Cisco WS-X6704-10GE Full Official Technical Specification Document

1. Product Overview

Official Full Designation

Cisco WS-X6704-10GE:Catalyst 6500 / 7600 CEF720 4-Port 10-Gigabit Ethernet XENPAK Hot-Swappable Centralized/Distributed Forwarding Fiber Switching Module

WS-X6704-10GE is a low-density 10G line card belonging to the 6700 CEF720 product family, exclusively designed for Catalyst 6500 Series and Cisco 7600 Series modular chassis paired with Supervisor Engine 720. This module delivers cost-effective 10G uplink aggregation for enterprise campus core inter-switch trunks, medium-scale data center server/IP SAN rack aggregation, and service provider metro Ethernet edge access deployments.

Core DefinitionFull-slot hot-swappable OIR Catalyst 6500/7600 line card equipped with 4 independent XENPAK 10-Gigabit Ethernet transceiver slots. The module ships with a built-in CFC (Centralized Forwarding Card) by default for supervisor-based centralized packet forwarding; it supports field-upgradable DFC3-series distributed forwarding daughter cards (DFC3A / DFC3B / DFC3BXL / DFC3C / DFC3CXL) to enable local line-card dCEF line-rate forwarding and eliminate supervisor forwarding bottlenecks. It uses XENPAK pluggable transceivers (fiber/copper CX4 options), supports jumbo frames up to 9216 bytes, 16MB dedicated packet buffer per port, multi-queue hardware QoS, complete Layer 2/Layer 3 routing, hardware multicast replication, and the full enterprise security feature suite native to Catalyst 6500 classic IOS SX firmware.

SKU Naming Breakdown

1. WS-X: Cisco standard prefix for modular chassis switching line cards
2. 67: CEF720 high-performance Gigabit/10G interface module family for Catalyst 6500/7600, requires Supervisor Engine 720, supports optional DFC3 distributed forwarding daughter cards
3. 04: Total physical interface slots on the module (4 independent XENPAK 10-Gigabit Ethernet ports)
4. 10GE: 10-Gigabit Ethernet media type, XENPAK hot-swappable pluggable transceiver interface

Product Lifecycle Notice

• Official Global Release Year: 2007
• 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(17a)SXB6; DFC3 distributed forwarding minimum release: 12.2(33)SXH or later
• 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 Series Switches
   • Supported: 6503-E, 6504-E, 6506, 6506-E, 6509, 6509-E, 6509-NEB-A, 6513 (slots 9–13 only for 6513)
   • Unsupported: Non-E Catalyst 6503 chassis (module cannot power up or be recognized)
2. Cisco 7600 Series Service Provider Routers: 7604, 7607, 7609, 7613 (slots 9–13 only for 7613), 7600-S Series NEBS-compliant chassis

Mandatory Supervisor Engine Requirement

Only compatible with all variants of Supervisor Engine 720 and Supervisor Engine 720-10GE. Fully incompatible with Supervisor Engine 2T/2TXL (requires 6800-family line cards), legacy Supervisor 1A, Supervisor 2, Supervisor 32 platforms.

VSS Compatibility

Fully supports Virtual Switching System (VSS); ports can be configured for low-latency Virtual Switch Link (VSL) inter-chassis redundant trunk connections when equipped with DFC3-series daughter cards.

Standard Factory Complete Bundle Contents

Each factory-sealed WS-X6704-10GE retail package contains all hardware and accessories required for chassis deployment:

1. WS-X6704-10GE base 4-port XENPAK 10GE switching module with built-in CFC centralized forwarding card
2. Chassis mounting retention screws for secure slot installation
3. Quick-start hardware installation guide for line card insertion/removal and XENPAK transceiver deployment
4. Global regulatory compliance, safety, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) certification documentation packet

Supported Software & Enterprise Deployment Architectures

Compatible Cisco IOS Software

WS-X6704-10GE exclusively runs classic IOS SX train firmware for Catalyst 6500/7600 platforms:

• Minimum baseline release: 12.2(17a)SXB6
• 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 Low-Density Inter-Switch Trunk Aggregation Deployed in Catalyst 6500 core switches to provide small-quantity 10GE fiber uplinks between distribution layer switches and central core routers, supporting multi-mode short-range and single-mode long-distance fiber cabling plus copper CX4 via interchangeable XENPAK transceivers.
2. Medium-Scale Data Center Server & Storage Access Aggregation Low-port-count 10G fiber/copper connectivity for rack-mounted virtualized application server clusters, IP SAN gateways, backup deduplication appliances; long-reach XENPAK single-mode fiber modules support inter-rack data center trunking for medium-volume east-west workloads.
3. Metro Ethernet & Service Provider Carrier-Grade Edge Access Optimized for Cisco 7600 router deployments, providing scalable low-density 10GE fiber/CX4 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 when upgraded with DFC3 distributed forwarding daughter cards, enabling dual-chassis redundant core switching architectures for enterprise and carrier high-availability network requirements.

Core Integrated Functional Capabilities

Full-slot hot-swappable OIR design, 4 XENPAK 10-Gigabit Ethernet transceiver slots forming a single unified port group, dual 20-Gbps full-duplex chassis crossbar switch fabric channels (40Gbps unidirectional / 80Gbps bidirectional aggregate bandwidth), built-in native CFC centralized forwarding card, optional field-upgradable WS-F6700-DFC3 series distributed dCEF forwarding daughter cards, zero PoE inline power circuits, Layer 2 IEEE 802.1Q VLAN trunking, jumbo frame support up to 9216 bytes, 16MB dedicated per-port packet buffer pools, multi-queue hardware QoS queuing, 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 OIR module design, and full inheritance of all Catalyst 6500 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 via onboard CFC; optional WS-F6700-DFC3 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, shared equally across all 4 ports of the single unified port group
• Port Group Operation Modes (single unified 4-port port group, configurable globally for all ports):
  1. Oversubscription Mode (Default): All 4 ports in the group are active, 1:1 wire-speed non-blocking ratio for all 4 ports simultaneously; no oversubscription occurs on this 4-port 10G moduleCisco
  2. Performance Mode: Identical wire-speed performance as default mode; all four ports maintain full line-rate forwarding capacity
• Port Buffer Allocation: Fixed 16MB dedicated packet buffer pool per port to absorb bursty data center and campus traffic loads
• Forwarding Throughput Performance:
  • Centralized CFC fallback mode: Up to 30 Mpps system-wide packet forwarding rate
  • DFC3 distributed dCEF mode: Local line-card line-rate forwarding, up to 48 Mpps sustained per-slot throughput; system-wide aggregate forwarding capacity scalable to over 400 Mpps with multiple DFC-equipped line cardsCisco
• Route Table Capacity (DFC3 variants):
  • DFC3A/DFC3B: Standard route memory, 256K IPv4 forwarding entries
  • DFC3BXL/DFC3C: Expanded memory, 256K IPv4 forwarding entries
  • DFC3CXL: High-capacity expanded memory, 1M IPv4 forwarding entries
• Maximum Supported Frame Size: Jumbo frames up to 9216 bytes for high-throughput large packet storage workloads
• Link Aggregation Capacity: Supports IEEE 802.3ad LACP and Cisco distributed EtherChannel; maximum 4 physical ports per logical EtherChannel bundle (all four ports can form a single 40Gbps port channel), 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: Up to ~300 Watts maximum rated power draw (DFC3 daughter card power included in total module power rating when upgraded)

XENPAK Transceiver Compatibility Specifications

Each of the 4 ports accepts standard Cisco hot-swappable XENPAK 10-Gigabit Ethernet transceivers, supporting multiple media and distance types; no built-in copper RJ45 ports, no X2/SFP+ converter compatibility:

1. Fiber Optical XENPAK Modules
   • 10GBASE-SR: Multimode fiber short-range campus trunking
   • 10GBASE-LRM: Extended reach multimode fiber
   • 10GBASE-LX4: WDM multimode medium reach
   • 10GBASE-LR: Single-mode fiber medium-distance inter-building links (10km)
   • 10GBASE-ER: Long-haul single-mode fiber metro/long-distance campus connectivity (40km)
   • 10GBASE-ZR / DWDM XENPAK: Coarse wavelength division multiplexing carrier-grade optical transceivers (80km+)
2. Copper XENPAK Modules
   • 10GBASE-CX4: Short-range passive copper twinax transceivers (15m max)

• 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. XENPAK 10-Gigabit Ethernet Optical/Copper Ports (4 × XENPAK Hot-Swappable Transceiver Slots)
   • Port numbering: Left to right sequential numbering from Port 1 to Port 4, forming a single unified port group with no subgroup segmentation
   • Media flexibility: LC fiber connector natively; CX4 copper twinax via dedicated copper XENPAK transceivers
   • Per-port bi-color status LEDs: Green = Link Up / Active bidirectional data traffic; Amber = Port administratively disabled, physical link down, faulty XENPAK transceiver, or port error state
2. Module Global System Status Indicators
   • Global module health LED: Solid green = Module detected by Supervisor 720 and fully operational; Solid red = Critical line card hardware fault or DFC3 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 chassis
• Overall Dimensions (H × W × D): 3.0 × 35.6 × 40.6 cm (1.2 × 14.0 × 16.0 inches)
• Bare Line Card Net Weight: ~3.2 kg excluding XENPAK transceivers; each XENPAK transceiver adds ~0.3 pounds of weight

Environmental Operating Specifications

• Operating Ambient Temperature Range: Agency-certified for operation: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F); designed and tested for extended range: 0°C to 55°C (32°F to 130°F)
• 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: Agency-certified for operation: –150 to 2000m (–500 to 6500 ft); designed/tested for extended altitude range: –150 to 3000m (–500 to 10000 ft)
• 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 & EMI Certifications: UL 60950, CSA C22.2 No. 60950, EN 60950, IEC 60950-1, FCC Part 15 Class A, VCCI Class A, EN55022 Class A, CISPR 22 Class A

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 distributed EtherChannel, 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, onboard 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 (DFC3 distributed forwarding supports expanded IPv4 route table acceleration)
• IPv6 Forwarding: Software-switched IPv6 packet forwarding (limited distributed IPv6 acceleration on DFC3-series daughter cards)
• 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 DFC3 distributed ASIC
• WCCP Version 2 Layer 2 redirect support for web cache offloading.

QoS Traffic Management Features

• Hardware Per-Port QoS Architecture:
  • Base CFC centralized mode: 1 ingress queue with multiple drop thresholds, multi-class egress queue scheduling (strict priority + weighted round-robin)
  • DFC3 distributed forwarding mode: Enhanced multi-queue ingress buffering, expanded egress queue count for low-latency core/VSL 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 or local DFC3 daughter card)
• 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 DFC3 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 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: DFC3-upgraded modules support performance mode port configuration for dedicated Virtual Switch Link inter-chassis trunk ports for dual-chassis core high availability deployments.

