Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms
Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms
Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms
Cisco public
Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms (Catalyst 8300) with Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software deliver
Cisco’s secure, cloud-scale SD-WAN solution for the branch. The Catalyst 8300 Series is purpose-built for high
performance and integrated SD-WAN Services along with flexibility to deliver security and networking services
together from the cloud or on premises. It provides higher WAN port density and a redundant power supply
capability. The Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms have a wide variety of interface options to choose from—
ranging from lower and higher module density with backward compatibility to a variety of existing WAN, LAN,
voice, and compute modules. Powered by Cisco IOS XE, fully programmable software architecture, and API
support, these platforms can facilitate automation at scale to achieve zero-touch IT capability while migrating
workloads to the cloud. Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms also come with Trustworthy Solutions 2.0
infrastructure that secures the platforms against threats and vulnerabilities with integrity verification and
remediation of threats.
The Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms are well suited for medium-sized and large enterprise branch offices
for high WAN IPSec performance with integrated SD-WAN services.
Product overview
Product highlights
Multicore processors ● Intel x86 CPU with 8-GB memory default (up to 32 GB memory upgrade)
● High-performance multicore processors support high-speed WAN connections.
● Dynamic core allocation architecture that can leverage data plane cores for I/O and service plane as
per-user configuration.
Integrated Gigabit Ethernet ● Provides 6 built-in Layer 3 Ethernet ports for WAN or LAN with port speeds ranging from 10Mbps,
ports 100Mbps, 1Gbps and up to 10Gbps, depending on platform model
● All platforms have at least 2 Ethernet ports that can support Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP or
SFP+) based connectivity in addition to 4 RJ-45 connections, enabling fiber or copper connectivity.
DRAM ● All Catalyst 8300 platforms have 8G default DRAM and can be upgraded to 16G and 32G for higher
scale and performance.
Flash memory support ● All Catalyst 8300 platforms have an integrated on-board 8G flash and it is not upgradeable. M.2
storage provides upgrade options for additional storage.
M.2 storage ● All the Catalyst 8300 models ship with default 16G M.2 USB for SD-WAN logging and additional
storage on the platform. It can be upgraded to 32G M.2 USB and 600G M.2 Non-Volatile Memory
Express (NVMe)
Default dual power supplies ● All Catalyst 8300 platforms ship with dual power supplies for redundancy.
● AC Power over Ethernet (PoE), DC and High-Voltage DC (HVDC) options are available on all
models.
● Enabling PoE portson Network Interface Modules (NIM) or on Service Modules (SM) requires at least
one PoE supporting PSU to be installed
Integrated security ● Hardware-anchored Secure Boot and Secure Unique Device Identification (SUDI) support for Plug
and Play to verify the identity of the hardware and software
Platform details
Models and configurations
Figures 1 through 4 highlight the different models included in the Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms.
Figure 1.
C8300-2N2S-4T2X is a 2RU platform with 2 SM and 2 NIM slots plus 2 x 10Gbps and 4 x 1Gbps embedded Layer3
Ethernet ports
Figure 2.
C8300-2N2S-6T is a 2RU platform with 2 SM and 2 NIM slots plus 6 x 1Gbps embedded Layer3 Ethernet ports
Figure 4.
C8300-1N1S-6T is a 1RU platform with 1 SM slot and 1 NIM slot plus 6 x 1Gbps embedded Layer3 Ethernet ports
*
IMIX is average packet size of 352 Bytes packet size
Number of IPv4 Routes 1.6M w/ default 1.6M w/ default 1.6M w/ default 1.6M w/ default
8GB, up to 4M w/ 8GB, up to 4M w/ 8GB, up to 4M w/ 8GB, up to 4M w/
32GB 32GB 32GB 32GB
Number of IPv6 Routes 1.5M w/ default 1.5M w/ default 1.5M w/ default 1.5M w/ default
8GB, up to 4M w/ 8GB, up to 4M w/ 8GB, up to 4M w/ 8GB, up to 4M w/
32GB 32GB 32GB 32GB
Number of NAT Sessions 1.2M w/ default 1.2M w/ default 1.2M w/ default 1.2M w/ default
8GB, up to 2M w/ 8GB, up to 2M w/ 8GB, up to 2M w/ 8GB, up to 2M w/
32GB 32GB 32GB 32GB
Cisco SD-WAN is a set of intelligent software services that allow you to connect users, devices, and branch
office locations reliably and securely across a diverse set of WAN transport links. Cisco Catalyst 8000 Series
Edge Platforms can dynamically route traffic across the “best” link based on up-to-the-minute application and
network conditions for great application experiences. You get tight control over application performance,
bandwidth usage, data privacy, and availability of your WAN links—control you need as your branches conduct
greater volumes of mission-critical business with both on-premises and cloud controllers.
