Cisco WS-X6716-10G-3C Full Official Technical Specification Document

1. Product Overview

Official Full Designation

Cisco WS-X6716-10G-3C is theCatalyst 6500 / 7600 Series CEF720 16-Port 10-Gigabit Ethernet X2 Hot-Swappable Distributed Forwarding Switching Module, a high-density 10G fiber interface card pre-installed with factory WS-F6700-DFC3C distributed forwarding daughter card, exclusively built for Cisco Catalyst 6500 E-Series modular campus/core data center switches and Cisco 7600 Series service provider routers, requiring Supervisor Engine 720 platform supportCisco. It delivers scalable high-density 10GE fiber uplink aggregation for enterprise campus core inter-switch trunking, high-performance data center server/storage rack aggregation, metro Ethernet carrier edge access, and VSS (Virtual Switching System) multi-chassis high availability deployments.

Core Definition: Full-slot hot-swappable Catalyst 6500/7600 line card equipped with 16 independent X2 10-Gigabit Ethernet transceiver slots, connected to the chassis crossbar switch fabric via dual 20-Gbps full-duplex fabric channels (aggregate 40Gbps unidirectional / 80Gbps bidirectional fabric bandwidth). This module comes factory pre-assembled with WS-F6700-DFC3C distributed forwarding daughter card, supporting up to 256,000 IPv4/IPv6 routing entries for local line-card dCEF line-rate forwarding, eliminating supervisor packet processing bottlenecksCisco. It only supports native X2 10G optical transceivers (no TwinGig converter compatibility), supports jumbo frames up to 9216 bytes, large dedicated per-port packet buffers, hardware per-port multi-queue QoS, complete Layer 2/Layer 3 routing, multicast replication, and enterprise security feature sets native to Catalyst 6500/7600 classic IOS SX operating system.

SKU Naming Breakdown

1. WS-X: Cisco modular chassis switching line card standard prefix
2. 67: CEF720 high-performance interface module family for Catalyst 6500/7600 (requires Supervisor 720, pre-installed DFC3 distributed forwarding daughter card for -3C variants)
3. 16: Total physical interface slots on the module (16 X2 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports)
4. 10G: 10-Gigabit Ethernet media type, X2 hot-swappable optical transceiver interface
5. 3C: Pre-installed WS-F6700-DFC3C distributed forwarding daughter card with 256K route table capacity (differentiated from base CFC centralized forwarding modules and high-capacity DFC3CXL 1M route variants)Cisco

Product Lifecycle Notice

• Official Global Release Year: 2009
• End-of-Sale (EoS) Announcement Date: Cisco permanently discontinued manufacturing and new unit sales
• Minimum Supported IOS Software Version: Classic IOS SX train 12.2(33)SXH or later (DFC3 distributed forwarding mandatory minimum release)
• End of Software Maintenance: No new feature IOS releases post-EoS; limited critical security vulnerability patch support expired
• Final End-of-Support (EoSS) Date: Cisco official hardware repair, RMA replacement, and TAC technical engineering support fully terminated
• Legacy Status: All product datasheets, hardware installation guides, IOS configuration manuals are archived on Cisco’s legacy networking documentation portal; only third-party refurbished hardware and limited aftermarket best-effort support are available.

Supported Chassis & Supervisor Compatibility

Compatible Chassis Platforms

1. Cisco Catalyst 6500 E-Series Modular Switches: 6503-E, 6504-E, 6506-E, 6509-E, 6509-NEB-A, 6509-V-E, 6513 (all slots fully supported)
2. Cisco 7600 Series Service Provider Routers

Unsupported Chassis

Non-E Catalyst 6503, 6506, 6509 legacy non-E chassis (module cannot be powered up or recognized)

Mandatory Supervisor Engine Requirement

Only compatible with all variants of Supervisor Engine 720 and Supervisor Engine 720-10GE; fully incompatible with legacy Supervisor 1A, Supervisor 2, Supervisor 32 platforms.

Standard Factory Complete Bundle Contents

Each factory-sealed WS-X6716-10G-3C retail package contains all hardware and accessories required for chassis deployment:

1. WS-X6716-10G-3C full-slot hot-swappable 16-port X2 10GE switching module (DFC3C pre-installed)
2. Chassis mounting retention screws for secure slot installation
3. Quick-start hardware installation guide for line card insertion/removal and X2 transceiver deployment
4. Global regulatory compliance, safety, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) certification documentation packet

Supported Software & Enterprise Deployment Architectures

Compatible Cisco IOS Software

WS-X6716-10G-3C exclusively runs classic IOS SX train firmware for Catalyst 6500/7600 platforms:

• DFC3 distributed forwarding minimum baseline release: 12.2(33)SXH IOS XE, Catalyst 9000/9300/9400 series operating systems are fully incompatible with this legacy 6500-series line card.

