C9606R – 4 Line Card Slots – 25.6 Tbps Switching Capacity – Catalyst 9600 Core Chassis
Established Global IT Distributor
With over a decade of industry experience, we are a certified Cisco Partner delivering genuine enterprise networking hardware and trusted services to system integrators, ISPs, and enterprises worldwide.
C9606R Description
The C9606R is the Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series 6 Slot Chassis, the single chassis of the Catalyst 9600 line and the platform Cisco builds its campus core switching on. Six slots split into four line card slots and two dedicated supervisor engine slots at positions 3 and 4, supporting a wired switching capacity of up to 25.6 Tbps, or 12.8 Tbps full-duplex, with up to 6.4 Tbps per slot, or 3.2 Tbps full-duplex. Only two supervisor engines drive it, C9600-SUP-1 and C9600X-SUP-2, and that choice sets the per-slot ceiling at 2.4 Tbps or 6.4 Tbps and decides which of the seven Catalyst 9600 line cards can be seated. Four power supply bays take 3000W AC, 2000W AC or 2000W DC modules in Combined mode or Redundant N+1 mode, with a minimum of two supplies and three when the chassis is fully loaded on a 110V input. Cooling comes from a single field-replaceable C9606-FAN tray of nine independently controlled fans with side-to-side airflow, full front accessibility for every removable component and optional rear access to the fan tray for cable management. The chassis occupies 8 RU, weighs 31.31 kg (69.03 lbs) with two AC supplies and the fan tray, and carries Stateful Switchover, Non-Stop Forwarding and full-image In-Service Software Upgrades at a rated 4,113,900 hours MTBF.
Quick Specs
|
Parameter |
Specification |
|---|---|
|
Product ID |
C9606R |
|
Chassis slots |
6 total, 4 line card slots and 2 dedicated supervisor engine slots at positions 3 and 4 |
|
Switching capacity |
Up to 25.6 Tbps, or 12.8 Tbps full-duplex |
|
Bandwidth per line-card slot |
6.4 Tbps (3.2 Tbps full-duplex) with C9600X-SUP-2, 2.4 Tbps (1.2 Tbps full-duplex) with C9600-SUP-1 |
|
Supervisor engines supported |
C9600-SUP-1 and C9600X-SUP-2 only, with supervisor engine redundancy |
|
Supported line cards |
Seven cards; C9600X-LC-56YL4C and C9600X-LC-32CD need C9600X-SUP-2, C9600-LC-48S needs C9600-SUP-1 |
|
Maximum port density |
8x 400G, 128x 100G and 256x 25G with C9600X-SUP-2; 48x 100G and 192x 25G with C9600-SUP-1 |
|
Power supply bays |
4 bays taking C9600-PWR-3KWAC, C9600-PWR-2KWAC or C9600-PWR-2KWDC, minimum two supplies and three when fully loaded at 110V |
|
Fan tray |
One bay with the C9606-FAN tray of nine independently controlled fans |
|
Rack units |
8 RU |
|
Rated MTBF |
4,113,900 hours |
Product Performance
Key Features
Slots 3 and 4 are reserved for supervisor engines, leaving four line card slots, so the chassis trades slot count for a full redundant supervisor pair in an 8 RU envelope rather than offering an eight-slot layout with the same overhead.
Per-slot bandwidth moves from 2.4 Tbps with C9600-SUP-1 to 6.4 Tbps with C9600X-SUP-2, a wider gap than any single chassis decision produces, which makes the engine rather than the chassis the real capacity lever on this platform.
The C9606-FAN tray runs nine fans under independent control, so a single fan failure does not significantly degrade cooling because the remaining fans raise speed dynamically, and the chassis tolerates up to 90 seconds of fanless operation during service.
Two power supplies satisfy the chassis minimum, but a fully loaded C9606R on a 110V input requires three, which turns input line voltage into a bay-count decision rather than a wiring detail.