Application performance optimization
Ensure that SD-WAN networks meet Service-Level Agreements (SLAs) and maintain strong performance, even
if network problems occur. With branch multi-cloud access, you can accelerate your SaaS applications with a
simple template push from the SD-WAN controller. Features like Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
optimization, forward error correction, and packet duplication help application performance for a better user
experience.
Application visibility
Applications and users are more distributed than ever, and the internet has effectively become the new
enterprise WAN. As organizations continue to embrace internet, cloud, and SaaS, network and IT teams are
challenged to deliver consistent and reliable connectivity and application performance over networks and
services they don’t own or directly control.
The Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms are integrated with Cisco ThousandEyes internet and cloud
intelligence. IT managers now have expanded visibility, including hop-by-hop analytics, into network underlay,
proactive monitoring of SD-WAN overlay, and performance measurement of SaaS applications. This granular
visibility ultimately lowers the Mean Time to Identification of Issues (MTTI) and accelerates resolution time.
Multi-layer security
You can now move your traditional and complex WAN networks to a more agile software-defined WAN with
integrated security. The Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Edge platforms connect branch offices to the Internet and
cloud, with industry-leading protection against major web attacks. Secure Direct Internet Access (DIA) to the
branches helps optimize branch workloads for improved performance, specifically for cloud-hosted
applications. At the same time, DIA ensures your branch is protected from external threats.
Unified communications
The Cisco Catalyst 8300 Edge platforms offer rich voice services in both SD-WAN and traditional IOS-XE
software feature stacks. Cisco is the only SDWAN vendor to natively integrate analog/digital IP directly into
single CPE reducing Capex and Opex costs. In SD-WAN mode, the Catalyst 8300 Series also prevent internal
and external outages using SRST enabling Branch router to assume role of call control PBX for Telephony
survivability. They also continue to support the long list of traditional IOS-XE voice use cases like Cisco Unified
Border Element (CUBE) Session Border Controller (SBC), Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express
(CUCME), Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST), ISDN and Voice over IP.
Cisco continues to offer a feature-rich traditional IOS-XE routing stack on the Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Edge
Platforms. IP Routing, IPSec, Quality of Service (QoS), firewall, Network Address Translation (NAT), Network-
Based Application Recognition (NBAR), Flexible NetFlow (FNF), and many other features are part of Cisco IOS-
XE, a fully programmable software architecture with API support and a wide variety of protocols and
configurations. With an integrated software image and a single binary file, you can now choose between Cisco
IOS XE SD-WAN and IOS XE. And easily move from one to the other when you choose to do so.
LTE and 5G Wireless WAN
The Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms are built 5G networks. With the higher throughputs provided by
CAT18 LTE and 5G, wireless WAN connections become feasible as primary transports for different use cases.
These platforms support both integrated pluggable modules as well as external cellular gateways with LTE or
5G capability for improved throughputs that address all of those use cases. Based on a specific branch’s direct
line of sight and cellular coverage, this solution provides the flexibility of either using integrated PIM module or
an external gateway. The integrated module can work in tandem with a cellular gateway for Active-Active
redundancy.
Interface flexibility
High-density Switching
We are introducing a Unified Access Data Plane (UADP)-based 22-port and 50-port Layer 2 switch module for
the Catalyst 8300 Series. The edge platform can be a branch-in-a-box solution with this integrated switch
module with 1G, Cisco Multigigabit Technology (mGig), and 10G ports for downstream switches and devices.
The 22-port Layer-2 module is a single-wide module that can be used on both the 1RU and 2RU platforms. The
50-port Layer-2 module is a double-wide module that can be used on the 2RU platforms.
The Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms will support the Cisco UCS-E M3 modules for branch compute
needs. We support both Cisco and third-party Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) on the Cisco Enterprise NFV
Infrastructure Software (NFVIS) hypervisor running on the UCS-E compute blade server. Cisco UCS-E M3
modules have 6-, 8-, and 12-core options to choose from based on the number of VNFs that need to be run at
the branch.
Voice modules
The Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms will continue to support a variety of voice modules for the
different voice needs at the branch. Voice module examples include Foreign Exchange Station (FXS), Foreign
Exchange Office (FXO), Digital Signal Processor (DSP), etc.
C-NIM-1M 1-port 2.5/1Gbps RJ-45 WAN, 90W Poe 802.3 af/at/bt NIM
LAN modules
NIM-ES2-8-P Cisco 8-port Gigabit Ethernet switch NIM with PoE support
Compute modules
UCS-E160S-M3/K9 UCS-E, single-wide, Intel Broadwell 6-core CPU; up to 64 GB RAM, 1-2 HDD
UCS-E180D-M3/K9 UCS-E, double-wide, Intel Broadwell 8-core CPU; up to 128 GB RAM, 1-4 HDD
UCS-E1120D-M3/K9 UCS-E, double-wide, Intel Broadwell 12-core CPU; up to 128 GB RAM, 1-4 HDD
Voice modules
DSL/broadband
P-LTEA-EA 4G/CAT6 LTE Advanced Pluggable for North American and Europe
P-LTEA-LA 4G/ CAT6 LTE Advanced Pluggable for APAC, ANZ, and LATAM
M2USB-16G Cisco C8000 Edge Platform - 16G M.2 USB SSD Storage
M2USB-32G Cisco C8000 Edge Platform - 32G M.2 USB SSD Storage
SSD-M2NVME-600G Cisco C8000 Edge Platform - 600G M.2 NVMe SSD Storage
C8300-RM-19-1R Cisco C8300 1RU Edge Platform - Rack Mount kit - 19"
C8300-RM-23-1R Cisco C8300 1RU Edge Platform - Rack Mount kit - 23"
C8300-RM-19-2R Cisco C8300 2RU Edge Platform - Rack Mount kit - 19"
C8300-RM-23-2R Cisco C8300 2RU Edge Platform - Rack Mount kit - 23"
The fan tray is shipped default with the Cisco Catalyst 8300 Edge Series Platforms.
Power supplies
Important notice: Cisco is working diligently to resolve the present component shortages preventing us from
fulfilling orders.
To address this situation, Cisco will be shipping an upgraded substitute power supply which can be used in
place of the current 250-watt power supply used on our Catalyst 8300 1RU platforms. This power supply is the
same form and fit, with a similar function as the default 250-watt power supply but provides a higher maximum
output rating of 400-watts instead of the 250-watt maximum output of the default power supply. Should it be
required, these two power supplies can work in tandem without any interaction from the user.
Input-voltage range 100 to 240 VAC 100 to 240 VAC 100 to 240 VAC DC: -40 to -72V DC: 240 – 380V
and frequency
50 – 60 Hz 50 – 60 Hz 50 – 60 Hz
Power supply 80 Plus Silver 80 Plus Silver 80 Plus Silver 85 % 80 Plus Platinum
efficiency
Output ratings 12V 21A 12V 33A 12V 21A 12 V 33.5 A 12V 54A
54 V – 4.5 A
Power supply input IEC 320 C14 IEC 320 C14 IEC 320 C14 Terminal block Saf-D-Grid
receptacles
*
See Important Notice above
Table 7. Cisco Catalyst 8300 2RU edge platform power supply specifications
Input-voltage range and frequency 100 to 240 VAC 100 to 240 VAC DC: -40 to -72V
50 – 60 Hz 50 – 60 Hz
Power supply input receptacles IEC 320 C14 IEC 320 C14 Terminal block
Software requirements
Cisco DNA Software for the Catalyst 8300 Series offers comprehensive solutions for enterprise branch
networks.
