Cisco Catalyst C9500-40X 40-Port 10G Switch

The Cisco Catalyst C9500-40X is a fixed-core aggregation switch with 40 ports of 10 GbE. Cisco's last day to order one was 30 April 2024, and Cisco's last day of support is 30 April 2029 under notice EOL15039. The gap between those two dates is the entire case for buying this switch refurbished.

Ports and what this switch is for

Forty ports of 10 GbE on SFP/SFP+ in a single rack unit is the densest 10G count in this wave of the Catalyst 9500 line, and density is what the switch is for. It sits above a floor of 10G access or server links and concentrates them, which is a different job from a switch built around a smaller number of much faster ports. Cisco publishes the port count, the physical specifications and the address and route scale for it; three performance figures were withdrawn when the model went end-of-sale, and they are set out below rather than guessed at.

The chassis is the same physical platform as the rest of the family: one rack unit, two power supply slots in a 1+1 arrangement with both supplies field-replaceable and hot-swappable, and up to five variable-speed fans on the FAN-T4-R part. Cisco ships the switch with a single supply, and a single supply always belongs in bay number one. Airflow runs front to back and Cisco publishes no alternative direction for the platform, so a rack that needs the other direction needs a different switch rather than a different fan option.

Lifecycle: what Cisco stopped selling, and what Cisco still supports

Cisco's last day to order a Catalyst C9500-40X was 30 April 2024, under end-of-life notice EOL15039, which renders on Cisco's own site with an amended marker on the title. Cisco has not stopped supporting it: the last day of support for the same switch is 30 April 2029. Those are the two dates that matter to a buyer, and they have to be read together, because the first one is why the switch is only available on the secondary market and the second one is why it is still worth owning.

What the pairing rules out is as useful as what it allows. It rules out a purchase order to Cisco, a like-for-like new replacement, and any plan that assumes more units will appear from the vendor. What it leaves in place is vendor support for the platform for years yet, which is the part that decides whether a used switch belongs in a production core at all.

Uplink modules

A Catalyst C9500-40X supports two Cisco uplink modules on its uplink ports, on top of its forty fixed 10 Gigabit ports. On a C9500-40X the C9500-NM-8X provides a further eight 1/10 Gigabit Ethernet ports on SFP/SFP+, and the C9500-NM-2Q provides two 40 Gigabit Ethernet ports on QSFP+. Cisco also sold that second combination as a factory-configured bundle under the part number C9500-40X-2Q-A, which Cisco lists as a C9500-40X ordering option.

The module is the reason this switch is not simply a bigger version of the sixteen-port model. Forty fixed 10G ports already fill the role of an aggregation layer, and the module decides what that layer talks to above it: more of the same 10G fabric, or a pair of 40G paths towards a spine. On the secondary market the module is a separate item from the chassis, so confirm which one, if any, is fitted to the specific unit rather than reading it from the switch part number.

What Cisco does not publish about this switch

Cisco does not publish a switching-capacity figure for the Catalyst C9500-40X, an ASIC specification, or a forwarding rate in packets per second. The 12Q, 24Q and 40X models were removed from the live Catalyst 9500 data sheet after they reached end-of-sale, and this site does not state a throughput number that Cisco no longer stands behind. A 480 Gbps figure that appears alongside this model elsewhere belongs to the Catalyst C9500-16X, which is a different switch with sixteen ports.

That is a narrow claim and it is meant to be. Cisco still publishes a great deal about this model, and most of it is in the table above: the port media, the rack height and dimensions, the weight, the power supply and fan part numbers, the airflow direction, the operating temperature range, and the address and route scale figures Cisco retained in its template table. Three figures were withdrawn. Everything else stands, and a buyer who checks Cisco will find it there.

Where the C9500-40X sits in the 9500 line

The comparison that matters is against the 24-port 40G model, because the two switches were withdrawn on the same day, are supported to the same day, and answer the same design question in opposite directions.

Both switches left Cisco's price list on 30 April 2024 and both are supported to 30 April 2029; the choice between them is 40 ports at 10G with an uplink-module option against 24 fixed ports at 40G. Put another way, this switch aggregates a 10G layer and the C9500-24Q aggregates the switches that do. Weight and rack height are identical on the two, so neither is a reason to pick one.