Every removable component including supervisors, line cards, power supplies and the fan tray is reachable from the front, while the fan tray can optionally be serviced from the rear, which lets cable management stay undisturbed during a fan replacement.
At 4,113,900 hours the chassis carries the highest rated MTBF of any modular platform in this campus range, which matters where a single device holds an entire campus core with no second chassis behind it.
Application Scenarios
Installed as the core of a campus network where four line cards terminate building and distribution links behind a redundant supervisor pair carrying the routed backbone.
Deployed where the campus meets a data center or service provider boundary and 400G or 100G terminations are needed on the same chassis that serves campus traffic.
Racked in shared equipment rooms where the 77.7 LWAd (dB) figure measured in a formal NEBS test environment and the side-to-side airflow path both have to fit the room design.
Product Comparison
|
Parameter |
C9606R |
C9407R |
C9404R |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Series |
Catalyst 9600 |
Catalyst 9400 |
Catalyst 9400 |
|
Line card slots |
4 |
5 |
2 |
|
Bandwidth per line-card slot |
Up to 6.4 Tbps (3.2 Tbps full-duplex) |
Up to 480 Gbps |
Up to 480 Gbps |
|
Supervisor engines supported |
2 |
5 |
5 |
|
Maximum 100G ports |
128 |
20 |
8 |
|
Power supply bays |
4 |
8 |
4 |
|
Rack units |
8 RU |
10 RU |
6 RU |
|
Chassis weight with fan tray |
31.31 kg (69.03 lbs) with two AC supplies |
28.58 kg (63.0 lb) |
17.2 kg (39.0 lb) |
|
Rated MTBF |
4,113,900 hours |
1,571,010 hours |
2,077,070 hours |
- The per-slot figures are not in the same class and should not be read as a small step: C9606R carries up to 6.4 Tbps per line card slot against up to 480 Gbps on C9407R and C9404R, so a design that needs more than half a terabit into one slot has no Catalyst 9400 option at all.
- Slot count runs opposite to slot capacity. C9407R offers five line card slots against four here and two on C9404R, so a design terminating many moderate-speed links gets more room on the Catalyst 9400 chassis while a design terminating few very fast links gets more capacity on C9606R.
- Rated MTBF favours C9606R by a wide margin at 4,113,900 hours against 2,077,070 on C9404R and 1,571,010 on C9407R, which is the figure to weigh when one chassis carries a campus core with no standby device behind it.
- For deciding which SKU to order, set the required per-slot bandwidth first because that alone separates the Catalyst 9600 chassis from both Catalyst 9400 chassis, then check rack height at 8, 10 or 6 RU, and treat power bay count as secondary since C9606R and C9404R both offer four.
Selection Guide
1. Two Engines Rather Than Five Narrows The Path
C9606R accepts only C9600-SUP-1 and C9600X-SUP-2, so there is no mid-tier engine to fall back on; where the Catalyst 9400 chassis let a buyer step down through five engines to trim cost, this platform offers one downgrade step and it halves the per-slot ceiling from 6.4 Tbps to 2.4 Tbps.
2. The Line Card Roadmap Splits By Engine
C9600X-LC-56YL4C and C9600X-LC-32CD seat only on C9600X-SUP-2 while C9600-LC-48S seats only on C9600-SUP-1, so the engine chosen at order time closes off part of the card catalogue permanently; only C9600-LC-40YL4CD, C9600-LC-24C, C9600-LC-48YL and C9600-LC-48TX run on both.
3. Three Supplies On A 110V Feed
A fully loaded chassis on a 110V input needs three power supplies rather than the two-unit minimum, and both Combined and Redundant N+1 modes require supplies of equal wattage; a site expecting to run two 3000W units on 110V has to add a third bay to the order.
4. Eight Rack Units For Four Slots
The chassis fits four line card slots into 8 RU, between the 6 RU two-slot C9404R and the 10 RU five-slot C9407R, so where rack height is the binding constraint the decision turns on whether those four slots need Catalyst 9600 per-slot bandwidth or would be equally served by a taller, cheaper chassis.
