The Cisco® Catalyst® 4500 Series Switches provide scalable nonblocking Layer 2-4 switching with secure, flexible, nonstop communications, enabling business resilience for enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), and Metro Ethernet customers deploying business-critical applications. The Cisco Catalyst 4500 delivers predictable and scalable high performance, with advanced dynamic quality-of-service (QoS) capabilities and configuration flexibility for enterprise wiring closets and SMB access/core. Integrated resiliency features in both hardware and software maximize network availability, helping to ensure workforce productivity, profitability, and customer success. Its centralized, innovative, and flexible system design helps ensure smooth migration to wire-speed IPv6 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet. The flexibility, scalability, and forward and backward compatibility between generations of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series extend deployment life, providing exceptional investment protection, reducing the total cost of ownership.
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series is a high-performance next-generation extension to the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series. The new "E-Series" is composed of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine 6-E, E-Series line cards, and E-Series chassis that are designed for secure, flexible, nonstop communications with superior backward and forward compatibility delivering exceptional investment protection for organizations of all sizes.
Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series and Classic Line Cards
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series offers two classes of line cards: classic and E-Series. Classic line cards provide 6 gigabits of switching capacity per slot. E-Series line cards increase the per slot switching capacity to 24 gigabits. This increase in per slot switching capacity with the E-Series line cards requires the Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series chassis and the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Supervisor Engine 6-E. Classic line cards may be deployed in both classic and E-Series chassis with either classic Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series supervisor engines or with the Supervisor Engine 6-E. With the Supervisor Engine 6-E, the classic line cards per slot switching capacity remains at 6 gigabits per slot. However, because of the centralized switching architecture of the Cisco Catalyst 4500, the classic line cards will adopt all of the new Supervisor Engine 6-E features such as eight queues per port, dynamic QoS, and hardware-based IPv6 routing. Please refer to the Supervisor Engine 6-E data sheet for more feature details. Classic line cards and E-Series line cards may be mixed and matched within a Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series chassis with no performance degradation: classic line cards will operate at 6 gigabits per slot, and E-Series line cards will operate at 24 gigabits per slot. Table 1 summarizes the chassis and supervisor support for both classic and E-Series line cards.
Table 1. Cisco Catalyst 4500 Line-Card Support Options
Line-Card Type
Per Slot Bandwidth
Chassis Support
Supervisor Support
Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series Line Cards
24 Gbps
Cisco Catalyst 4503-E, 4506-E, 4507R-E, and 4510R-E
Supervisor Engine 6-E,
Supervisor Engine 6L-E,
Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Classic Line Cards
6 Gbps
Cisco Catalyst 4503, 4506, 4507R, and 4510R1 Switches
Cisco Catalyst 4503-E, 4506-E, 4507R-E, and 4510R-E Switches
1Supervisor Engine 6-E, Supervisor Engine V-10GE and Supervisor Engine V are the only supervisors supported on 4510R-E and 4510-R Chassis
2Supervisor Engine II-Plus-TS is supported on 4503-E and 4503 Chassis only
Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series Gigabit Ethernet Line Cards
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series 48-port Gigabit Ethernet line cards provide high-performance 10/100/1000 switching at 24 Gbps per slot. (2:1 oversubscribed). The Cisco Catalyst 4500 48-port 10/100/1000 E-Series line cards are designed for LAN access applications where desktop users require gigabit connection speeds. The Cisco Catalyst 4500 48-port 10/100/1000 E-Series line cards are available in two versions: one with standard PoE 802.3af, and the second one with standard PoE 802.3af and PoEP ready features such as support for up to 30 Watts per port.
Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series 10 Gigabit Ethernet Line Card
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series now supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet line cards. The Cisco Catalyst 4500 6-port E-Series 10 Gigabit Ethernet line card (2.5:1 oversubscribed) can be deployed for high-performance 10 Gigabit Ethernet aggregation in the campus, in small to medium networks as a core switch, or for high-performance wiring closets where additional 10 Gigabit Ethernet uplinks are required. The Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series 6-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet line card supports standard X2 optics as well as the Cisco TwinGig modules.
