Cisco WS-X6K-SUP720-3B Full Official Product Description
1. Part Number & Naming Definition
Official Full Name
Cisco Catalyst 6500 / 7600 Series Supervisor Engine 720 with PFC3B and MSFC3
SKU:WS-X6K-SUP720-3B (WS-SUP720-3B)
Naming Breakdown
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WS-X6K: Catalyst 6000 / Catalyst 6500 modular chassis platform, also compatible with Cisco 7600 series routers
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SUP720: Supervisor Engine 720 integrated with centralized switching fabric
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3B: Equipped with PFC3B (Policy Feature Card 3B) + integrated MSFC3 Multilayer Switch Feature Card
Core Product Positioning
The Cisco WS-X6K-SUP720-3B Supervisor Engine 720-3B is a high-performance integrated control, forwarding and fabric module for Catalyst 6500 switches and Cisco 7600 service routers. It combines an on-board crossbar switching fabric, MSFC3 route processor and PFC3B hardware forwarding ASIC. It supports both centralized CEF and distributed dCEF forwarding when paired with DFC-equipped line cards. Designed for enterprise campus core, data center aggregation, metro Ethernet aggregation, and service provider IP/MPLS edge networks. It supports dual operating modes: Native Cisco IOS and Hybrid CatOS/IOS, and provides broad backward compatibility with legacy Catalyst 6500 interface modules to protect existing hardware investments.
2. Hardware Compatibility
Supported Chassis
Catalyst 6503, 6503-E, 6506, 6506-E, 6509, 6509-E, 6509-NEB, 6509-NEB-A, 6513;
Cisco 7603, 7606, 7609, 7613 Optical Service Routers
Supported Line Cards
All generations of Catalyst 6500 Ethernet line cards, SPA interface cards, FlexWAN modules, and optical service modules; supports classic bus-only line cards and fabric-enabled line cards concurrently
Redundancy Support
1+1 redundant supervisor deployment; supports RPR+, SSO, NSF/GR, ISSU for hitless software upgrades
Supported Operating System
Cisco IOS (Native Mode / Hybrid Mode); Catalyst OS (Hybrid mode only)
Unsupported Platforms
Catalyst 4500 series, Nexus switching families, Catalyst 6500 Supervisor 2T dedicated hardware
3. Physical & Performance Specifications
Form Factor
Hot-swappable supervisor module supporting OIR (Online Insertion and Removal)
Front Panel Interfaces
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2 × SFP transceiver slots for Gigabit Ethernet uplinks
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1 × RJ45 RS-232 console management port
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1 × 10/100BASE-T out-of-band management port
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Compact Flash storage slot for IOS image and file storage
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Comprehensive LED status indicators for system, fabric and uplink status
Switching & Forwarding Capacity
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Integrated crossbar switching fabric: 720 Gbps total capacity
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Per-slot bandwidth: 40 Gbps full-duplex for fabric-enabled line cards
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Centralized forwarding throughput: 300 Mpps
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Distributed forwarding maximum throughput: 400 Mpps with DFC line cards
Table Scale (PFC3B)
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MAC address table: Up to 64,000 entries
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IPv4 Unicast FIB entries: 256,000
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IPv6 Unicast FIB entries: 128,000
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Multicast routing entries: 32,000 combined IPv4/IPv6
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Hardware NetFlow cache entries: 128,000
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Combined ACL & QoS hardware entries: 128,000
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Maximum active VLANs: 4094
Onboard Hardware
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MSFC3 Route Processor
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Standard 512 MB DRAM (upgradable to 1 GB)
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64 MB Boot Flash
Environmental Operating Parameters
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Operating Temperature: 0°C ~ 40°C (32°F ~ 104°F)
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Storage Temperature: -40°C ~ 70°C (-40°F ~ 158°F)
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Relative Humidity: 10% – 90%, non-condensing
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Maximum operating altitude: 3,000 meters (9,842 ft)
Power Consumption
4. Supported Functional Capabilities
Layer 2 Switching Features
802.1Q VLAN trunking, ISL trunking, STP/RSTP/MSTP, LACP/PAGP, VTP, IGMP Snooping, MLD Snooping, SPAN/RSPAN/ERSPAN, jumbo frame support
Layer 3 & MPLS Routing
IPv4/IPv6 static routing, OSPF, EIGRP, BGP, IS-IS, PIM-SM/SSM, HSRP/VRRP, VRF-Lite, MPLS, L3VPN, uRPF, hardware GRE tunneling
Traffic Visibility
NetFlow v5/v9, Flexible NetFlow, traffic monitoring
Advanced QoS
8 hardware queues per port, traffic classification, policing, shaping, WRED, DSCP / 802.1p marking, hierarchical QoS scheduling
Network Security
802.1X authentication, DHCP Snooping, Dynamic ARP Inspection, Port Security, hardware ACL filtering, SSHv2, CPU rate limiting
High Availability Mechanisms
OIR, SSO Stateful Switchover, NSF, Graceful Restart, ISSU, RPR+, chassis environmental monitoring, redundant supervisor failover
Operations & Management
SNMP v1/v2c/v3, Syslog, NTP, RMON, CLI console management, Compact Flash image storage, real-time port error counters and statistics
5. Typical Deployment Scenarios
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Enterprise campus core and multi-building distribution layer switching
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Medium & large enterprise data center aggregation switching
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Service provider metro Ethernet and IP/MPLS aggregation nodes
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WAN edge routing deployments on Cisco 7600 router platforms
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Spare replacement inventory for existing Catalyst 6500 / 7600 legacy infrastructure
6. Regulatory & Compliance Certifications
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Safety Standards: UL 60950-1, IEC/EN 60950-1, CSA C22.2 No.60950-1
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EMC Compliance: CE Mark, FCC Part 15 Class A, ICES-003 Class A, VCCI Class A
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Environmental: RoHS compliant, WEEE directive compliant
7. Standard Factory Package Contents
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Cisco WS-X6K-SUP720-3B Supervisor Engine 720-3B
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Hardware installation guide
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Safety and regulatory documentation
Note: SFP optical transceivers and Compact Flash media are sold separately.
End-of-Sale Status
The WS-X6K-SUP720-3B has reached Cisco End-of-Sale and End-of-Support. Spare modules remain available via authorized spare distributors and secondary markets. Recommended migration: Catalyst 6500 Supervisor 2T or modern Catalyst 9000 / Nexus switching & routing platforms.
UNSPSC Classification Code
43222619 – Cisco WS-X6K-SUP720-3B Supervisor Engine 720-3B for Catalyst 6500 and Cisco 7600 platforms, integrated fabric supervisor with PFC3B and MSFC3 delivering centralized and distributed multilayer forwarding for enterprise core, data center and service provider metro networks.
Hardware Warranty
Original Cisco factory hardware carries manufacturer limited warranty; refurbished hardware follows reseller commercial warranty terms.
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