C9600-LC-48YL – 48x SFP56 Ports at 50/25/10/1GE – Both Supervisors – Catalyst 9600 Line Card
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C9600-LC-48YL Description
The C9600-LC-48YL is the Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series 48-Port 50/25/10/1GE line card, a single-slot module carrying 48 line-rate SFP56 ports for the C9606R chassis. Cisco designs it for high port-density Campus Core or Distribution roles with majority SFP optics and notes that it operates with both Supervisor Engine 1 and Supervisor Engine 2, which makes it the density card an installed base can adopt without changing engines. What the engine does change is the port speed and the encryption behaviour, and the two move in opposite directions: paired with C9600-SUP-1 at 1.2 Tbps full-duplex the card runs up to 48 nonblocking ports of 25/10/1GE with MACsec-256 available on the UADP ASIC, while paired with C9600X-SUP-2 at 3.2 Tbps full-duplex it runs up to 48 nonblocking ports of 50/25/10/1GE but does not support MACsec at all. Maximum rated power follows the engine as well, at 230 W on the older supervisor and 300 W on the newer one, and the card is rated at 640,750 hours MTBF at 3.55 kg (7.83 lbs). Minimum software is Cisco IOS XE 16.11.1 with C9600-SUP-1 and 17.7.1 with C9600X-SUP-2.
Quick Specs
|
Parameter |
Specification |
|---|---|
|
Product ID |
C9600-LC-48YL |
|
Ports |
48 line-rate SFP56 ports at 50, 25, 10 and 1 GE using SFP28 and SFP+ port types |
|
Speed by supervisor engine |
Up to 48 nonblocking ports of 25/10/1GE with C9600-SUP-1 and up to 48 nonblocking ports of 50/25/10/1GE with C9600X-SUP-2 |
|
50GE restriction |
50GE support is available only on C9600X-SUP-2 |
|
MACsec restriction |
MACsec-256 on the UADP ASIC, but this line card does not support MACsec with C9600X-SUP-2 |
|
Compatible chassis |
C9606R 6 slot chassis, 4 line card slots behind 2 dedicated supervisor slots |
|
Maximum rated power |
230 W with C9600-SUP-1 and 300 W with C9600X-SUP-2 |
|
Physical form |
1.7 x 15.0 x 13.41 inches (4.32 x 38.1 x 34.06 cm) to the faceplate, 3.55 kg (7.83 lbs) |
|
Minimum software release |
Cisco IOS XE 16.11.1 with C9600-SUP-1 and 17.7.1 with C9600X-SUP-2 |
|
Rated MTBF |
640,750 hours |
Application Scenarios
Installed in campus core positions where the distribution layer hands off over SFP fiber and 48 line-rate terminations must land on one slot of the chassis.
Deployed at distribution aggregation points serving several access closets, with SFP optics as the dominant media across the room.
Racked in C9606R chassis running either supervisor generation, since the card seats on both and carries forward when the engine is later replaced.
Product Comparison
|
Parameter |
C9600-LC-48YL | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Port layout |
48x SFP56 at 50/25/10/1GE |
24x QSFP28 at 40GE and 100GE |
56x SFP56 at 50/25/10GE plus 4x QSFP28 at 100/40GE |
|
Optic family |
SFP56, SFP28 and SFP+ |
QSFP28 |
SFP56 plus QSFP28 |
|
Supervisor engine support |
C9600-SUP-1 and C9600X-SUP-2 |
C9600-SUP-1 and C9600X-SUP-2 |
C9600X-SUP-2 only |
|
MACsec with C9600X-SUP-2 |
Not supported |
Not supported |
Supported, with WAN MACsec under an HSEC license |
|
Minimum software release |
Cisco IOS XE 16.11.1 or 17.7.1 by engine |
Cisco IOS XE 16.11.1 or 17.7.1 by engine |
Cisco IOS XE 17.13.1 |
|
Maximum rated power |
230 W or 300 W by engine |
200 W or 280 W by engine |
420 W |
|
Rated MTBF |
640,750 hours |
710,750 hours |
580,420 hours |
|
Weight |
3.55 kg (7.83 lbs) |
3.48 kg (7.67 lbs) |
3.75 kg (8.27 lbs) |
- Encryption is the sharpest split in this group and it does not follow price. C9600-LC-48YL and C9600-LC-24C both lose MACsec entirely when paired with C9600X-SUP-2, while C9600X-LC-56YL4C keeps MACsec and adds WAN MACsec under an HSEC license, so a core that must encrypt links on the newer engine has exactly one of these three cards available.
- Against C9600-LC-24C the trade is optic family rather than capability: 48 SFP56 ports here for high port-density SFP designs against 24 QSFP28 ports there for medium-density QSFP designs, with the QSFP card drawing 30 W less on either engine and reaching a higher 710,750-hour MTBF.
- C9600X-LC-56YL4C supersedes this card on the newer engine by adding 8 more SFP56 ports plus 4 QSFP28 uplinks in the same slot, but costs 120 W to 190 W more, drops MTBF to 580,420 hours and requires Cisco IOS XE 17.13.1 against 16.11.1 here.
- For deciding which SKU to order, settle the supervisor engine first because it determines whether MACsec and 50GE are available at all, then match the optic family to the room, and treat power and MTBF as the tie-breakers once those two answers are fixed.
Selection Guide
1. Fifty Gigabit And MACsec Cannot Coexist Here
Pairing this card with C9600X-SUP-2 unlocks 50GE across all 48 ports but removes MACsec support entirely, while pairing it with C9600-SUP-1 keeps MACsec-256 on the UADP ASIC and caps the ports at 25GE; a design needing both encryption and 50GE has to move to C9600X-LC-56YL4C rather than change engines.
2. The Density Card That Survives An Engine Change
Because the card operates on both supervisor engines, a chassis bought today on C9600-SUP-1 keeps its 48 SFP56 ports when the engine is later replaced with C9600X-SUP-2 and gains 50GE in the process; C9600X-LC-56YL4C offers no such path because it will not seat on the older engine at all.
3. One Gigabit Ports Collapse On The Newer Engine
In a C9606R chassis this card reaches 192 ports at 1 GE with C9600-SUP-1 but only 8 with C9600X-SUP-2, because that engine supports 1 Gbps only through SFP-1G-SX and SFP-1G-LH optics; a room still terminating large numbers of 1G fiber links loses almost all of that capability on the newer engine.
4. Where The QSFP Card Costs Less To Run
C9600-LC-24C draws 200 W or 280 W against 230 W or 300 W here and reaches 710,750 hours MTBF against 640,750; where the far end speaks QSFP rather than SFP and 24 ports are enough, the QSFP card is both cheaper to power and longer rated.
Ordering Checklist
|
Check Item |
What to Confirm |
Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
|
Supervisor engine decision |
Confirm which engine the chassis will run, since it sets both the port speed ceiling and whether MACsec can run on this card. |
The card behaves as a 25GE MACsec card on C9600-SUP-1 and a 50GE non-MACsec card on C9600X-SUP-2. |
|
Link encryption requirement |
Confirm no link on this card must run MACsec if the chassis uses C9600X-SUP-2. |
This line card does not support MACsec with C9600X-SUP-2, and no software setting restores it. |
|
Software image floor |
Confirm the chassis runs Cisco IOS XE 16.11.1 with C9600-SUP-1 or 17.7.1 with C9600X-SUP-2. |
Each engine pairing has its own minimum release and staging below it leaves the card out of service. |
|
Free line card slot |
Confirm one of the four line card slots in the C9606R chassis is unused. |
Slots 3 and 4 are dedicated to supervisor engines and cannot take a line card. |
|
One gigabit optic choice |
Confirm any 1 Gbps links use SFP-1G-SX or SFP-1G-LH if the chassis runs C9600X-SUP-2. |
Those are the only two 1 Gbps optics that engine supports, which is why 1 GE port capacity drops to 8 across the chassis. |
|
Optics against the TMG matrix |
Confirm the planned SFP56, SFP28 and SFP+ modules appear in the Cisco TMG compatibility matrix. |
The card ships without optics and an unlisted transceiver may be rejected by the host port. |
|
Facility power headroom |
Confirm the chassis power budget absorbs 230 W or 300 W per card depending on the engine. |
The same card draws 70 W more on the newer engine, which changes the four-card total by 280 W. |
Front Panel Components
|
1 |
Status LED |
5 |
RFID embedded on the left ejector lever |
|
2 |
Locate (Blue beacon) LED |
6 |
Ejector levers |
|
3 |
Sharp-edge hazard icon |
7 |
Port Link LED for the port in the top row |
|
4 |
50G/25G/10G/1G SFP56/SFP28/SFP+ ports |
8 |
Port Link LED for the port in the bottom row |
Specifications
| Parameter | Specification | Parameter | Specification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product ID | C9600-LC-48YL | Cisco ordering description | Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series 48-Port 50/25/10/1GE line card, spare part number C9600-LC-48YL= |
| Port count and media | 48 line-rate SFP56 ports at 50, 25, 10 and 1 GE, using SFP28 and SFP+ port types | Ports with C9600-SUP-1 | Up to 48 nonblocking ports of 25/10/1GE at 1.2 Tbps full-duplex slot bandwidth |
| Ports with C9600X-SUP-2 | Up to 48 nonblocking ports of 50/25/10/1GE at 3.2 Tbps full-duplex slot bandwidth | 50GE availability | Available only on C9600X-SUP-2 |
| Encryption | Advanced Encryption Standard 256 with the MACsec-256 algorithm on the UADP ASIC | MACsec restriction | This line card does not support MACsec with C9600X-SUP-2 |
| Maximum ports in a C9606R at 1 GE | 192 with C9600-SUP-1 and 8 with C9600X-SUP-2 | Maximum ports in a C9606R at 25 and 10 GE | 192 with either supervisor engine |
| Maximum ports in a C9606R at 50 GE | 192 with C9600X-SUP-2 | 1 Gbps optic restriction | C9600X-SUP-2 supports only SFP-1G-SX and SFP-1G-LH optics for 1 Gbps operation |
| Compatible chassis | C9606R 6 slot chassis, providing 4 line card slots behind 2 dedicated supervisor engine slots at positions 3 and 4 | Supported supervisor engines | C9600-SUP-1 and C9600X-SUP-2 |
| Positioned deployments | High port-density Campus Core or Distribution designs with majority SFP optics | Minimum software release | Cisco IOS XE 16.11.1 with C9600-SUP-1 and Cisco IOS XE 17.7.1 with C9600X-SUP-2 |
| Maximum rated power | 230 W with C9600-SUP-1 and 300 W with C9600X-SUP-2 | Power scaling note | Cisco states the Catalyst 9600X Supervisor Engine 2 provides higher power to support higher port speeds and density, which is why the same card is rated higher on that engine |
| Rated MTBF | 640,750 hours | Weight | 3.55 kg (7.83 lbs) |
| Dimensions (H x W x D) | 1.7 x 15.0 x 13.41 inches (4.32 x 38.1 x 34.06 cm) to the faceplate and 1.7 x 15.0 x 15.7 inches (4.32 x 38.1 x 39.88 cm) to the ejector | Standards | Gigabit Ethernet IEEE 802.3z, IEEE 802.3x and IEEE 802.3ab |
| Operating temperature | -5 to 45 degrees C (23 to 113 degrees F) up to 6,000 feet and -5 to 40 degrees C (23 to 104 degrees F) up to 10,000 feet | Storage temperature | -40 to 75 degrees C (40 to 167 degrees F) |
| Relative humidity | 10 to 95 percent, noncondensing, operating and non-operating | Altitude | -60 to 3000 m (-197 to 9843 feet) |
| Optics support reference | Optical transceivers are required to operate the card and the supported modules are published in the Cisco TMG compatibility matrix |
Get More Information
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Customer Reviews
Questions & Answers
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What is C9600-LC-48YL used for?
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Does C9600-LC-48YL support 50G ports?
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Which supervisor engines support C9600-LC-48YL?
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What optics form factor does C9600-LC-48YL use?
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Does C9600-LC-48YL support MACsec with SUP-2?
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How is C9600-LC-48YL different from C9600-LC-48S?
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What slot planning matters for C9600-LC-48YL?
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When does C9600-LC-48YL make sense instead of C9600-LC-24C?
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