Supported Deployment Architectures

1. Enterprise Campus Core High-Density Inter-Switch Trunk Aggregation Deployed in Catalyst 6500 core switches to provide mass 10GE fiber uplinks between distribution layer switches and central core routers, supporting multi-mode short-range and single-mode long-distance fiber cabling via interchangeable X2 optical transceivers.
2. Large-Scale Data Center Server & Storage Access Aggregation High-density 10G fiber connectivity for dense rack-mounted virtualized application server clusters, IP SAN gateways, backup deduplication appliances; X2 single-mode fiber modules support long-distance inter-rack data center trunking for east-west high-throughput workloads.
3. Metro Ethernet & Service Provider Carrier-Grade Edge Access Optimized for Cisco 7600 router deployments, providing scalable high-density 10GE fiber customer premise equipment (CPE) access links for business Ethernet broadband and managed network services.
4. VSS Virtual Switching System Multi-Chassis High Availability Deployments Supports dedicated Virtual Switch Link (VSL) ports in performance mode, enabling dual-chassis redundant core switching architectures for enterprise and carrier high-availability network requirements.

Core Integrated Functional Capabilities: Full-slot hot-swappable design, 16 X2 10-Gigabit Ethernet slots (native 10GE X2 only, no TwinGig converter support), dual 20-Gbps full-duplex switch fabric channels (40Gbps aggregate bandwidth), factory pre-installed WS-F6700-DFC3C distributed dCEF forwarding daughter card (256K route capacity), zero PoE inline power circuits, Layer 2 IEEE 802.1Q VLAN trunking, jumbo frame support up to 9216 bytes, large dedicated per-port packet buffers, multi-queue hardware QoS queuing, dual hardware multicast replication engines, IGMP v1/v2/v3 hardware multicast snooping, EtherChannel/PAgP/LACP link aggregation, UDLD unidirectional link fault detection, broadcast/multicast storm suppression, private VLAN segmentation, hot-swappable module design, and full inheritance of all Catalyst 6500/7600 enterprise unified communications, multicast, and security feature sets.

2. Hardware & Performance Specifications

Core Switching & Forwarding Performance

• Switch Fabric Architecture: Centralized CEF720 forwarding engine hosted on Supervisor Engine 720; factory pre-installed WS-F6700-DFC3C distributed forwarding daughter card enables local line-card dCEF line-rate forwarding to eliminate supervisor packet processing bottlenecks
• Backplane Fabric Connection: Dual full-duplex 20-Gbps channels (aggregate 40Gbps unidirectional / 80Gbps bidirectional bandwidth) to chassis crossbar switch fabric
• Port Group Operation Modes: Four independent port groups of four ports each, configurable in two operational modes:
  1. Oversubscription Mode: 4:1 port-to-fabric oversubscription ratio, all 16 ports usable for standard aggregation workloads
  2. Performance Mode: Wire-speed non-oversubscribed operation, limited to four 10GE ports per module for low-latency VSL and high-priority core trunk links
• Port Buffer Allocation: 90 MB dedicated packet buffer pool per port in oversubscription mode, large shared buffer memory for burst traffic absorption
• Forwarding Throughput Performance:
  • Centralized CEF fallback mode: Up to 30 Mpps system-wide packet forwarding rate
  • DFC3C distributed dCEF mode: Local line-card line-rate forwarding, aggregate system throughput scalable to over 400 Mpps with multiple DFC-equipped line cards
• Route Table Capacity (DFC3C): 256,000 IPv4 unicast/multicast routes, limited IPv6 distributed forwarding acceleration
• Multicast Replication: Dual dedicated hardware multicast replication engines per module, ~20GB replication bandwidth per engine for high-volume IPTV and video conferencing multicast streams
• Maximum Supported Frame Size: Jumbo frames up to 9216 bytes for high-throughput large packet data center workloads
• Link Aggregation Capacity: Supports IEEE 802.3ad LACP and Cisco PAgP port channels across all 16 onboard X2 ports; maximum 8 physical ports per logical EtherChannel bundle, cross-module port channels supported with other WS-X67xx series line cards in the same chassis
• MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures): 140,696 operating hours under standard indoor data center/wiring closet environmental conditions
• Max Module Power Consumption: 457.8 Watts maximum rated power draw (DFC3C daughter card power included in total module power rating)Cisco