C8300-2N2S-4T2X Cisco Catalyst 8300 Series Edge Platforms Cisco IOS XE Software Release 17.3.2
C8300-1N1S-4T2X
C8300-2N2S-6T
C8300-1N1S-6T
Feature Description
Protocols IPv4, IPv6, static routes, Routing Information Protocol Versions 1 and 2 (RIP and RIPv2),
Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP),
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), BGP Router Reflector, Intermediate System-to-
Intermediate System (IS-IS), Multicast Internet Group Management Protocol Version 3
(IGMPv3), Protocol Independent Multicast Sparse Mode (PIM SM), PIM Source-Specific
Multicast (SSM), Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP), Cisco Discovery Protocol,
Encapsulated Remote Switched Port Analyzer (ERSPAN), Cisco IOS IP Service-Level
Agreements (IPSLA), Call Home, Cisco IOS Embedded Event Manager (EEM), Internet Key
Exchange (IKE), Access Control Lists (ACL), Ethernet Virtual Connections (EVC), Dynamic
Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Frame Relay, DNS, Locator ID Separation Protocol
(LISP), Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP), RADIUS, Authentication, Authorization, and
Accounting (AAA), Application Visibility and Control (AVC), Distance Vector Multicast
Routing Protocol (DVMRP), IPv4-to-IPv6 Multicast, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS),
Layer 2 and Layer 3 VPN, IPsec, Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol Version 3 (L2TPv3),
Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD), IEEE 802.1ag, and IEEE 802.3ah
Encapsulations Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE), Ethernet, 802.1q VLAN, Point-to-Point Protocol
(PPP), Multilink Point-to-Point Protocol (MLPPP), Frame Relay, Multilink Frame Relay
(MLFR) (FR.15 and FR.16), High-Level Data Link Control (HDLC), Serial (RS-232, RS-449,
X.21, V.35, and EIA-530), and PPP over Ethernet (PPPoE)
Traffic management Quality of Service (QoS), Class-Based Weighted Fair Queuing (CBWFQ), Weighted
Random Early Detection (WRED), Hierarchical QoS, Policy-Based Routing (PBR),
Performance Routing (PfR), and Network-Based Application Recognition (NBAR)
Cryptographic algorithms Encryption: DES, 3DES, AES-128 or AES-256 (in CBC and GCM modes)
Authentication: RSA (748/1024/2048 bit), ECDSA (256/384 bit)
Integrity: MD5, SHA, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512
Unified Communication Call Admission Control (CAC), Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE) Session Border
Controller(SBC), Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express (CUCME), ISDN,
RADIUS, RFC4040 based Clear Channel codec signaling with SIP, Resource Reservation
Protocol (RSVP), RTP Control Protocol (RTCP), Session Initiation Protocol for VoIP(SIP),
Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST), Secure Real-time Transport Protocol(SRTP),
and Voice modules
Feature Description
Core Features IPv4, IPv6, static routes, Open Shortest Path First (OSPF), Enhanced Interior Gateway
Routing Protocol (EIGRP), BoGateway Protocol (BGP), Overlay Management Protocol
(OMP), Application Aware Routing (AAR), Traffic EngineerinService Insertion, zero-trust,
whitelisting, tamper-proof module, DTLS/TLS, IPsec, classification, prioritization, low
latequeuing, remarking, shaping, scheduling, policing, mirroring, Multicast IPv4 Support,
Service advertisement and inserpolicy, SNMP, NTP, DNS client, Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol (DHCP), DHCP client, DHCP server, DHCP relaarchival, syslog, SSH,
SCP, Cflowd v10 IPFIX export, IPv6 for transport-side, VRRP, MPLS, NAT (DIA, Service-
side, soverload/PAT, NAT64, etc), NAT pools, split DNS, Access Control Lists (ACL),
Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFNetconf over SSH, CLI, NTP server support, BFD
with service-side BGP, BGP community propagation to OMP, 6 SLA for AAR, Trustsec/SDA
(Inline SGT propagation), custom app with SD-AVC, multicast AAR, dynamic on-demand
tunnSM, OSPFv3, route policies, Multi-VRF support
Application Experience Quality of service (QoS), Forward Error Correction (FEC), COS Marking, Weighted Random
Early Detection (WRED)Hierarchical QoS, Policy-Based Routing (PBR), Network-Based
Application Recognition (NBAR), Software Defined AVisibility and Control (SD-AVC), per
tunnel QoS, Cloud onRamp for SaaS, Enhanced Office 365 traffic steering, DirecAccess,
Flexible Netflow (FnF)
Cryptographic Algorithms Encryption: AES-256 (in CBC and GCM modes), Internet Key Exchange (IKE), Cisco PKI
Authentication: AAA, RSA (2048 bit), ESP-256-CBC, HMAC-SHA1, ECDSA (256/384 bit)
Integrity: SHA-1, SHA-2
Security Built-in end-to-end segmentation (VPNs), ZBFW, PKI, Cisco DNA Layer Security, Snort
IPS/IDS, URL Filtering, Advanced Protection(AMP), ThreatGrid(TG), ALG for ZBFW
Unified Communication Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE), Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST),
Cisco Unified Communications Manager Express (CUCME) and Voice Modules
Network stack:
● Network Essentials
● Network Advantage
● Easy Activation: Smart Licensing establishes a pool of software licenses that can be used across the
entire organization—no more PAKs (Product Activation Keys).
● Unified Management: My Cisco Entitlements (MCE) provides a complete view into all of your Cisco
products and services in an easy-to-use portal, so you always know what you have and what you are
using.
● License Flexibility: Your software is not node-locked to your hardware, so you can easily use and
transfer licenses as needed.
To use Smart Licensing, you must first set up a Smart Account on Cisco Software Central (software.cisco.com).
Specifications
Table 10. Mechanical specifications
Description Specification
Dimensions (H x W x D) 3.5 in. x 17.25 in. x 18.52 in. 1.73 in. x 17.50 in. x 16.25 in.
Description Specification
Services
Cisco Customer Experience Support Services for Catalyst 8000 platforms and Cisco DNA Software for SD-
WAN and Routing
This section discusses the Cisco Support Services available for Catalyst 8000 platforms and associated Cisco
DNA Software for SD-WAN and Routing, as well as optional Support Service offers.
● Catalyst 8000 platforms: Cisco Solution Support is the default and recommended Cisco Support
Service. However, Cisco Solution Support is not mandatory; it can be removed or replaced with another
Cisco support service or partner service per the customer’s preference.
● Cisco DNA Software for SD-WAN and Routing: Cisco Solution Support is the default Cisco support
service. However, Cisco Solution Support is not mandatory; the customer may choose to use the Cisco
Subscription Embedded Software Support included with the purchase of this software.
● When Solution Support is selected, it must be ordered on both the Catalyst 8000 platform and Cisco
DNA Software for SD-WAN and Routing for complete customer entitlement to this premium support
service.
● SD-WAN and Routing, with both Solution Support or Cisco Subscription Embedded Software Support,
customers are entitled to maintenance releases and software updates for Cisco DNA SD-WAN and
Routing software only. The support for the Catalyst 8000 platform’s OS and network stack, along with
OS updates, is covered by the support contract on the Catalyst 8000 platform.
Cisco Solution Support is a premium support purpose-built for today’s multiproduct, multivendor network
environments and provides:
● Access to support and troubleshooting via online tools and web case submission. Case severity or
escalation guidelines are not applicable.
● Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) access 24 hours per day, 7 days per week to assist by
telephone, or web case submission and online tools with application software use and troubleshooting
issues.
● Access to www.cisco.com, providing helpful technical and general information on Cisco products, as
well as access to Cisco’s online Software Center library.
Note: No additional products or fees are required to receive embedded support for Cisco DNA Software
for SD-WAN and Routing. However, if using embedded support for this software, hardware support for the
Catalyst 8000 platforms must be purchased separately, as Cisco Subscription Embedded Software Support
does not cover hardware. In this case, Cisco Smart Net Total Care Service is recommended for Catalyst
8000 platforms.
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Ordering information
To place an order, visit the Cisco Ordering Home Page. To download software, visit the Cisco Software Center.
Describing why a new 400W PSU is added toC8300 Power supplies 09-21-2022
Added column with technical specs for new400W PSU Power supplies, Table 6 09-21-2022