Full English Description for Cisco C9300X-12Y-E
1. Part Number Naming Breakdown
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C9300X: Catalyst 9300X high-performance stackable Layer 3 all-fiber enterprise switch platform, built on UADP 2.0sec ASIC, supports StackWise-1T 1 Terabit stacking and modular uplink network module slot
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12Y: 12 universal SFP28 multi-rate fiber downlink ports, auto-negotiate 1G / 10G / 25G optical transceivers, data-only design with zero PoE power output
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E: Perpetual Network Essentials IOS XE on-prem license tier. It only enables base Layer 2 and limited Layer 3 features; advanced routing, zero-trust segmentation, full telemetry and 256-bit MACsec are exclusive to Network Advantage (-A) license
2. Short Sales One-Liner (For BOM, Quotation & Datasheet Header)
Cisco Catalyst C9300X-12Y-E, 1RU stackable Layer3 multi-rate fiber aggregation switch, 12-port universal SFP28 1/10/25G fiber downlinks with 1 modular uplink expansion slot, pre-installed permanent Network Essentials IOS XE license, StackWise-1T 1Tbps stacking supported, factory-shipped with single 715W AC power supply, managed via local CLI and Cisco Catalyst Center for entry-level campus fiber closets, 25G Wi-Fi AP termination and fiber surveillance deployments.
3. Complete Product Overview Paragraph
The Cisco Catalyst C9300X-12Y-E is a fixed-form-factor high-density all-fiber stackable Layer 3 enterprise switch within the Catalyst 9300X portfolio, optimized for cost-sensitive fiber access and aggregation use cases such as mid-sized campus fiber closets, 25G high-speed wireless AP termination and multi-camera fiber surveillance networks. Equipped with 12 universal SFP28 downlink ports compatible with 1G, 10G and 25G optical transceivers, the chassis integrates one dedicated hot-swappable C9300X-NM network module slot to support flexible high-speed uplink options including 25G, 40G and 100G. Powered by UADP 2.0sec crypto-capable ASIC and running native IOS XE with permanent Network Essentials license, this switch delivers foundational switching and constrained Layer 3 routing functions, while advanced enterprise capabilities like full BGP routing, TrustSec Adaptive Policy segmentation and Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA) remain locked. It supports StackWise-1T hardware stacking to combine up to 8 identical C9300X switches into a single unified logical stack with 1 Tbps aggregate stacking bandwidth. Redundant hot-swappable AC power supplies and field-replaceable variable-speed fan trays deliver enterprise-grade reliability. The switch is fully managed on-premises through console CLI, SNMPv3 or basic Cisco Catalyst Center integration, rather than Meraki cloud dashboard, with native zero-touch provisioning and baseline traffic monitoring built for small-to-medium hybrid fiber-wired network infrastructures.
4. Detailed Hardware Interface Specifications
Downlink Fiber Ports (12 × SFP28)
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12 universal SFP28 multi-speed fiber ports, auto-detect 1000BASE, 10GBASE and 25GBASE optical modules
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No PoE power supply, pure optical data transmission without power delivery to endpoints
Modular Uplink Expansion Slot
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1 dedicated C9300X-NM hot-swappable module slot, compatible with optional uplink modules:
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C9300X-NM-8Y: 8 × SFP28 (10G / 25G)
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C9300X-NM-4C: 4 × QSFP+ (40G)
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C9300X-NM-2C: 2 × QSFP28 (100G)
Stacking Interfaces
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Dual rear dedicated StackWise-1T stacking ports, total 1 Tbps stacking bandwidth per stack group; supports ring topology with sub-50ms stack failover convergence
Management & Auxiliary Ports
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USB Type-A storage port for offline firmware upgrades and configuration backup
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Mini-USB Type-B console port for local out-of-band CLI access
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Independent 1G RJ45 out-of-band management port
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LED status indicators for port activity, power, fan, stack status and system faults
Power & Physical Form Factor
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Form Factor: 1RU standard 19-inch rack-mount chassis, dimensions 4.4 × 44.5 × 48.8 cm
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Dual hot-swappable redundant AC power supply slots; factory pre-shipped with single 715W AC PSU (PWR-C1-715WAC-P)
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No PoE power budget (data-only fiber switch)
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Thermal design: 3 field-replaceable redundant variable-speed fan trays with front-to-back airflow
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Environmental compliance: Operating temperature -5°C ~ 45°C, ENERGY STAR certified, fully compliant with IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standards
5. Core Hardware Performance Benchmarks
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Standalone Switching Capacity: 1000 Gbps (1 Tbps)
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Standalone Forwarding Rate: 744.04 Mpps
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MAC Address Table Size: 32,000 MAC forwarding entries
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VLAN Support: Up to 4,094 IEEE 802.1Q tagged VLANs
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QoS Hardware Queues: 8 priority hardware queues per port, full DSCP & 802.1p marking and scheduling
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Jumbo Frame Support: Up to 9198-byte jumbo frame transmission
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ACL Capacity: 5,120 ingress/egress hardware ACL entries
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IPFIX Flow Telemetry: Only sampled flow export available under Network Essentials license
6. Layer 2 Standard Feature Suite (Supported under Network Essentials -E)
IEEE 802.1Q VLAN trunking, IEEE 802.3ad LACP EtherChannel (max 8 ports per bundle), full spanning tree toolkit including PVST+, RPVST+, MSTP with BPDU guard, root guard and loop guard; LLDP/LLDP-MED unified endpoint discovery, port security with sticky MAC address learning, broadcast/multicast storm suppression, IGMP Snooping v1/v2/v3, SPAN/RSPAN local and remote traffic mirroring, private VLAN edge mode, voice VLAN auto-detection and traffic prioritization, hardware 128-bit AES MACsec link encryption.
7. Layer 3, Security & Automation Features (Network Essentials -E Limitations)
Supported Restricted Layer 3 Routing
Static IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack routing, RIP v1/v2, OSPFv2/v3 capped at maximum 1,000 learned routes, EIGRP Stub mode, VRRPv2/v3 gateway redundancy, basic PIM sparse-mode multicast routing.
Advanced Routing Locked to Network Advantage (-A)
Full EIGRP, BGP, IS-IS, MPLS, VXLAN, policy-based routing (PBR), unlimited OSPF route scale, SD-Access fabric integration
Baseline Enterprise Security
IEEE 802.1X multi-domain authentication, MAB MAC bypass authentication, DHCP Snooping, Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI), IP Source Guard, CoPP control-plane policing, hardware 128-bit MACsec (256-bit AES MACsec exclusive to -A license), basic ACL logging and threat filtering.
Restricted Automation & Visibility
Basic zero-touch provisioning (ZTP), limited NETCONF/YANG/RESTCONF programmability, sampled IPFIX flow export, partial Cisco Catalyst Center monitoring integration, granular RBAC multi-admin permissions, centralized syslog and SNMPv3 logging.
Premium Features Unavailable on -E Hardware
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Unlimited OSPF dynamic routing table capacity
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TrustSec Adaptive Policy zero-trust segmentation with SGT tagging
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Full unsampled IPFIX flow telemetry and Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA)
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Complete SD-Access wired fabric orchestration
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256-bit AES MACsec link encryption support
8. IOS XE License Tier Differentiation for C9300X On-Prem Switches
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Network Essentials (-E, Base Tier, This Model)
Full Layer 2 switching suite, limited OSPF route scale (max 1,000 routes), baseline port security, sampled flow telemetry and basic ZTP automation. Advanced routing, zero-trust segmentation, ETA and 256-bit MACsec are disabled.
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Network Advantage (-A, Full Feature Tier)
Unlimited dynamic routing table capacity, TrustSec Adaptive Policy micro-segmentation, full unsampled IPFIX telemetry, Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA), complete SD-Access fabric orchestration and 256-bit AES MACsec encryption support.
Key difference versus Meraki cloud-managed C9300X-M variants: C9300X-E/-A run native on-prem IOS XE with perpetual permanent licenses, while C9300X-M Meraki switches require renewable term-based cloud subscriptions and exclusive Meraki Dashboard management. All stacked switch units must deploy matching license tiers to ensure full stacking interoperability and consistent network policy enforcement.
9. Datasheet Short Summary Paragraph
The Cisco Catalyst C9300X-12Y-E is a 1RU stackable Layer 3 multi-rate all-fiber enterprise switch equipped with 12 universal SFP28 1/10/25G downlink ports and one modular high-speed uplink expansion slot, preloaded with permanent Network Essentials IOS XE license. Equipped with StackWise-1T 1Tbps stacking and redundant AC power/fan resiliency, it delivers complete Layer 2 switching, limited-scale Layer 3 dynamic routing and baseline on-prem security & monitoring capabilities. This model targets cost-conscious mid-sized campus fiber closets, 25G wireless AP termination and fiber surveillance networks that rely on local CLI or Cisco Catalyst Center management without requiring premium enterprise features such as unlimited routing, zero-trust segmentation and full traffic analytics.
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