Critical Official Cisco Product Clarification

WS-X6804-10GE IS NOT an official, orderable Cisco line cardfor Catalyst 6500 E-Series switches, confirmed via Cisco’s official datasheets, hardware compatibility matrices and IOS release notesCisco.

1. Root Cause of Naming Confusion

Two Separate Product Families for Catalyst 6500

1. WS-X67xx Series (CEF720 Platform, Supervisor 720 only)Valid 4-port 10G card:WS-X6704-10GE(XENPAK transceivers, built-in CFC, optional DFC3 daughter cards)Cisco
   • Front panel label: WS-X6704-10GE
   • Orderable part ID: WS-X6704-10G
2. WS-X68xx Series (dCEF4 Platform, Supervisor 2T/2TXL only)All official 10G fiber line cards in this family:
   • WS-X6808-10G-2T / 2TXL (8-port X2 10G)
   • WS-X6816-10G-2T / 2TXL (16-port X2 10G) There is no 4-port 10G module under the WS-X68xx product line, and Cisco never released a part number WS-X6804-10GECisco.

2. Full Official Specification of the Real Equivalent Product: Cisco WS-X6704-10GE

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 non-oversubscribed 10G line card of the 6700 CEF720 product family, exclusively designed for Catalyst 6500 Series and Cisco 7600 Series modular chassis deployed with Supervisor Engine 720. This module delivers wire-speed low-latency 10G uplink aggregation for enterprise campus core inter-switch trunks, compact data center core/VSS Virtual Switch Link (VSL) connections, 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 hot-pluggable transceiver slots. The module ships with a built-in CFC (Centralized Forwarding Card) as standard for supervisor-based centralized CEF packet forwarding; it supports field-upgradable WS-F6700-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 supports XENPAK optical fiber and CX4 copper transceivers, jumbo frames up to 9216 bytes, fixed 16MB dedicated packet buffer per port, multi-queue hardware QoS, complete Layer 2/Layer 3 routing, dedicated hardware multicast replication engines, 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 (6800-series exclusive supervisor), legacy Supervisor 1A, Supervisor 2, Supervisor 32 platforms.

VSS Compatibility

Fully supports Virtual Switching System (VSS); all four 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 low-quantity wire-speed 10GE fiber uplinks between distribution layer switches and central core routers, supporting multi-mode short-range and single-mode long-distance fiber cabling plus short-range CX4 copper via interchangeable XENPAK transceivers.
2. Compact-Scale Data Center Core & VSS Inter-Chassis Link Deployment Low-port-count non-blocking 10G fiber/copper connectivity for core switch interconnections, dedicated VSS Virtual Switch Link trunks, rack-mounted virtualized application server clusters, IP SAN gateways and backup storage appliances; long-reach XENPAK single-mode fiber modules support cross-data-center inter-switch trunking for low-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 enterprise network services.
4. VSS Virtual Switching System Multi-Chassis High Availability Deployments All four ports support dedicated Virtual Switch Link (VSL) trunk configuration 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, fixed 16MB dedicated per-port packet buffer pools, multi-queue hardware QoS queuing, dedicated 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. Default Mode: 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 module
  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 cards
• 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 ~295 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 300 386-2, EN 50121-4 railway EMC compliance
• 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