Cisco A99-10X400GE-X-SE Full Official Product Description

1. Product Overview & SKU Breakdown

Official Full Name

SKU Decoding

1. A99: Platform identifier for Cisco ASR 9900 high-density carrier-grade aggregation router chassis family
2. 10X400GE: 10 independent hot-swappable QSFP-DD multi-rate physical ports supporting native line-rate 400 Gigabit Ethernet
3. X: 5th-generation enhanced silicon ASIC chipset with total 4 Tbps full-duplex non-blocking forwarding capacity per line card
4. SE: Service Edge optimized hardware variant, equipped with massively expanded hierarchical QoS buffers, high-scale multi-rate hardware policers, maximum-capacity Ethernet Flow Points (EFPs), full BNG subscriber processing, large-scale CGNAT, high-density MACsec encryption and comprehensive multi-service edge hardware offloading. Designed exclusively for subscriber-facing broadband aggregation, enterprise PE, mobile edge and CDN workloads, differentiated from cost-limited transport-only -TR variantCisco.

Core Positioning

2. Chassis & IOS XR Software Compatibility

Supported Chassis Models

Incompatible Platforms

Mixed Line Card Coexistence

Minimum IOS XR Software Requirement

3. Port, Performance & Physical Hardware Specifications

Port Technical Details

• Port Count: 10 hot-pluggable QSFP-DD multi-rate optical interfaces
• Supported Transceivers & Port Rates: Cisco QSFP-DD optical transceiver family; native line-rate support for 400GE, 100GE, 40GE, 25GE, 10GE modes; single-port breakout muxponder mode supports split into 3×100GE lower-speed bundles via supported breakout cables, configurable via IOS XR CLI without line card reset or rebootCisco. Backward compatible with QSFP28 100G/40G optics via breakout adapters.
• Ethernet Standard Compliance: IEEE 802.3ba (400GE/100GE/40GE), IEEE 802.3by (25GE), IEEE 802.3ae (10GE), IEEE 802.3ad LACP link aggregation, IEEE 802.1Q single VLAN tagging, IEEE 802.1ad QinQ double stacking, IEEE 802.3x full-duplex pause frame flow controlCisco.
• Per-Port Traffic Monitoring Metrics: Real-time PHY operational status, LOS optical loss alarms, CRC error counters, unicast/multicast/broadcast packet/byte statistics, policer drop counters, policy discard counters, VidMon video flow degradation monitoring for IPTV services, and high-precision telemetry streaming support.

Throughput & Latency Performance

• Total bidirectional wire-speed throughput: 4 Tbps full duplex across all ten 400GE ports; fully non-blocking, zero oversubscription internal switching fabric design
• Forwarding Latency: Less than 4 microseconds in cut-through forwarding mode
• Forwarding Reliability: Zero packet loss during RSP stateful switchover (SSO) events, stable wire-speed unicast and multicast packet forwarding at full rated throughput
• Multi-rate port bandwidth: Each QSFP-DD port runs full line rate at configured 400G, 100G, 40G, or breakout aggregated lower-speed bandwidth
• Typical Power Consumption: Approximately 360W per line card, with intelligent power-saving mode for unused port slices to reduce idle power draw for low-traffic deployments.

Physical & Environmental Parameters

• Form Factor: Single full-height line card slot for ASR 9900 series chassis
• Net Weight: Approximately 9.4 kg (20.66 lbs)
• Nominal Data Center Operating Temperature: 5°C ~ 40°C (41°F ~ 104°F)
• Short-Term Extended Operating Temperature: -5°C ~ 55°C (23°F ~ 131°F), limited to maximum 96 consecutive hours with an annual total usage cap of 15 days
• Continuous Operating Relative Humidity: 10% – 85% non-condensing; storage/transit humidity: 5% – 95% non-condensing
• Storage & Transit Temperature Range: -40°C ~ 70°C (-40°F ~ 158°F)
• Cooling Specification: Compliant with ASR 9900 chassis front-to-back forced airflow thermal design; blank filler panels must be installed on all empty chassis slots to maintain balanced airflow and prevent thermal overheating.

4. SE (Service Edge) Exclusive Expanded Hardware Resource Profile

1. Massive Hierarchical QoS Queue Pool
   Expanded multi-level hierarchical queuing resources supporting hundreds of thousands of independent subscriber traffic profiles, dedicated LLQ low-latency scheduling for real-time voice, IPTV, VoD, and 5G mobile backhaul media streams; multi-level per-subscriber traffic policing, bandwidth shaping and weighted fair queuing (WFQ).
2. High-Scale Policer & Packet Classification Engines
   Large pools of hardware offloaded two-color and three-color multi-rate policers; high-capacity ingress/egress ACL and deep packet classification fully offloaded to line card NPUs, eliminating RSP CPU load even with hundreds of thousands of unique subscriber access control policies active simultaneously.
3. Wire-Speed Multi-Service Hardware Offloading
   Hardware accelerated wire-speed processing for MPLS label switching, MPLS Traffic Engineering (TE), Layer 2 VPNs (VPLS, EoMPLS), Layer 3 VPNs, NAT44/NAT64/CGNAT large-scale carrier-grade network address translation, IPsec VPN encryption/decryption, multicast packet replication, MACsec link-layer encryption, EVPN-VXLAN tunnel termination, Segment Routing SRv6, integrated OTN mapping support, and NetFlow v9/IPFIX traffic recording. All subscriber-focused edge features are fully hardware offloaded on SE line cards.
4. High-Density Carrier Ethernet Flow Point (EFP) Capacity
   Supports up to 64,000 independent EFPs for large-scale BNG subscriber termination and multi-service access edge deployments, significantly higher than the 16,000 EFP limit of transport-focused -TR line cards optimized for pure backbone transmission.
5. Unified Forwarding Table Scale (Shared with TR Variants)
   Consistent high-capacity forwarding table resources across all 10-port 400GE 5th-gen line card variants: 4 million IPv4 FIB routes, 2 million IPv6 FIB routes, 2 million MAC address table entries, and support for up to 8,000 independent Layer 3 VRF routing instances for multi-tenant service deployments; expandable to full-scale VRF capacity via dedicated license S-A99-4T-AIP-SECisco.

5. Carrier-Grade High Availability (HA) Feature Set

1. OIR Online Insertion and Removal
   Full hot-swap capability; the line card can be inserted, removed, or replaced without chassis power cycling, RSP reboot, or live traffic interruption on other installed line cards within the chassis.
2. Independent Hardware Fault Isolation
   Separate dedicated power supply, clock distribution, and forwarding plane for each line card; hardware faults on individual ports or the entire line card cannot propagate to other line cards or chassis Route Switch Processors (RSPs).
3. Full Chassis Redundancy Compatibility
   Seamless interoperability with all ASR 9900 chassis redundant components: 1+1 redundant RSP5-X control processors, N+1 redundant power supplies, and redundant fan tray assemblies, enabling end-to-end five-nines (99.999%) annual carrier-grade service availability.
4. ISSU In-Service Software Upgrade
   Supports non-disruptive IOS XR firmware image upgrades for the line card without terminating active BNG subscriber sessions, IPTV video streams, mobile backhaul links, or live MPLS backbone traffic flows.
5. Synchronous Timing Support
   Integrated SyncE and IEEE 1588-2008 PTP precision timing hardware for mobile 5G transport and broadcast video deployments, with native support for BITS, GPS ToD, 1-PPS and 10MHz external timing interfaces.