X2 Transceiver Compatibility Specifications

Each of the 16 ports accepts standard Cisco hot-swappable X2 10-Gigabit Ethernet optical transceivers, supporting multiple media and distance types;no TwinGig CVR-X2-SFP converter compatibility:

1. Fiber Optical X2 Modules
   • 10GBASE-SR: Multimode fiber short-range campus trunking
   • 10GBASE-LRM: Extended reach multimode fiber
   • 10GBASE-LR: Single-mode fiber medium-distance inter-building links
   • 10GBASE-ER: Long-haul single-mode fiber metro/long-distance campus connectivity
   • 10GBASE-ZR / CWDM X2: Coarse wavelength division multiplexing carrier-grade optical transceivers

• PoE Power Delivery Specifications:No PoE Capability: This line card contains zero inline power hardware, no power classification circuits, and cannot supply DC power to connected endpoints (IP phones, wireless APs, surveillance cameras). All attached devices must rely on local AC power adapters for operation.

Front Panel Physical Port & Indicator Layout

1. X2 10-Gigabit Ethernet Ports (16 × X2 Hot-Swappable Transceiver Slots)
   • Port numbering: Left to right sequential numbering from Port 1 to Port 16, split into four fixed 4-port port groups for fabric mode configuration
   • Media flexibility: Optical LC fiber connector only; no copper RJ45 or Gigabit SFP conversion support
   • Per-port bi-color status LEDs: Green = Link Up / Active bidirectional data traffic; Amber = Port administratively disabled, physical link down, faulty X2 transceiver, or port error state
2. Module Global System Status Indicators
   • Global module health LED: Solid green = Module detected by supervisor and fully operational; Solid red = Critical line card hardware fault or DFC3C daughter card initialization failure; Flashing amber = Module entering ROMMON boot/diagnostic initialization mode
   • Hot-swap ejector levers with integrated locking retention tabs for safe module insertion/removal without full chassis power shutdown
3. No Integrated Console or Local Management Ports – all chassis-wide management interfaces (console, Ethernet management port) are located on the front panel of the installed Supervisor Engine 720 module.

Physical, Environmental & Power Specifications

Physical Dimensions & Weight

• Form Factor: Standard full-slot hot-swappable line card for Catalyst 6500/7600 chassis
• Overall Dimensions (H × W × D): 30 mm × 356 mm × 406 mm (1.18 × 14.0 × 16.0 inches)
• Bare Line Card Net Weight: ~5.6 kg (5600 grams), weight includes factory pre-installed DFC3C daughter cardbaynetwork...

Environmental Operating Specifications

• Operating Ambient Temperature Range: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F) standard data center / wiring closet indoor environment
• Storage & Transport Temperature Range: -40°C to 75°C (-40°F to 167°F)
• Operating Relative Humidity: 10% to 90%, non-condensing humidity for 24/7 continuous chassis operation
• Operating Altitude: -60 meters up to 3000 meters above sea level
• Acoustic Noise: No onboard cooling fans; all thermal dissipation via passive aluminum heatsinks; chassis main fan tray handles overall system thermal load
• Carrier-Grade Compliance: NEBS Level 3 (GR-1089-CORE, GR-63-CORE), ETSI ETS-300386-2, EN 50121-4
• Safety Certifications: UL 1950, EN 60950, CSA-C22.2 No.950, IEC 60950-1 2nd Edition

