PoE Budget: 437W (Default with 715W PSU); Up to 1440W (Maximum with dual 1100W PSUs)
Layer: Layer 2, Layer 3
Stacking support: StackWise-480 (480 Gbps bandwidth; up to 8 units in a stack)
Curation Review
✔ Pros:Industry-leading StackWise-480 stacking bandwidth for high scalability; Innovative StackPower technology for power redundancy across the stack; Advanced security including AES-256 MACsec and Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA); x86 CPU architecture allows hosting of third-party containers and apps
✘ Cons:Complex and mandatory Cisco DNA Smart Licensing model; Higher total cost of ownership (TCO) than the Catalyst 9200 series; Significant heat and fan noise when under full PoE load; Historical hardware reliability issues with specific DRAM/DIMM batches