Cisco WS-X6K-SUP720-3BXL Full Official Product Description
1. Part Number & Naming Definition
Official Full Name
Cisco Catalyst 6500 / 7600 Series Supervisor Engine 720 with PFC3BXL and MSFC3
SKU:WS-X6K-SUP720-3BXL (WS-SUP720-3BXL)
Naming Breakdown
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WS-X6K: Catalyst 6000 / Catalyst 6500 modular switch chassis, compatible with Cisco 7600 series service routers
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SUP720: Supervisor Engine 720 with integrated crossbar switching fabric
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3BXL: Equipped withPFC3BXL (Policy Feature Card 3BXL)and built-in MSFC3 Multilayer Switch Feature Card; XL represents extended forwarding table capacity compared with standard PFC3B
Core Product Positioning
The Cisco WS-X6K-SUP720-3BXL Supervisor Engine 720-3BXL is a high-density, scalable integrated control, route processing and hardware forwarding module for Catalyst 6500 switches and Cisco 7600 service routers. It incorporates the PFC3BXL forwarding ASIC with significantly enlarged route and ACL table capacity, designed for large-scale enterprise core networks, big data center aggregation, service provider metro Ethernet and IP/MPLS edge deployments. It supports centralized CEF and distributed dCEF forwarding when paired with DFC3BXL line cards. This supervisor supports both Native Cisco IOS mode and Hybrid CatOS/IOS mode, offering broad compatibility with the full portfolio of Catalyst 6500 interface modules to protect legacy 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 modules, FlexWAN modules, optical interface cards; supports legacy shared-bus line cards and fabric-enabled line cards concurrently. Optimized to operate with DFC3BXL distributed forwarding daughter cards for maximum scalability.
Redundancy Support
1+1 redundant supervisor deployment; supports RPR+, SSO, NSF/GR, ISSU for hitless in-service software upgrades
Supported Operating System
Cisco IOS (Native Mode / Hybrid Mode); CatOS is available only under Hybrid mode
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 uplink connections
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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 firmware and configuration files
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LED indicators for system status, fabric health and uplink port status
Switching & Forwarding Capacity
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Integrated crossbar switching fabric capacity: 720 Gbps
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Maximum dedicated bandwidth per fabric-enabled slot: 40 Gbps full-duplex
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Centralized L2/L3 forwarding throughput: 300 Mpps
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Maximum distributed forwarding throughput: 400 Mpps with DFC-equipped line cards
Extended Table Scale (PFC3BXL)
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MAC address table: 64,000 entries
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IPv4 Unicast FIB entries:1,000,000
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IPv6 Unicast FIB entries: 128,000
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Combined IPv4/IPv6 multicast forwarding entries: 32,000
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Hardware NetFlow cache entries: 128,000
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Combined ACL and QoS hardware entries: 256,000
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Maximum active VLANs: 4094
Onboard Hardware
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MSFC3 route processor
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Standard 1 GB DRAM
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64 MB Boot Flash memory
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)
Typical 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 Monitoring
NetFlow v5/v9, Flexible NetFlow for traffic analysis and billing
Advanced QoS
8 hardware queues per port, multi-layer 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, control-plane policing
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 statistics and error counters
5. Typical Deployment Scenarios
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Large enterprise campus core and multi-building distribution switching
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Large-scale data center aggregation layer deployments requiring massive IPv4 routing table capacity
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Service provider metro Ethernet aggregation and IP/MPLS edge routing nodes
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WAN edge services running on Cisco 7600 service router chassis
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Spare replacement inventory for existing Catalyst 6500 / 7600 legacy network 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-SUP720-3BXL Supervisor Engine 720-3BXL
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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-SUP720-3BXL has reached Cisco End-of-Sale and End-of-Support. Spare modules are 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-SUP720-3BXL Supervisor Engine 720-3BXL for Catalyst 6500 and Cisco 7600 platforms, integrated fabric supervisor equipped with extended-capacity PFC3BXL and MSFC3, supporting one million IPv4 routes for large 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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