3. Supported Layer 2 / Layer 3 Protocol & Feature Set

Layer 2 Switching Features

• IEEE 802.1Q tagged VLAN trunking, maximum 4094 active concurrent VLANs (VLAN limit inherited from Supervisor Engine 720 configuration)
• Spanning Tree Protocol suite: IEEE 802.1D STP, 802.1w Rapid STP (RSTP), 802.1s Multiple STP (MSTP); UplinkFast, BackboneFast, root guard, BPDU guard
• Link Aggregation: IEEE 802.3ad LACP, Cisco PAgP, cross-module EtherChannel support with other WS-X67xx full-slot line cards
• Multicast Optimization: IGMP v1/v2/v3 hardware snooping, Cisco Group Multicast Protocol (GMP) server functionality, dual hardware multicast replication engines
• Link Fault Detection: Unidirectional Link Detection (UDLD) and aggressive UDLD operating modes
• Security Layer 2 Features: Port security, MAC address learning limits, static secure MAC address binding, private VLANs with promiscuous trunk support, Q-in-Q VLAN stacking pass-through for Metro Ethernet service deployments
• Energy Efficiency: IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet (EEE), automatic port power-down for idle link states to reduce chassis power consumption
• Traffic Suppression: Broadcast, multicast, unknown unicast storm control (hardware rate-limiting); STP BPDUs are not exempt from multicast storm suppression filtering
• Misc Layer 2: Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP), Layer 2 protocol tunneling (L2PT), CoS mutation for trunk ports.

Layer 3 Routing Features

• IPv4 Hardware Forwarding: Static routing, default static routes, EIGRP stub routing support, IP unnumbered SVI interfaces, SVI autostate exclude (DFC3C distributed forwarding supports 256K IPv4 routes)
• IPv6 Forwarding: Software-switched IPv6 packet forwarding (limited distributed IPv6 acceleration on DFC3C daughter card)
• Access Control Lists: Hardware-based Port ACLs (PACLs), VLAN ACLs (VACLs), Router ACLs (RACLs) with low forwarding latency; ACL processing executed on supervisor CEF engine or local DFC3C distributed ASIC
• WCCP Version 2 Layer 2 redirect support for web cache offloading.

QoS Traffic Management Features

• Hardware Per-Port QoS Architecture:
  • Oversubscription Mode: 1 ingress queue with 8 drop thresholds (8q8t), 4 egress queues (1 strict priority + 3 weighted round-robin) with multiple drop thresholds
  • Performance Mode (VSL dedicated ports): Enhanced multi-queue ingress buffering for low-latency core traffic
• Traffic Classification Mechanisms: Layer 2 CoS marking, Layer 3 DSCP / IP Precedence classification, full Layer 3/Layer 4 ACL header matching for granular application traffic identification
• Policing & Shaping: 512 independent ingress policer instances, 512 independent egress policer instances; aggregate and per-flow policing modes, egress traffic shaping and bandwidth sharing
• Congestion Avoidance: Dynamic Buffer Limiting (DBL) to prevent egress buffer overflow and random packet loss for bursty enterprise application traffic
• Scheduling Algorithms: Strict priority queuing for real-time voice/video media traffic, weighted round-robin (WRR) shared queue scheduling for standard data traffic
• Unified Communications QoS: Auto-QoS CLI template for simplified VoIP and TelePresence deployment, per-port/per-VLAN CoS/DSCP marking and mutation for converged voice-data network environments.

Enterprise Security Features

• IEEE 802.1X port-based Network Access Control (NAC) fully compatible (NAC authentication processing executed on the supervisor engine)
• DHCP Snooping with DHCP Option 82 insertion to block rogue DHCP server attacks and prevent IP address spoofing
• Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI) for Layer 2 ARP spoofing and man-in-the-middle attack prevention
• Encrypted management traffic support: AES encryption for SSH v2 remote CLI access, TLS 1.1/1.2 for HTTPS web administration (all security processing handled by the chassis supervisor engine or local DFC3C daughter card)
• Cisco TrustSec identity-based network access tagging support (TrustSec hardware feature set inherited from Supervisor Engine 720).

High Availability Redundancy Features

• Hot-swappable full-slot line card design: Insert, remove, or replace the module without powering down the entire Catalyst 6500/7600 chassis; all other active line card ports remain fully operational during module replacement
• Stateful Switchover (SSO) and Non-Stop Forwarding (NSF) fully compatible (requires dual redundant Supervisor Engine 720 modules installed in the chassis); line card Layer 2 MAC address tables and forwarding state are synchronized between redundant supervisors for subsecond failover with zero data-plane traffic outage
• VSS Virtual Switching System support: Performance mode port configuration enables dedicated Virtual Switch Link inter-chassis trunk ports for dual-chassis core high availability deployments.

