Cisco recently launched the latest generation of low-scale supervisors for the industry-leading Cisco Catalyst 4500E modular access platform: the Cisco Catalyst 4500E Supervisor8L-E.

Based on the best-in-class, high-performance Cisco Catalyst 4500E Supervisor8-E, the Cisco Catalyst 4500E Supervisor8L-E gives customers the same high availability, IT simplicity, security and other cutting edge features for low-scale deployments. Supervisor8-E and Supervisor8L-E will also work with the same IOS XE software for maximum operational simplicity and flexibility.

The Cisco Catalyst 4500E Supervisor8L-E supports Cisco Multigigabit Ethernet, a key Cisco innovation that enables customers to migrate to 802.11ac Wave 2 without having to rewire their access points to their Cisco Catalyst 4500E switches. The WS-X4748-12X48U line card on Cisco Catalyst 4500E, supported with Supervisor8L-E, is a 48 port line card with 12 Multigigabit Ethernet ports. The Multigigabit Ethernet ports are 10GBASE-T ports that can auto negotiate down to 5Gbps, 2.5Gbps or 1Gbps based on the connected host/access point capability, the type of cable used and the length of the cable. By connecting Cisco 802.11ac Wave 2 supported access points to Multigigabit Ethernet ports on the Cisco Catalyst 4500E, customers can get up to 5Gbps on existing Cat5e cables or up to 10Gbps on Cat6a cables.

Multigigabit Ethernet saves customers significant expenses by avoiding re-cabling access points to Catalyst 4500E switches with Cat6a cables or running two Cat5e cables between them to get higher speeds. By standardizing on the Cisco Multigigabit line cards on Cisco Catalyst 4500E, customers get maximum investment protection for whenever their wireless networks transition to 802.11ac Wave 2.

The Cisco Catalyst 4500E Supervisor8L-E is also fully integrated with Cisco APIC-EM and Cisco Prime Infrastructure for IT Simplicity. The Plug and Play (PnP) app on APIC-EM can be used to simplify deployment across multiple remote sites, saving enterprise IT teams time and money. With PnP, the Cisco Catalyst 4500E switches with Supervisor8L-E can be pre-provisioned and shipped to branches or other remote locations. Once the Cisco Catalyst 4500E switch with Supervisor8L-E is plugged in, the image and configuration are automatically downloaded and installed on it via the APIC-EM PnP server. The IT admin can monitor the status of the installs over multiple sites remotely.

The path trace app on APIC-EM also enables detailed flow-based visibility and troubleshooting by tracing a path between two hosts. It further provides in depth information about the nature of each hop, including information such as whether the path segment is Layer 2 or Layer 3 and which protocols are running on it.

In addition to these cutting edge features, the Cisco Catalyst 4500E Supervisor8L-E also supports all other Catalyst 4500E high availability, security and IT simplicity features. With Stateful Switchover (SSO) and In Service Software Upgrade (ISSU), customers can get supervisor redundancy on the C4507R+E chassis. The Supervisor8L-E also supports Virtual Switching System (VSS) for dual homing and inter-chassis redundancy in aggregation deployments. It also supports Network as a Sensor and Network as an Enforcer capabilities with Cisco TrustSec, