Full English Description for Cisco C9300X-24U-A

1. Part Number Naming Breakdown

Model: C9300X-24U-A

• C9300X: High-performance stackable Layer 3 enterprise multi-gigabit switch platform built on crypto-accelerated UADP 2.0sec ASIC, featuring StackWise-1T 1 Terabit stacking, StackPower power sharing and one hot-swappable C9300X-NM modular uplink slot with line-rate 100G IPsec hardware encryption.
• 24U: 24 universal multi-gigabit RJ45 downlink ports auto-negotiating 100M/1G/2.5G/5G/10G transmission speeds with Cisco UPOE inline power, delivering up to 60W per port complying with IEEE 802.3bt Type 3 standard; backward compatible with IEEE 802.3af (15.4W PoE) and IEEE 802.3at (30W PoE+) powered endpoints, engineered for high-power Wi-Fi 6/7 APs, 4K video conference units, digital signage and high-performance IP PTZ cameras.
• A: Perpetual Network Advantage IOS XE on-prem license tier. Fully unlocks the complete premium enterprise feature stack including unrestricted advanced routing, TrustSec zero-trust micro-segmentation, 256-bit AES MACsec, Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA), full unsampled streaming telemetry and end-to-end SD-Access fabric orchestration.

2. Short Sales One-Liner (For BOM, Quotation & Datasheet Header)

Cisco Catalyst C9300X-24U-A, 1RU rack-mount stackable Layer3 multi-gigabit UPOE aggregation switch, 24-port 100M/1/2.5/5/10G multi-rate RJ45 60W UPOE downlinks with one modular high-speed uplink expansion slot, pre-installed permanent Network Advantage IOS XE license, StackWise-1T 1Tbps stacking and StackPower power pooling supported, factory pre-shipped single 1100W AC PoE power supply, managed via local CLI and full Cisco Catalyst Center for enterprise campus high-power Wi-Fi AP termination, video endpoint and smart building multi-gigabit access closets requiring unrestricted advanced Layer 3 routing, security and analytics capabilities.

3. Complete Product Overview Paragraph

The Cisco Catalyst C9300X-24U-A is a fixed-form-factor high-density multi-gigabit UPOE stackable Layer 3 enterprise switch within the Catalyst 9300X portfolio, purpose-built for modern campus and smart building access deployments requiring multi-speed copper connectivity and robust 60W inline power for next-generation wireless access points, video conferencing hardware, large-format digital signage and power-intensive IP surveillance cameras. Equipped with 24 universal auto-sensing multi-gigabit RJ45 UPOE downlink ports, the chassis integrates one dedicated hot-swappable C9300X-NM modular uplink slot to flexibly deploy 10G/25G/40G/100G high-speed optical uplink modules for elastic bandwidth scaling. Powered by UADP 2.0sec crypto ASIC with hardware acceleration for line-rate 100G IPsec tunnels, this model runs full native IOS XE 17.x software with permanent Network Advantage license, enabling the full suite of enterprise routing, security, automation and telemetry functions that remain locked on Network Essentials (-E) hardware variants. It leverages StackWise-1T hardware stacking to combine up to 8 identical C9300X switches into a single unified logical switching fabric with 1 Tbps aggregate stacking bandwidth, delivering sub-50ms fast stack failover convergence for carrier-class network reliability. Native StackPower technology dynamically aggregates power supplies across the entire stack for UPOE redundancy, load balancing and automatic power redistribution during hardware failure events. Dual hot-swappable AC power supply slots and field-replaceable variable-speed fan trays eliminate single points of hardware failure. The switch supports full on-premises management via console CLI, SNMPv3 or complete Cisco Catalyst Center (DNA Center) SD-Access integration, with native zero-touch provisioning, full unsampled streaming telemetry and end-to-end TrustSec zero-trust segmentation designed for large hybrid copper-fiber enterprise campus and smart building infrastructures with heavy high-power PoE device loads.

4. Detailed Hardware Interface Specifications

Downlink Copper Ports (24 × Multi-Gigabit UPOE RJ45)

• 24 universal multi-gigabit RJ45 ports auto-negotiating 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, 2.5 Gbps, 5 Gbps and 10 Gbps transmission speeds.
• Full Cisco UPOE power compliance: Up to 60W per port under IEEE 802.3bt Type 3; backward compatible with IEEE 802.3af (15.4W PoE) and IEEE 802.3at (30W PoE+) powered devices.
• Native StackPower capability to aggregate and redistribute total UPOE power budget across all stacked switch members for shared power redundancy.

Modular Uplink Expansion Slot

• 1 dedicated hot-swappable C9300X-NM network module slot, compatible with optional high-speed uplink modules:
  • C9300X-NM-8Y: 8 × SFP28 (10G / 25G)
  • C9300X-NM-4C: 4 × QSFP+ (40G)
  • C9300X-NM-2C: 2 × QSFP28 (100G)

Stacking Interfaces

• Dual rear dedicated StackWise-1T stacking ports, total 1 Tbps aggregate stacking bandwidth per stack group; supports ring topology with sub-50ms stack failover convergence, maximum 8 switches per stack.

Management & Auxiliary Ports

• USB Type-A storage port for offline firmware upgrades and configuration backup.
• Mini-USB Type-B console port for local out-of-band CLI access.
• Independent 1G RJ45 out-of-band management port.
• LED status indicators for port activity, multi-gigabit speed negotiation, UPOE power delivery, power supply health, fan status, stack status and system fault alarms.