4. Network Security & QoS Compliance Standards

1. Dual-stack IPv4 / IPv6 network protocol support; DHCP dynamic IP addressing or static IP configuration managed via chassis supervisor engine
2. Enterprise Network Access Security Controls: IEEE 802.1X EAP-TLS/EAP-PEAP wired authentication, multi-level local administrator password access control, role-based access control (RBAC) for web-based device management portal
3. Remote Administration Security Protocols: Encrypted SSH v2 secure shell CLI remote access, HTTPS TLS 1.1 / TLS 1.2 encrypted web management portal, XML/SOAP encrypted remote API interfaces for third-party network monitoring systems
4. Digital Identity Certificate Support: Manufacturer-Installed Certificates (MIC), Locally Significant Certificates (LSC), and X.509 DER/Base64 digital identity certificates for secure TLS authentication to TACACS+/RADIUS AAA servers
5. QoS Traffic Prioritization Compliance: IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tagging for logical segmentation of voice/media traffic and enterprise data traffic; IEEE 802.1p Layer 2 CoS marking to prioritize real-time VoIP and TelePresence video conference streams above standard office data packets, eliminating media latency and packet loss artifacts.

5. Unified Communications & Network Automation Feature Set

Core Enterprise Unified Communications & Meeting QoS Feature Set

1. Supported Unified Communications Deployment Scenarios:
   • Large enterprise campus core high-density 10G fiber trunk aggregation for CUCM unified communications server clusters
   • Data center fiber access for IP telephony media gateways and video conference TelePresence appliances
   • Metro Ethernet business customer fiber access links for hosted unified communications service provider deployments
   • VSS dual-chassis core redundant trunk deployments for enterprise high-availability unified communications architectures
2. Complete Voice & Video Call QoS Control Operations:
   • Auto-QoS template automatic CoS/DSCP marking for VoIP media packets on all X2 fiber uplink ports
   • Strict priority egress queue scheduling to guarantee low-latency transport for TelePresence video conference traffic
   • Per-port ingress policing to limit rogue voice/video stream bandwidth consumption and protect mission-critical media traffic
   • OBTP (One Button To Push) calendar-scheduled meeting dynamic QoS policy activation; line card automatically prioritizes video conference traffic during pre-booked enterprise TelePresence meetings
3. Directory & Network Log Management Capabilities:
   • LDAP corporate directory lookup compatibility integrated with Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) and Cisco TelePresence Management Suite (TMS)
   • Persistent local switch logging storage on supervisor engine onboard flash memory; remote syslog server export for centralized enterprise network audit tracking
4. Supplementary Unified Communications Features: Integrated visual voicemail indicator support for IP phone endpoints, single number reach mobility feature support, ad-hoc point-to-point video conference traffic prioritization; URI dialing support for SIP video endpoints, RFC 4733 DTMF tone transmission for analog PSTN gateway integration; NTP network time synchronization for accurate meeting log timestamps, DNS service discovery, automatic gatekeeper discovery for legacy H.323 TelePresence endpoint interoperability.

Intelligent Network Workflow Automation Functions

1. OBTP Scheduled Meeting QoS Sync: When enterprise video conferences are scheduled via Microsoft Outlook/Google Calendar and launched from Cisco TelePresence endpoints connected to the Catalyst 6500/7600 switch/router, the WS-X6716-10G-3C line card automatically applies high-priority QoS policies to all fiber uplink ports carrying conference media traffic without manual administrator configuration
2. Automatic System Hardware Fault Monitoring: Continuous real-time monitoring of line card internal temperature, port physical link status, X2 transceiver fault conditions, DFC3C daughter card initialization status; automated SNMP trap alert generation sent to enterprise network monitoring servers for hardware failure pre-alerting
3. Multi-Platform Meeting Interoperability: Native certified support for Cisco Webex Meetings traffic QoS prioritization, all third-party standards-compliant SIP/H.323 video conferencing endpoints without requiring auxiliary external AV switching hardware or third-party media bridge equipment
4. Multi-Mode Device Control Interfaces: Full Catalyst 6500/7600 chassis and line card function control via three independent user interface methods:
   • Local RJ-45 console CLI (primary local administrator control method for all switch configuration and troubleshooting functions, located on chassis supervisor engine front panel)
   • Remote HTTPS encrypted web administration portal for off-site enterprise IT administrator full chassis configuration and real-time port/route status monitoring
   • Bidirectional SNMP v2c / v3 MIB control integration for third-party enterprise network monitoring automation systems (SolarWinds, PRTG, Zabbix)
5. Third-Party Enterprise Network Monitoring Automation Integration: Supports SNMP trap notification linkage with third-party network monitoring platforms, standardized MIB object libraries for chassis resource utilization tracking, fully customizable automation macros for scheduled switch configuration backup, IOS/IOS XE image upgrade scheduling, and routine port status audit workflows
6. Digital Signage Kiosk Standby Mode QoS: Configurable automatic QoS policy adjustment for connected digital signage kiosk endpoints during off-hours non-meeting periods, lowering signage traffic priority to reserve uplink fiber bandwidth for critical enterprise voice and video conference traffic.

