C9600-LC-48S, Cisco Catalyst 9600 Switch, 48x1G SFP/Hot-swappable/Layer 3

The Cisco C9600-LC-48S is a high‑density, enterprise‑class switch line card for the Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series chassis, designed for campus cores and aggregation networks in Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America. It delivers 48 1 Gigabit fiber SFP interfaces, giving distributors and system integrators a flexible option for building scalable fiber access in enterprise buildings, universities, and public sector networks. With up to 4.8 Tbps switching capacity and up to 2,256 Mpps forwarding rate, the C9600-LC-48S supports both IPv4 and IPv6 services, making it suitable for long‑term dual‑stack deployments.

This Cisco switch line card supports full Layer 2 and Layer 3 features, so integrators can build resilient campus cores with advanced routing, VLAN segmentation, and multicast. The modular and redundant design of the Catalyst 9600 platform helps reduce downtime and simplifies maintenance, which is especially important for distributors and managed service providers who support multiple customer sites. Low latency forwarding and jumbo frame support up to 9,198 bytes improve performance for data‑intensive applications, such as backup, storage access, and real‑time video.

Security is enhanced with 802.1X authentication, DHCP snooping, and Dynamic ARP Inspection to protect against common access‑layer attacks and unauthorized devices. These capabilities help enterprises and government customers meet internal compliance policies and regional regulations. Rich QoS features, including traffic classification, policing, and scheduling, allow precise control of critical traffic such as voice, collaboration, and business applications across diverse regional deployments.

For operations teams, the C9600-LC-48S runs Cisco IOS XE software, providing a consistent feature set, automation options, and programmability across the Catalyst portfolio. Management through CLI, SNMP, and RMON supports integration with existing NMS platforms used by distributors, small and medium system integrators, and large enterprises. The operating temperature range from 0 °C to 45 °C, along with RoHS, UL, and CE compliance, fits common installation standards in global data centers and wiring rooms. Power consumption depends on the overall chassis configuration, allowing network designers to balance performance and energy use based on site needs.