Outside the Catalyst line the closest data-centre equivalent is a Nexus switch. A Nexus 93180YC-EX carries 48 ports of 25G with 40 and 100G uplinks in one rack unit, which is a denser and faster face on the same kind of aggregation problem, and it is in the same commercial position: past its own last order date and still supported.

Buying a switch Cisco no longer sells

Cisco will not sell you a Catalyst C9500-40X. Cisco will still support one until 30 April 2029 under EOL15039. Everything about the purchase follows from that pair of statements: the hardware comes from the secondary market because there is no other route to it, and it is worth routing traffic through because the platform behind it has not been abandoned. The other two models on the Catalyst 9500 family page sit in the same position, on two different sets of dates.

Whole systems, switches included, carry a 2-year Enterasource warranty, and shipping is free FedEx Ground to the lower 48 states. No Cisco entitlement is claimed to transfer with a used unit. For anyone weighing this platform against a different family altogether, the Cisco switching and routing catalogue is the place to start.

Condition, testing and what ships with the switch

Units are tested when they arrive, then taken down, cleaned and booked in. One picked against an order is rebuilt, configured and tested a second time before it is packed, so the final action on any switch leaving here is a functional check. Cosmetic condition is described as found, and where an uplink module is fitted it is listed as part of the build rather than assumed.

Software licenses and subscriptions are not included unless the listing states otherwise. Cisco sells the Catalyst 9500 in two network stack levels - Network Essentials and Network Advantage - and the level is recorded in the part number rather than being a cosmetic suffix. On this platform the difference is functional rather than cosmetic: Cisco lists StackWise Virtual as a Network Advantage feature and not a Network Essentials one. Tell us which level your network needs before you order and we will confirm, in writing, what the specific unit we are shipping carries.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Cisco C9500-40X end of life?

Cisco has published notice EOL15039 for it, and that notice carries two separate milestones. The last day to order the switch from Cisco was 30 April 2024, and the last day of support for it is 30 April 2029. The first date is why no new units come from the vendor; the second is why the platform is still a reasonable place to put production traffic. Cisco's page for the notice carries an amended marker on its title, which is the current version rather than a stale one.

How many 10G ports does a C9500-40X have?

Forty, on SFP and SFP+ media, all fixed to the chassis. That is the densest 10G port count among the three Catalyst 9500 models covered here, and it is the reason to pick this switch: it collapses a large number of 10G links into one rack unit at the aggregation layer. An uplink module can add further ports on top of the forty, either eight more at 1/10G or two at 40G, depending which module is fitted.

What is the throughput of a C9500-40X?

Cisco does not publish a switching-capacity figure, an ASIC specification or a forwarding rate in packets per second for this model, and this page will not supply one. The 480 Gbps figure that is sometimes attached to it belongs to the C9500-16X, a different switch. What Cisco does still publish for this model is the scale side: 64,000 MAC addresses, 64,000 IPv4 and 32,000 IPv6 longest-prefix-match routes, 48,000 IPv4 host routes and 18,000 security ACL entries.

Does a C9500-40X take uplink modules?

Yes. Cisco supports the C9500-NM-8X, which adds eight ports of 1/10 Gigabit Ethernet on SFP and SFP+, and the C9500-NM-2Q, which adds two ports of 40 Gigabit Ethernet on QSFP+, on the uplink ports of this switch. Cisco also sold a factory-configured bundle of the switch with the two-port module as the C9500-40X-2Q-A. The same two modules are supported on the C9500-16X, so a module is not a reason to choose between those two chassis.

Can a C9500-40X be stacked with another C9500-40X?

Not with a stack cable, because this platform has no data-stacking ports and Cisco builds no stacking kit for it. The mechanism Cisco publishes for running two chassis as one is StackWise Virtual, which joins a pair over a StackWise Virtual Link and carries stateful switchover, in-service software upgrade and EtherChannel across both members. It is licensed as a Network Advantage feature, so both switches have to be at that level for the pairing to be available.

Does a refurbished C9500-40X include a Cisco license?

Software licenses and subscriptions are not included unless the listing says so. There is a practical consequence specific to a switch Cisco has stopped selling: the network stack level recorded in a used unit's part number cannot be changed by buying an upgrade from the vendor, because there is no ordering route left to buy one through. Tell us whether the design needs Network Essentials or Network Advantage and we will confirm in writing what the unit being shipped carries.