6. Supported Enterprise Compatibility Platforms

1. On-Premises Unified Communications Architecture: Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) version 8.x, 9.x, 10.x stable official software releases with dedicated Catalyst 6500 core/distribution switch voice VLAN and QoS compatibility configuration templates, integrated with Cisco Unified Presence (Jabber IM/presence synchronization) and Cisco TelePresence Management Suite (TMS) for enterprise-wide IP phone and video conference endpoint full-lifecycle management
2. Remote Access & Cloud Hybrid Architecture: Cisco TelePresence Expressway-C / Expressway-E cross-firewall traversal gateways for secure off-site remote TelePresence endpoint registration across corporate network fiber infrastructure; native support for Cisco WebEx cloud meeting platform and Cisco TelePresence Management Suite (TMS) centralized on-premises device management portal
3. Third-Party Interoperability Compliance: Fully standards-compliant SIP RFC signaling protocol, H.323 and H.460 firewall traversal communication protocols, compatible with all industry-standard third-party video conferencing platforms, IP PBX telephone systems and multi-vendor TelePresence endpoint hardware from competing collaboration vendors, as well as all third-party enterprise network monitoring and SNMP management platforms.

7. Core Deployment Advantages of Cisco WS-X6716-10G-3C Line Card

1. Standard full-slot hot-swappable design exclusive to Catalyst 6500 E-Series campus core switches and 7600 service provider routers, delivering high-density 16-port X2 10G fiber aggregation; enables flexible mixed-port-type deployments combining this pure-fiber module with other WS-X67xx series line cards (24/48-port SFP Gigabit, 48-port copper, 10GBASE-T copper) in a single modular chassis, ideal for large enterprise campus core, high-density data center, and carrier metro Ethernet edge environments
2. Factory pre-installed WS-F6700-DFC3C distributed forwarding daughter card eliminates separate DFC hardware procurement and on-site installation labor, provides local line-card dCEF line-rate packet processing to remove supervisor engine forwarding bottlenecks for high-volume core and data center traffic workloads
3. Dual 20-Gbps fabric channel design delivers 80Gbps aggregate bidirectional backplane bandwidth, supports two configurable port operational modes (oversubscription mode for mass aggregation, performance mode for low-latency VSL inter-chassis redundant trunk links) to adapt to diverse enterprise and carrier core network architecture requirements
4. Dedicated dual hardware multicast replication engines deliver high-bandwidth IPTV and enterprise video conferencing multicast stream replication performance, suitable for service provider broadcast video and large enterprise unified communications deployments
5. Zero PoE power circuit design delivers moderate chassis power consumption, reducing overall rack power load and cooling requirements when deployed alongside PoE copper line cards in the same Catalyst 6500 chassis
6. Large dedicated per-port packet buffer pools provide robust burst traffic absorption capability, minimizing packet loss during peak data center server-to-server and campus core inter-switch traffic load periods
7. Centralized CEF720 forwarding architecture with DFC3C distributed acceleration inherits all advanced Layer 2/Layer 3, QoS, and security features directly from the installed Supervisor Engine 720, eliminating the need for separate ASIC feature licensing and delivering exceptional long-term investment protection via simple supervisor engine IOS firmware upgrades
8. Full hot-swappable operation allows IT administrators to replace or add this line card to the Catalyst 6500/7600 chassis without shutting down the entire switch/router, minimizing enterprise network maintenance downtime and supporting 24/7 always-on business network and carrier service requirements
9. Passive heatsink thermal design produces zero audible operational noise from the line card module itself; all cooling load is handled by the chassis main fan tray, making WS-X6716-10G-3C perfectly suited for quiet office wiring closet and executive campus network closet environments where noisy active-cooled line card modules create disruptive background distractions
10. Full backward compatibility with all generations of Supervisor Engine 720 and 720-10GE for Catalyst 6500 E-Series/7600 chassis, fully interoperable with existing enterprise CUCM/VCS/TMS on-premises unified communications infrastructure, enabling cost-effective high-density 10G fiber core trunk line card hardware replacement without full chassis refresh investment
11. Centralized mass Gigabit/10-Gigabit Ethernet wired LAN device fleet management via CUCM, TMS or VCS simplifies bulk IOS firmware batch upgrades, batch standardized enterprise security/QoS policy template deployment, real-time distributed headquarters/branch office Catalyst 6500 chassis hardware health monitoring and remote IT administrator troubleshooting, drastically reducing daily enterprise IT administration workload for large-scale distributed global corporate headquarters, regional branch office and carrier service provider network fleets.