The Cisco TwinGig Converter Module converts a single 10 Gigabit Ethernet X2 interface into two Gigabit Ethernet port slots, which can be populated with appropriate Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) optics, providing a total of 12 wire-speed Gigabit Ethernet ports if used in all 6 X2 interface slots. The flexibility provided by the TwinGig Converter Module enables customers to aggregate Gigabit Ethernet and 10 Gigabit Ethernet LAN access switches on a single line card. The ability to support either Gigabit Ethernet uplinks or 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports on a single line card further demonstrates the flexibility and the investment protection of the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series architecture (Figure 1).
TwinGig modules convert a single X2 port into two Gigabit Ethernet SFP ports.
Figure 1. TwinGig Module
Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series and Classic Power over Ethernet Line Cards
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series offers line cards, power supplies, and accessories required to deploy and operate a standards-based PoE internetwork. PoE provides -48 VDC power over standard Category 5 unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cable up to 100 meters when an IEEE 802.3af-compliant or Cisco prestandard powered device is attached to the PoE line-card port. Instead of requiring wall power, attached devices such as IP phones, wireless base stations, video cameras, and other IEEE-compliant appliances can use power provided from the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series PoE line cards. This capability gives network administrators centralized control over power and eliminates the need to install outlets in ceilings and other out-of-the-way places where a powered device can be installed.
Although all references to "PoE," "inline power," and "voice" power supplies and line cards are synonymous, there are currently only two versions: Cisco prestandard and IEEE 802.3af compliant. Every Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series chassis and PoE power supply supports the IEEE 802.3af standard and the Cisco prestandard power implementation, helping ensure backward compatibility with existing devices powered by Cisco. All IEEE 802.3af-compliant line cards can distinguish an IEEE or Cisco prestandard powered device from an unpowered network interface card (NIC), helping ensure power is applied only when an appropriate device is connected.
Cisco Catalyst 4500 Classic Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Line Cards
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series offers a variety of classic Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet line cards that include fiber and copper interfaces optimized for desktops, branch office backbones, and servers for enterprise and commercial switching solutions, and service provider metropolitan Ethernet networks. Gigabit Ethernet line cards include cost-effective, high-performance 1000BASE-X gigabit interface converter (GBIC) and SFP-based Gigabit Ethernet line cards and the high-density 10/100/1000BASE-T triple-speed autosensing, autonegotiating Gigabit Ethernet line cards. Fast Ethernet line cards include various densities of wire-speed 10/100, 100-FX, 100BASE-LX10, and 100BASE-BX-D options.
Features and Benefits
Functionally Transparent
Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series switches offers an extensive line of modules that support numerous speeds and physical media combinations. These line cards are functionally transparent; all the packet processing, queuing, buffering, and QoS occur in the supervisor engine. To that end, both classic and E-Series line cards acquire the features and capabilities of the installed supervisor engine. For example, a classic line card previously deployed with a classic supervisor engine using 4 queues per port will automatically have capability for 8 queues per port (first half CY2008) if redeployed with a Supervisor Engine 6-E. This architecture enables customers to easily upgrade all Ethernet line cards on their Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series systems to higher-layer switching functions by adding a new supervisor engine. The simple design of the line cards results in a very high mean time between failures (MTBF), helping ensure high availability for a single connection to an end user.
Modular Versatility
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series is a centralized architecture that is designed to provide dedicated wire-speed bandwidth to each line-card slot within the chassis. Each line card has a dedicated bandwidth to the supervisor engine for packet processing. All network data that flows into the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series through the various line cards goes through the supervisor engine for processing, even in single-slot port-to-port communications. All line cards have some per slot bandwidth that allows network administrators to design a system that offers full dedicated bandwidth-to-server and switch-to-switch applications and still provide high performance over subscribed gigabit to the desktop.
A modular centralized design allows customers to use their investment in high-performance line cards across the entire line of Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series chassis and supervisor engines. For example, line cards that shipped with the original Cisco Catalyst 4003 Switch in 1999 will work in the Cisco Catalyst 4500 E-Series chassis. Because of the centralized architecture of the Cisco Catalyst 4500, all line cards deployed in a chassis benefit from the enhanced features the supervisor engine provides including Security, QoS, Layer 2/3/4 routing, and hardware-based IPv6.
Following are descriptions of line cards that are available for Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series switches.
Cisco Catalyst 4500 E Series Fiber Line Card
Figure 2 shows the WS-X4624-SFP-E.
Figure 2. WS-X4624-SFP-E
WS-X4624-SFP-E:
• 24 port Line Rate SFP line card providing 24 gigabits per slot capacity
• IEEE 802.3af and Cisco prestandard PoE, IEEE 802.3x flow control
• Bandwidth is allocated across six 8-port groups, providing 1 Gbps per port group
• Capable of up to 30W of inline power per port
• Enterprise and commercial: designed to power next generation IP phones, wireless base stations, video cameras, and other PoE devices that require power up to 30 Watts
• IEEE 802.3af and Cisco prestandard PoE, IEEE 802.3x flow control
• Bandwidth is allocated across six 4-port groups, providing 1 Gbps per port group
• Enterprise and commercial: designed to power IP phones, wireless base stations, video cameras, and other IEEE-compliant powered devices
Classic Gigabit Ethernet over Copper
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series offers a variety of gigabit-over-copper solutions for wiring closets and server farms, enabling high-density gigabit connectivity to the desktop and servers over Category 5 copper cabling. The line-card options for the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series (Table 2) include a 24- and 48-port 10/100/1000BASE-T module in both PoE and non-PoE versions. These modules provide wiring closet investment protection by allowing Fast Ethernet desktops to migrate to Gigabit Ethernet in the future without replacement of the switch line cards.
• Bandwidth is allocated across six 4-port groups, providing 1 Gbps per port group
• Enterprise and commercial: designed for gigabit-to-the-desktop and server-farm applications
Classic Gigabit Ethernet (GBIC or SFP)
The Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series offers a variety of GBIC- or SFP-enabled gigabit solutions for high-performance Gigabit Ethernet uplinks and server farm connectivity. The five GBIC- or SFP-enabled gigabit line-card options for the Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series include 2-, 6-, 18-, and 48-port versions. GBIC or SFP technology allows customers to intermix intrabuilding MMF connections and long-distance single-mode connections simply by changing the GBIC or SFP type. (See Table 3 for more information.)
• 6-port 10/100/1000 and 6-port SFP (any combination of up to 6 ports can be active at one time)
• 10/100/1000 RJ-45 PoE and 1000BASE-X (SFP)
• Cisco IOS Software Release 12.2(20)EWA
• PoE IEEE 802.3af and Cisco prestandard (RJ-45 only)
• Provides full line-rate gigabit switching on all ports
• L2-4 Jumbo Frame support (up to 9216 bytes)
• Designed to give customers the choice of RJ-45 with or without PoE and SFP without incurring extra costs
• Enterprise and commercial: high-performance desktop connectivity and server farms; designed to power IP phones, wireless base stations, video cameras, and other IEEE-compliant appliances
• Metro Ethernet: designed for service providers to run point-to-point Gigabit Ethernet over single-mode fiber
• Enterprise and commercial: designed to power IP phones, wireless base stations, video cameras, and other IEEE-compliant powered devices with improved cable management RJ-21 connectors
• Enterprise and commercial: affordable connection for fiber-to-the-desktop applications. Optimized for government or for anyone requiring the security and resiliency of fiber to the desktop.
• Metro Ethernet: residential customers located within a 1.2-mile (2-km) radius
• Enterprise and commercial: affordable high-density connection for fiber-to-the-desktop applications. Optimized for government or for anyone requiring the security and resiliency of fiber to the desktop.
• Metro Ethernet: residential customers located within a 1.2-mile (2-km) radius
Figure 26 shows the WS-X4148-FE-BD-L.
Figure 26. WS-X4148-FE-BD-LC Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series 48-Port 100BASE-BX10-D Fast Ethernet Line Card for Single Strand of SMF
WS-X4148-FE-BD-LC:
• 48 ports
• 100BASE-BX10-D for single strand of single-mode fiber
• Cisco IOS Software Release 12.2(18)EW or later
• IEEE 802.3ah, IEEE 802.3
• Bidirectional Fast Ethernet operates over a single strand of fiber
• Metro Ethernet: designed for network operators building the next-generation Metro Ethernet network over distances up to 6.2 miles (10 km)
Specification Summary
Tables 2 through 8 summarize product specifications.
