Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series C9400X-SUP-2= Modular Switch Chassis, 10 RU, 7 Line Card Slots, 2 Supervisor Slots, 1.44 Tbps Backplane

With a backplane capacity of up to 1.44 Tbps and per-slot bandwidth of 480 Gbps, the Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series chassis delivers uncompromising performance for enterprise core and distribution layers. The C9400X-SUP-2= is a 10 RU modular switch chassis engineered for high-density 10/40/100 Gigabit Ethernet deployments, offering seven line card slots and dual supervisor engine slots for 1+1 redundancy. It supports up to eight power supplies for N+N redundancy and three fan trays for N+1 cooling, ensuring continuous operation in mission-critical environments.

Overview

The Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series is Cisco's leading modular access and aggregation platform, built for secure, resilient, and intelligent network services. This chassis provides a scalable foundation for enterprise campus networks, supporting a wide range of line cards, supervisor engines, and power options. With support for Cisco IOS XE Software, it delivers advanced features such as SD-Access, Encrypted Traffic Analytics, and high availability. The C9400X-SUP-2= is the base chassis, requiring separately ordered supervisor engines, line cards, power supplies, and fan trays to complete the system.

What stands out

• Massive backplane capacity of up to 1.44 Tbps for demanding workloads
• Dual supervisor slots for stateful switchover and 1+1 redundancy
• Seven line card slots for flexible port density and uplink options
• Supports up to eight power supplies for N+N power redundancy
• Three fan tray slots with N+1 cooling redundancy
• 10 RU form factor fits standard 19-inch racks
• Runs Cisco IOS XE with full programmability and automation

Technical details

• Chassis type: Modular network switch chassis
• Rack units: 10 RU
• Line card slots: 7
• Supervisor engine slots: 2 (1+1 redundancy)
• Power supply slots: 8 (N+N redundancy)
• Fan tray slots: 3 (N+1 redundancy)
• Backplane switching capacity: Up to 1.44 Tbps (with dual Supervisor 2XL-E)
• Per-slot bandwidth: Up to 480 Gbps
• Supported supervisor engines: Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Supervisor Engines (e.g., C9400-SUP-1, C9400-SUP-2XL-E)
• Supported power supplies: AC and DC options (e.g., 950W, 2100W, 3200W)
• Management: Requires Supervisor Engine for management interfaces
• Operating temperature: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F)
• Operating humidity: 5% to 90% non-condensing
• Form factor: Rack-mountable
• Software support: Cisco IOS XE Software
• Target environment: Enterprise Campus Core/Distribution, Data Center Access

Our verdict

The Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series chassis is a future-proof investment for enterprises needing high performance, scalability, and always-on availability. Its modular design allows you to tailor the system to your exact requirements, while the robust redundancy features ensure minimal downtime. Ideal for large campus networks and data center access layers.