Power & Physical Form Factor

• Form Factor: 1RU standard 19-inch rack-mount chassis, dimensions 4.4 × 44.5 × 44.9 cm.
• Dual hot-swappable redundant AC power supply slots; factory pre-shipped with single 1100W AC PoE PSU.
• Native UPOE power budget: Up to 735W usable PoE power capacity with single 1100W power supply; StackPower extends total pooled power capacity across stack members.
• Thermal system: 3 field-replaceable redundant variable-speed fan trays with front-to-back airflow.
• Environmental compliance: Operating temperature range -5°C ~ 45°C, ENERGY STAR certified, fully compliant with IEEE 802.3 Ethernet, 802.3af, 802.3at and 802.3bt PoE standards.

5. Core Hardware Performance Benchmarks

• Standalone Switching Capacity: 1000 Gbps (1 Tbps)
• Standalone Forwarding Rate: 744.04 Mpps
• MAC Address Table Size: 32,000 MAC forwarding entries
• VLAN Support: Up to 4,094 IEEE 802.1Q tagged VLANs, unlimited SVIs with Network Advantage license.
• QoS Hardware Queues: 8 priority hardware queues per physical port, full DSCP & 802.1p marking and hierarchical traffic scheduling optimized for multimedia and high-speed wireless traffic.
• Jumbo Frame Support: Up to 9198-byte jumbo frame transmission.
• Hardware ACL Capacity: 5,120 ingress/egress access control list entries.
• IPFIX Flow Telemetry: Full unsampled streaming flow export supported natively under Network Advantage license.

6. Layer 2 Standard Feature Suite (Supported under Network Advantage -A)

IEEE 802.1Q VLAN trunking, IEEE 802.3ad LACP EtherChannel (max 8 ports per bundle), complete spanning tree toolkit including PVST+, RPVST+, MSTP with BPDU guard, root guard and loop guard; LLDP/LLDP-MED unified endpoint discovery optimized for multi-gigabit and PoE endpoints, port security with sticky MAC address learning, broadcast/multicast storm suppression, IGMP Snooping v1/v2/v3, SPAN/RSPAN/ERSPAN local and remote traffic mirroring, private VLANs, voice VLAN auto-detection and traffic prioritization, hardware 128-bit & 256-bit AES MACsec link encryption.

7. Layer 3, Security & Automation Features (Full Network Advantage -A Capabilities)

Full Unrestricted Layer 3 Dynamic Routing

Static IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack routing, RIP v1/v2, OSPFv2/v3 with unlimited route entries, full EIGRP, BGP, IS-IS, MPLS, VXLAN, policy-based routing (PBR), VRRPv2/v3 gateway redundancy, full PIM sparse-dense mode multicast routing, complete SD-Access fabric VRF support.

Advanced Zero-Trust Enterprise Security

IEEE 802.1X multi-domain multi-factor port authentication, MAB MAC bypass authentication, DHCP Snooping, Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI), IP Source Guard, CoPP control-plane policing, hardware TrustSec SGT Adaptive Policy micro-segmentation, hardware 256-bit MACsec link encryption, line-rate 100G IPsec tunnels, Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA), advanced ACL logging and threat filtering, IEEE 1588v2 PTP precise clock synchronization for video and industrial smart building deployments.

Complete Automation & Full Streaming Telemetry

Zero-touch provisioning (ZTP), full NETCONF/YANG/RESTCONF programmability, Python EEM scripting, full unsampled IPFIX streaming telemetry, full Cisco Catalyst Center SD-Access fabric integration, scheduled automatic firmware upgrades, granular RBAC multi-admin access control, centralized syslog and SNMPv3 monitoring, on-box container application hosting with optional USB SSD extended storage support, embedded Catalyst 9800 wireless controller capability for distributed branch and smart building wireless deployments.

8. IOS XE License Tier Differentiation for C9300X On-Prem Switches

1. Network Essentials (-E, Base Tier)
   Full Layer 2 switching suite, limited OSPF route scale (max 1,000 entries), baseline port security, only sampled flow telemetry and basic ZTP automation. Advanced routing, TrustSec segmentation, ETA, ERSPAN and 256-bit MACsec are permanently disabled.
2. Network Advantage (-A, Full Premium Tier, This Model)
   Unlimited dynamic routing table capacity, TrustSec Adaptive Policy zero-trust traffic segmentation with SGT tagging, full unsampled IPFIX flow telemetry, Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA), complete SD-Access wired fabric orchestration and native 256-bit AES MACsec link encryption support.
   Key difference versus Meraki cloud-managed C9300X-M variants: C9300X-A/-E run native on-prem IOS XE with permanent perpetual licenses, while C9300X-M Meraki switches require renewable term-based cloud subscriptions and exclusive Meraki Dashboard cloud management. All switches within the same stack must deploy matching license tiers to guarantee full stacking interoperability and consistent end-to-end security policy enforcement.

9. Datasheet Short Summary Paragraph

The Cisco Catalyst C9300X-24U-A is a 1RU stackable Layer 3 multi-gigabit UPOE enterprise switch equipped with 24 universal 100M/1/2.5/5/10G multi-rate 60W UPOE downlink ports and one modular high-speed uplink expansion slot, preloaded with permanent Network Advantage IOS XE license. Equipped with StackWise-1T 1Tbps high-bandwidth stacking, StackPower UPOE power pooling and redundant AC power/fan resiliency, it delivers complete Layer 2 switching, unlimited full-suite Layer 3 dynamic routing, advanced zero-trust TrustSec segmentation, full streaming telemetry and end-to-end SD-Access fabric integration. This model targets large enterprise smart buildings, high-power Wi-Fi 6/7 AP termination, video conference and digital signage deployments, and multi-gigabit high-density access closets that rely on local CLI or full Cisco Catalyst Center on-prem management and require unrestricted premium enterprise routing, security and analytics feature sets alongside robust 60W UPOE inline power delivery for power-hungry modern endpoints.