8. Supplementary Product Specification Notes

SKU / Model Naming Recap

• WS-X6716-10G-3C: Cisco Catalyst 6500 E-Series / 7600 Series full-slot 16-port X2 10-Gigabit Ethernet hot-swappable modular fiber aggregation switching line card, CEF720 forwarding architecture with factory pre-installed WS-F6700-DFC3C distributed forwarding daughter card (256,000 IPv4 route capacity), dual 20-Gbps full-duplex chassis crossbar switch fabric channels (80Gbps aggregate bidirectional bandwidth), zero PoE inline power support, X2 optical transceiver-only design with no TwinGig converter compatibility, dual dedicated hardware multicast replication engines, two configurable port operational modes (oversubscription mode / performance VSL mode), IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet, large dedicated per-port packet buffer pools, compatible exclusively with Catalyst 6503-E/6504-E/6506-E/6509-E/6509-NEB-A/6513 E-Series chassis and Cisco 7600 series routers with Supervisor Engine 720 platform, universal 100–240V AC chassis power input compatible, K9 secure IOS SX firmware compliant with AES encrypted management traffic and full enterprise NAC security policy support for regulated industry large enterprise campus core, high-density data center and service provider metro Ethernet 10G fiber uplink deployments.
• K9 Compliance Note: All factory WS-X6716-10G-3C IOS SX firmware releases implement H.235v3 AES 128-bit encrypted remote CLI, web portal and SNMP management traffic, meeting Cisco K9 secure network hardware classification standards required for government, military, healthcare, and financial regulated enterprise campus and service provider network deployments.
• NR Variant Note: No separate RF-restricted NR cellular radio variant exists for WS-X6716-10G-3C; the line card contains no integrated cellular mobile radio signal generation or transmission modules, all network connectivity is delivered exclusively via X2 fiber optical transceiver ports only.

Regulatory Compliance Certifications

Fully compliant with global international industry certification standards including EU Low-Voltage Directive 2014/35/EU (IEC/EN 60950-1), EMC Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive 2004/108/EC, UL 60950-1 safety certification, CAN/CSA-C22.2 No. 60950-1, FCC CFR 47 Part 15 Class A electromagnetic emissions certification for data center IT networking equipment, NEBS Level 3 carrier-grade compliance, ETSI ETS-300386-2, EN 50121-4, and global RoHS hazardous substance restriction compliance approval.

Factory Hardware Warranty Terms

Standard 1-year limited hardware warranty coverage for brand-new factory-sealed complete WS-X6716-10G-3C line card modules purchased through official Cisco authorized global distribution channel partners. Critical lifecycle limitation note: The product EoS/EoSS status restricts active hardware replacement warranty service eligibility for all WS-X6716-10G-3C units purchased after Cisco’s official End-of-Sale cutoff date; all formal Cisco technical TAC engineering hardware repair support services terminated permanently at the published End-of-Support date.

UNSPSC Classification Code

43222612 (Full-slot hot-swappable modular enterprise core / service provider router pure-fiber high-density 10-Gigabit Ethernet aggregation switching line card exclusive to Catalyst 6500 E-Series and Cisco 7600 series chassis, 16-port X2 10-Gigabit Ethernet optical transceiver interfaces without TwinGig conversion support, CEF720 centralized forwarding architecture with factory pre-installed WS-F6700-DFC3C distributed forwarding daughter card (256K IPv4 route capacity), dual 20-Gbps chassis crossbar switch fabric channels, zero PoE inline power delivery, dual dedicated hardware multicast replication engines, large per-port packet buffer pools, hardware QoS and enterprise NAC access security feature support, AES encrypted network management traffic, compatible with all Supervisor Engine 720 variants for modular rack-mount large enterprise campus core, high-density data center and carrier metro Ethernet switch/router chassis deployments).