Table 2. Port Information for Line Cards
Line Card
Number of Ports
Port Speed
Port Type
Wire Rate
Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Min/Max Ports
4503-E
4506-E/
4507R-E
4510R-E
E-Series Line Cards
WS-X4648-RJ45V+E
48
10/100/1000
RJ-45
2-to-1
48/96*
48/240*
48/240*
WS-X4648-RJ45V-E
48
10/100/1000
RJ-45
2-to-1
48/96*
48/240*
48/240*
WS-X4624-SFP-E
24
1000
Pluggables
1:1
24/48
24/120
24/168
WS-X4606-X2-E
6
10GBASE-X
X2 or SFP with TwinGig Converter Module
2.5-to-1 with X2
1:1 with SFP
6/14*
12/26*
6/34*
12/68*
6/34*
12/68*
Classic Gigabit over Copper PoE Line Cards
WS-X4548-
RJ45V+
48
10/100/1000
RJ-45 PoE IEEE 802.3af, Cisco prestandard and PoEP-ready
8-to-1**
48/96
48/240
48/384
WS-X4548-
GB-RJ45V
48
10/100/1000
RJ-45 PoE IEEE 802.3af and Cisco prestandard
8-to-1**
48/96
48/240
48/384
WS-X4524-
GB-RJ45V
24
10/100/1000
RJ-45 PoE IEEE 802.3af and Cisco prestandard
4-to-1**
24/48
24/120
24/168
Classic Gigabit Ethernet (Copper) Line Cards
WS-X4548-GB-RJ45
48
10/100/1000
RJ-45
8-to-1**
48/96
48/240
48/384
WS-X4448-GB-RJ45
48
10/100/1000
RJ-45
8-to-1**
48/96
48/240
48/384
WS-X4424-GB-RJ45
24
10/100/1000
RJ-45
4-to-1**
24/48
24/120
24/168
Classic Gigabit Ethernet (GBIC or SFP) Line Cards
WS-X4302-GB
2
1000BASE-X
IEEE 802.3
GBIC
Yes
2/4
2/10
2/16
WS-X4306-GB
6
1000BASE-X
GBIC
Yes
6/12
6/30
6/42
WS-X4418-GB
18
1000BASE-X
GBIC
2 ports full
16 ports
4-to-1**
18/36
18/90
18/126
WS-X4448-GB-LX
48
1000BASE-LX
48 SFPs (included)
8-to-1**
48/96
48/240
48/384
WS-X4448-GB-SFP
48
1000BASE-X
SFP
8-to-1**
48/96
48/240
48/384
WS-X4506-GB-T
6 + 6
10/100/1000
1000BASE-X (SFP) RJ-45 PoE IEEE 802.3af
and Cisco prestandard
Yes
6/12
6/30
6/42
Classic Fast Ethernet over Fiber Line Cards
WS-X4248-FE-SFP
48
100BASE-X
SFP
Yes
48/96
48/240
48/384
WS-X4124-FX-MT
24
100BASE-FX (MT-RJ)
-
Yes
24/48
24/120
24/168
WS-X4148-FX-MT
48
100BASE-FX
MMF
MT-RJ
Yes
48/96
48/240
48/384
WS-X4148-FE-BD-LC
48
100BASE-BX10-D
SMF
Single LC
Yes
48/96
48/240
48/384
Classic Fast Ethernet over Copper Line Cards
WS-X4124-RJ45
24
10/100
RJ-45
Yes
24/48
24/120
24/168
WS-X4148-RJ
48
10/100
RJ-45
Yes
48/96
48/240
48/384
WS-X4148-RJ21
48
10/100
RJ-21
Yes
48/96
48/240
48/384
Classic Fast Ethernet PoE Line Cards
WS-X4224-RJ45V
24
10/100
RJ-45 PoE IEEE 802.3af
and Cisco prestandard
Yes
24/48
24/120
24/168
WS-X4248-RJ45V
48
10/100
RJ-45 PoE IEEE 802.3af
and Cisco prestandard
Yes
48/96
48/240
48/384
WS-X4248-RJ21V
48
10/100
RJ-45 PoE IEEE 802.3af
and Cisco prestandard
Yes
48/96
48/240
48/384
* E-Series line cards require E-Series chassis.
** The amount of oversubscription can be controlled by varying the number of ports used at 1000 Mbps. All ports can use Gigabit EtherChannel® or IEEE 802.3ad for high-speed interconnection applications. All oversubscribed ports use the standard IEEE 802.1x flow control (PAUSE frame) mechanism to control Gigabit Ethernet host traffic.
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