Full English Description for Cisco C9300X-48S-M
1. Part Number Naming Breakdown
-
C9300X: High-performance stackable Layer 3 all-fiber enterprise access switch hardware platform built on crypto-optimized UADP 2.0sec ASIC, supporting StackWise-1T 1 Terabit stacking bandwidth, dual hot-swappable power supplies, StackPower cross-stack power pooling and one hot-swappable C9300X-NM modular uplink slot with hardware line-rate 100G IPsec encryption accelerationCisco.
-
48S: 48 universal hot-pluggable multi-rate SFP downlink slots supporting 1G/10G fiber transceivers (1000BASE-SX/LX/EX/ZX, 10GBASE-SR/LR/ER/ZR). No copper RJ45 ports and zero PoE capability, designed purely for all-optical campus interconnection, industrial fiber access and fiber-to-desk deployments without power delivery to endpoints. Equipped with a default 715W AC platinum-efficiency power supply with no PoE wattage budget.
-
S = All-SFP fiber downlink port variant (optical-only, no copper, no PoE)Cisco.
-
M: Meraki cloud-native managed suffix. This hardware runs Meraki-orchestrated cloud IOS XE firmware, fully administered via Meraki Dashboard. All feature capabilities are unlocked by renewable term-based Meraki Catalyst 9300-M subscriptions (two tiers: Enterprise / Advanced); no permanent on-prem Network Essentials/Network Advantage perpetual IOS XE licenses applyCisco Meraki.
2. Short Sales One-Liner (For BOM, Quotation & Datasheet Header)
Cisco Catalyst C9300X-48S-M, 1RU rack-mount Meraki cloud-managed Layer3 all-fiber enterprise access switch, 48×1G/10G multi-rate SFP fiber downlink slots with one modular high-speed uplink expansion slot, StackWise-1T 1Tbps stacking supported, factory-shipped single 715W AC power supply, unified single-pane Meraki Dashboard cloud management for all-fiber campus inter-building, industrial optical and fiber-to-desk deployments requiring centralized zero-touch cloud orchestration without PoE copper ports.
3. Complete Product Overview Paragraph
The Cisco Catalyst C9300X-48S-M is a fixed-form-factor dense all-fiber stackable Layer 3 enterprise access switch belonging to the Meraki-managed Catalyst 9300X-M portfolio, engineered for all-optical campus, multi-building and industrial wired deployments that require 48 independent long-distance fiber downlink connections without copper RJ45 ports or PoE power delivery, and eliminate the need for on-premises Cisco Catalyst Center local management. Equipped with 48 universal hot-swappable SFP slots supporting auto-sensing 1G and 10G fiber transceivers for short/long-haul optical transmission, 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 to aggregation and core switching layers. While sharing identical line-rate forwarding hardware performance with on-prem IOS XE C9300X-48S-A/E counterparts, this -M variant operates under exclusive Meraki cloud orchestration: all network configuration, bulk firmware upgrades, real-time traffic monitoring, fault alerting and end-to-end security policy deployment are centralized within the Meraki Dashboard instead of local CLI or on-prem DNA CenterCisco Meraki. It leverages StackWise-1T hardware stacking to combine up to 8 identical C9300X-M 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 up to four stacked switches for shared power pooling and power redundancy during hardware failure events. Dual hot-swappable AC power supply slots and field-replaceable variable-speed fan trays eliminate single points of hardware failure, and native cross-platform policy synchronization unifies wired switch management with Meraki MR wireless access points and MX security gateways in one cloud console. Meraki zero-touch provisioning (ZTP), remote cable diagnostics and cross-site network topology visualization are native core functions available on both subscription tiers; premium advanced capabilities including unlimited OSPF dynamic routing entries, Adaptive Policy zero-trust segmentation and Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA) are fully activated only with the higher Meraki Advanced subscription tier.
4. Detailed Hardware Interface Specifications
Downlink Fiber Ports (48 × Multi-Rate SFP Slots)
-
48 universal hot-swappable SFP slots auto-support 1000BASE (1G) and 10GBASE transceivers.
-
Compatible 1G optics: SX, LX, EX, ZX, LH; Compatible 10G optics: SR, LR, ER, ZR.
-
Zero PoE power output on all ports, purely fiber data transmission without endpoint power delivery.
-
Default 715W AC platinum-efficiency PSU, no PoE wattage budget (fiber-only hardware design).
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 2.0 Type-A storage port for offline firmware upload and local configuration backup.
-
Mini-USB Type-B console port for emergency local CLI access during temporary cloud connectivity outages.
-
Independent 1G RJ45 out-of-band management port (data-only, no PoE).
-
Front-panel LED status indicators for each SFP fiber port link/activity, power supply health, fan status, stack membership status and system fault alarms.
Power & Physical Form Factor
-
Form Factor: 1RU standard 19-inch rack-mount chassis, dimensions 4.4 × 445 × 520 mm.
-
Dual hot-swappable redundant AC power supply slots; factory pre-installed with single 715W AC platinum PSU (energy efficiency >90%).
