PACKETPERF

Primary Device

Cisco Catalyst 9500-48Y4C
Cisco Catalyst 9500-48Y4C
★ 3.2 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Switching Capacity: 3.2 Tbps
  • Forwarding Rate: 1 Bpps
  • Ports (breakdown): 48x 1/10/25G SFP28, 4x 40/100G QSFP28
  • PoE Budget: N/A
  • Layer: L2/L3
  • Stacking support: StackWise Virtual

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: High density 25G and 100G port configuration in a compact 1RU form factor; Programmable UADP 3.0 ASIC provides industry-leading performance and future-proofing; Exceptional high availability via StackWise Virtual and redundant, hot-swappable components
  • ✘ Cons: Prohibitively high upfront and recurring costs due to mandatory Cisco DNA licensing; Complex subscription-based software model can be difficult to manage; Substantial power consumption and heat output required for core-level performance
  • Est. Price: $10,500 - $17,500

Compare Against

Fortinet FortiSwitch 124G (FS-124G)
Fortinet FortiSwitch 124G (FS-124G)
★ 3.7 Value Score

Technical Specifications

  • Switching Capacity: 240 Gbps
  • Forwarding Rate: 355 Mpps
  • Ports: 24 x 100/1000/2500 Mbps RJ45, 6 x 10 Gbps SFP+
  • PoE Budget: 0W (Non-PoE)
  • Layer: Layer 2 with Static Routing
  • Stacking support: FortiLink (Management Stacking)
  • Form Factor: 1 RU, Fanless

Curation Review

  • ✔ Pros: High-speed 2.5G multi-gigabit ports ideal for Wi-Fi 6/7 access points; generous 6x 10G SFP+ uplinks for high backhaul capacity; fanless design ensures completely silent operation; seamless integration with FortiGate firewalls via FortiLink for centralized security management.
  • ✘ Cons: Lacks Power over Ethernet (PoE) support, requiring injectors or a separate power source for connected devices; fanless design leads to high operating temperatures (often exceeding 50°C); limited Layer 3 features compared to enterprise core switches.
  • Est. Price: $1,130 - $1,504

Popular Comparisons

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