4. Core Deployment Advantages of Cisco WS-X6704-10GE

1. Standard full-slot hot-swappable CEF720 line card exclusively built for Supervisor Engine 720 Catalyst 6500/7600 chassis, delivering low-density 4-port XENPAK 10G fiber/copper aggregation; enables flexible mixed-port-type deployments combining this module with other WS-X67xx series line cards (48-port Gigabit SFP/copper, 8/16-port X2 10G fiber) in a single modular chassis, ideal for small enterprise campus core, compact data center, and carrier metro Ethernet edge environments
2. Optional field-upgradeable WS-F6700-DFC3 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 low-volume high-throughput core and data center traffic workloads
3. Dual independent 20-Gbps fabric channels deliver 80Gbps aggregate bidirectional backplane bandwidth, single unified 4-port port group with native wire-speed non-blocking performance for all four ports simultaneously, perfectly suited for dedicated VSL inter-chassis redundant trunk links
4. Fixed 16MB 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
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. CEF720 centralized crossbar fabric architecture with optional DFC3 distributed acceleration inherits all advanced Layer 2/Layer 3, QoS, and security features directly from the installed Supervisor Engine 720, eliminating separate ASIC feature licensing and delivering exceptional long-term investment protection via simple IOS SX firmware upgrades
7. Full hot-swappable OIR operation allows IT administrators to replace or add this line card to the Catalyst 6500 chassis without shutting down the entire switch, minimizing enterprise network maintenance downtime and supporting 24/7 always-on business network and carrier service requirements
8. 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-X6704-10GE perfectly suited for quiet office wiring closet and executive campus network closet environments where noisy active-cooled line card modules create disruptive background distractions
9. Full backward compatibility with all generations of Supervisor Engine 720 and 720-10GE for Catalyst 6500 chassis, fully interoperable with existing enterprise CUCM/VCS/TMS on-premises unified communications infrastructure, enabling cost-effective low-density 10G fiber core trunk line card hardware replacement without full chassis refresh investment

5. Supplementary Product Specification Notes

SKU / Model Naming Recap

• WS-X6704-10GE: Cisco Catalyst 6500 / 7600 CEF720 family full-slot 4-port XENPAK 10-Gigabit Ethernet hot-swappable modular fiber/copper aggregation switching line card base hardware with built-in native CFC centralized forwarding card; field upgradable with WS-F6700-DFC3A / DFC3B / DFC3BXL / DFC3C / DFC3CXL distributed forwarding daughter cards. Key characteristics: Dual 20-Gbps full-duplex chassis crossbar switch fabric channels (80Gbps aggregate bidirectional bandwidth), single unified 4-port port group with native wire-speed non-blocking operation for all ports, zero PoE inline power support, XENPAK optical/copper transceiver-only design, onboard hardware multicast replication engines, fixed 16MB per-port packet buffer pools, IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet, compatible exclusively with Catalyst 6500 E-Series/non-E supported chassis and Cisco 7600 series routers paired 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 small enterprise campus core, compact data center and service provider metro Ethernet low-density 10G fiber/copper uplink deployments.
• K9 Compliance Note: All factory WS-X6704-10GE series 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-X6704-10GE; the line card contains no integrated cellular radio signal generation or transmission hardware, all network connectivity is delivered exclusively via XENPAK fiber optical or CX4 copper twinax 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 Title 47 Part 15 Class A electromagnetic emissions certification for data center IT networking equipment, NEBS Level 3 carrier-grade compliance (GR-1089-CORE, GR-63-CORE), ETSI ETS 300 386-2, EN 50121-4 railway EMC compliance, 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-X6704-10GE 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-X6704-10GE units purchased after Cisco’s official End-of-Sale cutoff date; all formal Cisco technical TAC engineering hardware repair support services terminated permanently on the published End-of-Support date.

UNSPSC Classification Code

43222612 (Full-slot hot-swappable modular enterprise core / service provider router fiber/copper low-density 10-Gigabit Ethernet aggregation switching line card exclusive to Catalyst 6500 / 7600 CEF720 chassis paired with Supervisor Engine 720, 4-port XENPAK 10-Gigabit Ethernet optical/CX4 copper transceiver interfaces, built-in CFC centralized forwarding card, optional field-upgradable DFC3-series distributed forwarding daughter card variants, single unified 4-port port group with native wire-speed non-blocking performance, dual 20-Gbps chassis crossbar switch fabric channels, zero PoE inline power delivery, onboard hardware multicast replication engines, fixed 16MB 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 small enterprise campus core, compact data center and carrier metro Ethernet switch/router chassis deployments).