-
StackPower cross-stack power sharing supported to aggregate wattage across stacked units for power redundancy.
-
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 1G/10G fiber Ethernet industry standards.
5. Core Hardware Performance Benchmarks
-
Standalone Switching Capacity: 2000 Gbps (2 Tbps)
-
Standalone Forwarding Rate: 1488 Mpps
-
MAC Address Table Size: 32,000 MAC forwarding entries
-
VLAN Support: Up to 4,094 IEEE 802.1Q tagged VLANs; maximum 1,000 active STP VLANs under Meraki Enterprise license, unlimited with Meraki Advanced license
-
QoS Hardware Queues: 8 priority hardware queues per physical port, full DSCP & 802.1p marking and hierarchical traffic scheduling optimized for long-distance fiber campus interconnection and industrial optical data 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: Sampled flow export available under Meraki Enterprise license; full unsampled streaming telemetry enabled exclusively with Meraki Advanced subscription.
6. Layer 2 Standard Feature Suite (Meraki Cloud Configured, All License Tiers)
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 fiber SFP-based workstations, industrial optical equipment and remote building switches, 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 for secure fiber uplink trunk transport.
7. Meraki Cloud Native Layer 3, Security & Orchestration Features (Tier-Based Feature Control)
Supported Routing Capabilities
Static IPv4/IPv6 dual-stack routing, RIP v1/v2, OSPFv2/v3, VRRPv2/v3 gateway redundancy, basic PIM sparse-mode multicast routing.
-
Meraki Enterprise License: OSPF routing table limited to maximum 1,000 learned routing entries
-
Meraki Advanced License: Unlimited OSPF dynamic routing table capacity
Cloud-Managed Enterprise Security
IEEE 802.1X multi-domain port authentication, MAB MAC bypass authentication, DHCP Snooping, Dynamic ARP Inspection (DAI), IP Source Guard, CoPP control-plane policing, hardware Secure Boot & Trust Anchor Module, granular RBAC multi-admin dashboard permissions, end-to-end TLS/SSH encrypted communication tunnel between switch and Meraki cloud.
-
Meraki Advanced exclusive premium security features: End-to-end Adaptive Policy SGT zero-trust micro-segmentation, Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA), full 256-bit AES MACsec link encryption support
Meraki Exclusive Cloud Automation & Visibility
Zero-touch provisioning (ZTP) with automatic out-of-box device registration to Meraki organization, global bulk firmware scheduling and staged upgrade deployment, live remote cable diagnostics without on-site IT staff, real-time cross-site network topology mapping, unified wired/wireless policy synchronization with Meraki MR APs and MX security appliances, centralized cloud-hosted event logging, cross-device fault alert notifications via email/SMS, on-demand remote packet capture for offline troubleshooting.
8. Meraki Catalyst 9300-M Subscription License Tier Differentiation
All C9300X-M cloud-managed switches require renewable term-based Meraki Catalyst subscriptions (1/3/5/7/10-year terms), split into two functional tiers:
-
Enterprise License (Base Tier)
Full Layer 2 switching suite, limited OSPF route scale (max 1,000 entries), baseline port security, sampled flow telemetry and standard ZTP automation. Adaptive Policy segmentation, full unsampled IPFIX streaming telemetry and ETA analytics are permanently disabled.
-
Advanced License (Full Premium Tier)
Unlimited dynamic routing table capacity, Adaptive Policy zero-trust traffic segmentation with SGT tagging, full unsampled IPFIX flow telemetry, Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA), complete cross-domain wired fabric orchestration and native 256-bit AES MACsec link encryption support.
Key difference versus on-prem C9300X-A/E IOS XE switches: C9300X-M relies entirely on time-limited Meraki cloud subscriptions and Meraki Dashboard management, while C9300X-A/E use permanent standalone IOS XE perpetual licenses and local/Cisco Catalyst Center management. All switches within the same physical stack must deploy matching Meraki subscription tiers to guarantee full stacking interoperability and consistent end-to-end security policy enforcement.
9. Datasheet Short Summary Paragraph
The Cisco Catalyst C9300X-48S-M is a Meraki cloud-native stackable Layer 3 all-fiber enterprise access switch equipped with 48 universal 1G/10G multi-rate SFP fiber downlink slots and one modular high-speed uplink expansion slot, compatible with both Meraki Enterprise and Advanced tier renewable cloud subscriptions. Equipped with StackWise-1T 1Tbps high-bandwidth stacking and dual redundant AC power/fan resiliency, it delivers complete Layer 2 switching, tier-restricted Layer 3 dynamic routing, unified cross-site wired-wireless cloud management and remote zero-touch automation. This model targets all-fiber campus inter-building, industrial optical and fiber-to-desk wired access deployments requiring long-distance optical transmission without copper PoE ports, and prioritize centralized Meraki Dashboard cloud orchestration instead of traditional local CLI or on-premises Cisco Catalyst Center management.
|
