Cisco Catalyst 9200 and 9300 Series Switches: A Comparison of Features and Specifications

 Cisco Catalyst 9200 and 9300 Series switches are two of the most popular enterprise switching platforms in the market. They are both part of the Cisco Catalyst 9000 family, which are designed to deliver intent-based networking and transform your network to handle a hybrid world where the workplace is anywhere, endpoints could be anything, and applications are hosted all over the place.

But what are the differences between these two series? How do you choose the right model for your network needs? In this article, we will compare some of the features and specifications of these switches and help you make an informed decision.

First, let’s look at some of the common features that both series share:

They support Cisco IOS XE ® and UADP ASIC technology, which enable programmability, automation, security, and intelligence for your network.

They offer flexible power source options from line voltage AC, low voltage DC to High Voltage DC (HVDC) in C9200CX series provide the choices for customers to migrate to efficient DC micro grid powered by renewable energy sources for a sustainable future1.

They provide resiliency with field-replaceable units (FRU) and redundant power supply, fans, and modular uplinks for C9200. C9200CX models are powered by internal fixed power supply or optional power adapters1.

They offer operational efficiency with optional backplane stacking, supporting stacking bandwidth up to 160 Gbps1 .

They provide security features that protect the integrity of the hardware as well as the software and all data that flows through the switch1 .

Now, let’s look at some of the differences between these two series:

The Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series switches are ideal for cost-effective branch-office access, while the Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series switches are the industry’s leading stackable enterprise access switching platform.

The Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series switches support up to 1TB of stacking bandwidth with Stackwise-1T, which is the industry’s highest-density stacking bandwidth solution.

The Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series switches offer flexible and dense uplink offerings with 100G, 40G, 25G, Multigigabit (mGig), 10G, and 1G modular uplinks, which provide more options for high-speed connectivity.

The Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series switches enable mixed stacking with backward compatibility – you can stack your Catalyst 9300X fiber switches with Catalyst 9300 and Catalyst 9300X Multigigabit switches, bringing stackable high-speed fiber to the access.

The Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series switches have the highest Multigigabit Ports: With standalone and Stackwise-1T, Catalyst 9300X models enable 48 mGig ports in standalone and 448 mGig ports with an 8-member stack, which are ideal for Wi-Fi 6/6E deployments.

The Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series switches have the highest 90W UPOE+ Density: They enable your OT/IT needs with up to 36 ports of 90W UPOE+ for standalone or 288 ports of 90W UPOE+ with a 8-member stack, which can power more devices and applications.

The Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series switches support 100G IPsec in hardware: With the new 2.0Sec UADP ASIC, the Catalyst 9300X comes with 100G line rate IPsec to enable various options for new edge connectivity, such as secure tunneling to cloud service providers or site-to-site connectivity.

The Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series switches offer enhanced application hosting: With 2x capacity and additional RAM, QAT, and 2 x 10G AppGig Ports, multiple Cisco Signed performance savvy applications can be hosted on Catalyst 9300X, such as Cisco DNA Center, Cisco SD-WAN, Cisco ThousandEyes, and more.

To illustrate these differences more clearly, let’s compare some of the models and their specifications:

C9200L-24P-4X-E: This model has 24 ports 1G PoE+ with 4x 10G SFP+ fixed uplinks. It supports up to 740W of PoE budget and has a switching capacity of 208 Gbps. It comes with Network Essentials software, which provides basic Layer 2 and Layer 3 features1.

C9300-24P-E: This model has 24 port Cisco UPOE with modular uplinks. It supports up to 1100W of PoE budget and has a switching capacity of 256 Gbps. It comes with Network Essentials software, which provides basic Layer 2 and Layer 3 features.

C9200L-24P-4X-A: This model has 24 ports 1G PoE+ with 4x 10G SFP+ fixed uplinks. It supports up to 740W of PoE budget and has a switching capacity of 208 Gbps. It comes with Network Advantage software, which provides advanced Layer 2 and Layer 3 features, such as Flexible NetFlow, MACsec encryption, BGP routing, and SD-Access1.

C9300-24T-A: This model has 24 port data only with modular uplinks. It has a switching capacity of 256 Gbps. It comes with Network Advantage software, which provides advanced Layer 2 and Layer 3 features, such as Flexible NetFlow, MACsec encryption, BGP routing, and SD-Access.

C9300-24T-E: This model has 24 port data only with modular uplinks. It has a switching capacity of 256 Gbps. It comes with IP Services software, which provides full Layer 3 features, such as OSPF, EIGRP, IS-IS, BGP, PBR, VRF-Lite, and IP SLA.

WS-C2960X-48TS-L: This model has 48 port data only with fixed uplinks. It has a switching capacity of 216 Gbps. It comes with LAN Base software, which provides basic Layer 2 features2.

As you can see, the Cisco Catalyst 9200 and 9300 Series switches are powerful and flexible solutions for your network. Whether you need a cost-effective access switch or a high-performance stackable switch, you can find the right model for your needs. To learn more about these switches and how to order them, please visit the following links:

Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series Switches Data Sheet1

Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches Data Sheet

Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series Switches Ordering Guide2

Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches Ordering Guide

Cisco Catalyst 2960-X and 2960-XR Series Switches Data Sheet2