5. Mixed AC And DC Only Above 220V
Power supplies may be mixed between AC and DC only when the AC input voltage is 220V, and additional units in either mode run at approximately 90 percent capacity; a design planning a mixed AC and DC feed at a lower voltage has to settle on a single input type instead.
Ordering Checklist
|
Check Item |
What to Confirm |
Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
|
Supervisor engine choice |
Confirm whether the design uses C9600-SUP-1 or C9600X-SUP-2 before selecting line cards. |
The engine sets the per-slot ceiling and determines which of the seven line cards can be seated at all. |
|
Line card and engine pairing |
Confirm each planned line card appears on the supported list for the chosen engine. |
C9600X-LC-56YL4C and C9600X-LC-32CD need C9600X-SUP-2 while C9600-LC-48S needs C9600-SUP-1, and a mismatch leaves the slot unusable. |
|
Power supply count and input |
Confirm at least two supplies, or three for a fully loaded chassis on a 110V input, all of equal wattage. |
The chassis has a stated minimum supply count that rises with load and input voltage, and mixed wattage is not supported in either power mode. |
|
Mixed AC and DC feeds |
Confirm the AC input voltage is 220V before mixing C9600-PWR-3KWAC or C9600-PWR-2KWAC with C9600-PWR-2KWDC. |
Mixing AC and DC supplies is only supported at 220V AC input. |
|
Redundant supervisor PID |
Confirm the second engine is ordered as C9600-SUP-1/2 or C9600X-SUP-2/2. |
Cisco lists a distinct redundant PID, and ordering the base PID twice does not match the documented configuration. |
|
Fan tray line item |
Confirm C9606-FAN is on the order and whether rear access is required at the rack position. |
The fan tray is a separate field-replaceable line item, and rear serviceability affects how the rack is cabled. |
|
Optics against the TMG matrix |
Confirm the planned transceivers appear in the Cisco TMG compatibility matrix for the chosen line cards, and that 1 Gbps links on C9600X-SUP-2 use SFP-1G-SX or SFP-1G-LH. |
Fiber line cards ship without optics, and C9600X-SUP-2 supports only those two modules at 1 Gbps. |
|
SSD requirement |
Confirm whether C9K-F2-SSD-240GB, C9K-F2-SSD-480GB or C9K-F2-SSD-960GB is needed. |
Catalyst 9600 SSD storage uses the C9K-F2 naming rather than a chassis-specific PID and is a separate order line. |
Optional Add-ons
|
Model |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Catalyst 9600 Series Supervisor 1 module, 2.4 Tbps per line card slot | |
|
Catalyst 9600 Series Supervisor 2 module, 6.4 Tbps per line card slot | |
|
C9600-SUP-1/2 |
Catalyst 9600 Series redundant Supervisor 1 module for the second supervisor slot |
|
C9600X-SUP-2/2 |
Catalyst 9600 Series redundant Supervisor 2 module for the second supervisor slot |
|
Catalyst 9600 Series combo line card, 56 ports 50/25/10GE SFP56 and 4 ports 100/40GE QSFP28, on C9600X-SUP-2 only | |
|
Catalyst 9600 Series combo line card, 30 ports 100/40G QSFP28 and 2 ports 400/200/100G QSFP-DD, on C9600X-SUP-2 only | |
|
Catalyst 9600 Series combo line card, 40 ports 50/25/10GE SFP56 with 200G and 400G QSFP uplinks | |
|
Catalyst 9600 Series 24-Port 40GE / 12-Port 100GE line card | |
|
Catalyst 9600 Series 48-Port 50/25/10/1GE line card | |
|
Catalyst 9600 Series 48-port RJ45 copper line card, 10GE to 10Mbps | |
|
Catalyst 9600 Series 48-Port 1GE line card, on C9600-SUP-1 only | |
|
Catalyst 9600 Series 3000W AC power supply, 94 percent typical efficiency | |
|
Catalyst 9600 Series 2000W AC power supply, 94 percent typical efficiency | |
|
Catalyst 9600 Series 2000W DC power supply, 92 percent typical efficiency | |
|
C9606-FAN= |
