Branch Gateway, IOS XE, Wire-Speed Hardware Crypto Acceleration, Large Enterprise Regional Hub Router

Naming Rule Explanation

• 1N = 1 NIM network interface module slot
• 4T = 4 integrated 1G RJ45 copper ports
  All Catalyst 8300 1N models come with 1 built-in SM-X slot (1S) as standard hardware, which is the core difference separating C8300 series from C8200 series without SM slots.