6. Supported IOS XR Network & Service Features

Core Routing & Switching Protocols

MPLS & Multi-Tenant VPN Services

Broadband Subscriber & Mobile Edge Workloads

Precision Timing Synchronization

Security & Traffic Monitoring Tools

7. Front Panel LED Indicator System

1. Global Line Card STATUS LED: Displays line card power supply status, boot initialization progress, and critical hardware fault alarm notifications.
2. Per-Port Dual-Color LED Indicators (10 QSFP-DD ports):
   • Off: QSFP-DD transceiver absent, port administratively shut down, or optical signal loss (LOS) detected
   • Solid Amber: Link established with active Layer 1 optical alarms (excessive bit error rate BER, loss of frame LOF)
   • Solid Green: Stable, error-free active 400GE/100GE/40GE breakout link
   • Blinking Green: Bidirectional data packet traffic transmitting/receiving on the port

8. Key Deployment Advantages

1. Service Edge Optimized Hardware Architecture for Large-Scale Subscriber Aggregation
   The SE variant’s massively expanded QoS, policer, EFP, CGNAT and MACsec hardware resources eliminate RSP CPU bottlenecks in BNG, multi-service PE, and broadband access edge deployments, delivering superior concurrent subscriber session scale compared to transport-focused -TR line cards with limited service processing resources.
2. High-Density 10-Port Wire-Speed 400GE QSFP-DD Interfaces
   Ten independent QSFP-DD 400GE interfaces deliver high-capacity 400G uplink density for access aggregation, mobile edge, carrier Ethernet, IPTV, CDN and DCI deployments, minimizing total chassis slot consumption to reduce overall hardware CapEx. Broad QSFP-DD transceiver compatibility supports flexible fiber reach selection for varied aggregation and core link distances, plus breakout capability to replace dozens of 10GE/100GE links with a single 400G port.
3. Unified Layer 2 / Layer 3 Multi-Service Convergence
   A single line card simultaneously supports Layer 2 carrier Ethernet switching and Layer 3 MPLS backbone routing services, allowing network operators to consolidate broadband subscriber aggregation, video delivery, and mobile transport workloads onto a single ASR 9900 chassis to lower daily operational OpEx overhead.
4. Complete Carrier-Grade High Availability Toolkit
   Native OIR hot swap, ISSU non-disruptive firmware upgrades, hardware fault isolation, and full chassis redundant component compatibility deliver uninterrupted service for mission-critical subscriber-facing edge networks with strict high-uptime operational requirements.
5. Broad Transceiver & Chassis Investment Protection
   Fully compatible with the complete Cisco QSFP-DD 400G/100G/40G optical transceiver portfolio, and all modern ASR 9900 series chassis models, enabling flexible network capacity expansion and full investment protection for existing ASR 9900 router deployments.

9. Regulatory & Safety Compliance Certifications

1. Electrical Safety Standards: UL 60950-1, CSA C22.2 No.60950-1, IEC 60950 CB Scheme, EN 60950-1, GB 4943
2. EMC & EMI Electromagnetic Compatibility: FCC Part 15 Class A, ICES-003 Class A, VCCI Class A, EN55022 Class A, CISPR 22, CISPR 24, full EN 61000 series ESD, electrical surge, radiated and conducted immunity compliance
3. Telecommunications & Carrier Industry Standards: NEBS Level 3 (GR-63-Core physical environmental protection, GR-1089-Core EMC/safety specifications), IEEE 802.3ba 400GE, ITU-T MPLS transport specifications, ITU-T OTN standards
4. Environmental Directives: EU RoHS hazardous substance restriction compliance, EU WEEE waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling directive compliant

10. Standard Factory Packaging Contents

1. A99-10X400GE-X-SE 10-port 400 Gigabit Ethernet 4T 5th Generation Service Edge Optimized QSFP-DD line card
2. ESD anti-static protective transport bag
3. Hardware installation quick reference guide (covers OIR hot-swap operation, QSFP-DD transceiver installation, chassis slot assembly procedures)
4. Global regulatory compliance documentation packet (safety, EMC, NEBS, RoHS certification documents)
5. Dual ejector lever assemblies pre-installed on the line card for easy chassis insertion and removal

Supplementary UNSPSC Classification Code

Standard Hardware Warranty