Catalyst 9600 Series C9606 chassis fan tray with nine independently controlled fans |
|
Catalyst 9600 Series 240GB SSD storage | |
|
Catalyst 9600 Series 480GB SSD storage | |
|
Catalyst 9600 Series 960GB SSD storage |
Cisco Catalyst 9600R Switch Panel Components
|
1 |
Chassis handholds |
5 |
Power switches |
|
2 |
Chassis Radio Frequency ID (RFID) |
6 |
System ground with ground lug screw holes on each side |
|
3 |
Line card slots |
7 |
Power Supply modules |
|
4 |
Supervisor Module slots |
8 |
Fan tray assembly |
|
1 |
Captive installation screws to remove the fan tray assembly. |
3 |
Fan tray assembly handle |
|
2 |
Blue beacon LED on the rear panel of the fan tray (always matches the blue beacon on the front panel of the fan tray) |
4 |
Rear exhaust for the power supply modules |
Specifications
| Parameter | Specification | Parameter | Specification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product ID | C9606R | Cisco ordering description | Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series 6 Slot Chassis |
| Total slots | 6 | Line card slots | 4 |
| Supervisor engine slots | 2, at dedicated slot positions 3 and 4 | Supervisor engines supported | C9600-SUP-1 and C9600X-SUP-2, with supervisor engine redundancy |
| Wired switching capacity | Up to 25.6 Tbps, or 12.8 Tbps full-duplex | Bandwidth per line-card slot | Up to 6.4 Tbps (3.2 Tbps full-duplex) with C9600X-SUP-2 and up to 2.4 Tbps (1.2 Tbps full-duplex) with C9600-SUP-1 |
| Maximum port density with C9600X-SUP-2 | 8 ports of 400G, 8 of 200G, 128 of 100G, 224 of 50G, 128 of 40G and 256 of 25G or 10G | Maximum port density with C9600-SUP-1 | 48 ports of 100G, 96 of 40G and 192 of 25G, 10G, 5G, 2.5G, 1G, 100M or 10M |
| Supported line cards | C9600X-LC-56YL4C and C9600X-LC-32CD on C9600X-SUP-2 only; C9600-LC-48S on C9600-SUP-1 only; C9600-LC-40YL4CD, C9600-LC-24C, C9600-LC-48YL and C9600-LC-48TX on both engines | System composition | Chassis, one or two supervisor engines, at least one line card, power supplies and a fan tray |
| High availability | Stateful Switchover, Non-Stop Forwarding and full-image In-Service Software Upgrades for continuous forwarding during supervisor switchover | Power supply bays | 4 |
| Minimum power supplies | 2, rising to 3 for a fully loaded chassis on a 110V input | Power supplies supported | C9600-PWR-3KWAC at 3000W, C9600-PWR-2KWAC at 2000W and C9600-PWR-2KWDC at 2000W |
| Power supply efficiency | 94 percent typical on both AC units and 92 percent typical on the DC unit | Power supply modes | Combined mode as the chassis default and Redundant N+1 mode; both require equal-wattage supplies, allow AC and DC mixing only at 220V AC input, and run additional units at approximately 90 percent capacity |
| Combined mode formula | Total combined power equals P plus (N-1) x P x share ratio, where P is the output of one power supply unit and N is 1 to 4 | Input voltage | AC 90V to 264V at 47 to 63 Hz and DC -40V to -72V |
| Fan tray | One bay with the field-replaceable C9606-FAN tray of nine independently controlled fans, optionally serviceable from the rear | Fan behavior | Barometric sensor for slower speed curves at lower altitudes, individual Pulse-Wide Modulation fine-tuning, continued operation without significant cooling loss after a single fan failure, and up to 90 seconds of fanless operation for serviceability |
| Airflow and access | Side-to-side airflow with full front accessibility for supervisors, line cards, power supplies and the fan tray | Acoustic noise | 77.7 LWAd (dB) measured in a formal NEBS test environment |
| Dimensions (H x W x D) | 35.43 x 44.2 x 40.9 cm (13.95 x 17.4 x 16.1 inches) | Rack units | 8 RU |
| Chassis weight | 31.31 kg (69.03 lbs) with two AC power supplies and the fan tray, and 25.36 kg (55.90 lbs) without fan tray or power supplies | Component weights | Fan tray 3.56 kg (7.85 lbs), 3000W AC supply 1.4 kg (3.09 lbs), 2000W AC supply 1.2 kg (2.65 lbs), 2000W DC supply 1.28 kg (2.82 lbs) |
| Operating temperature | -5 to 45 degrees C (23 to 113 degrees F) up to 6000 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 meter (-197 to 9843 feet) |
| Heat dissipation | 1,621 BTU maximum with fan tray installed | Rated MTBF | C9606R 4,113,900 hours, C9606-FAN 452,570 hours, and 300,000 hours on each of C9600-PWR-3KWAC, C9600-PWR-2KWAC and C9600-PWR-2KWDC |
| SSD storage options | C9K-F2-SSD-240GB, C9K-F2-SSD-480GB and C9K-F2-SSD-960GB | Redundant supervisor part numbers | C9600-SUP-1/2 and C9600X-SUP-2/2 |
| 1 Gbps optic restriction | C9600X-SUP-2 supports only SFP-1G-SX and SFP-1G-LH optics for 1 Gbps operation with compatible line cards | Optics support reference | Optical transceivers are required for fiber line cards and the supported modules are published in the Cisco TMG compatibility matrix |
Get More Information
Need pricing, stock, or shipping details for the C9606R ? Layer23-Switch can help you check current availability, lead time, and delivery options for this. Send us the part number, quantity, and destination country via live chat or email sales@layer23-switch.com for a fast quotation.
Quality Certifications
Customer Reviews
Questions & Answers
-
What is Cisco C9606R used for?
-
Is C9606R only the chassis?
-
How many line cards does C9606R support?
-
Which supervisors work with C9606R?
-
How is C9606R different from C9407R or C9410R?
-
Can C9606R use redundant supervisors?
-
What power supplies does C9606R need?
-
When is C9606R not the right choice?
Warranty
Layer23-Switch.com offers genuine, high-quality ICT products at competitive wholesale prices—ensuring exceptional value without compromising quality.
All items are brand new, original, and factory-sealed.
Upon request, each unit can be fully tested and verified by a Cisco CCIE-certified engineer to ensure perfect working condition before shipment.
Our Cisco CCIE-certified experts provide free professional support via phone, email, online chat, or remote login—helping you deploy and troubleshoot with confidence.
If you are not satisfied with your purchase, you may request an exchange or full refund. Our customer service team will guide you through the return process quickly and smoothly. Visit Return Policy page for more information.
We support multiple secure payment and logistics options, backed by industry-leading verification:
Visit How to Pay page for more information
Extended, Worry-Free Warranty Coverage Factory New Sealed Enterprise Hardware:
· 3 Years Factory New Sealed
Visit Warranty Policy page for more information
Verify, plan, and comparewith confidence
Use practical tools to check device details, review lifecyclemilestones, and compare hardware before you buy.
Standard Services
Personalized Service, Superior Product Maintenance for Ultimate Satisfaction.
- Projects and Technical Support
- Easy Purchasing Supply
- Product Lifecycle Protection
- Exclusive F3 Team Support
Customized Support for Your Needs with CCIE, HCIE, HPE ASE, etc.
The build quality, finish, and labeling all match what we get directly from authorized channels. Invoice formatting was a bit different from what our AP system expects, but workable.
Fast shipping and proper documentation. Everything our purchasing department requires.
Long-standing relationship at this point. Always positive experiences.
Huge chassis arrived on a dedicated pallet. Very safe.
The package arrived intact. The metal box is secure.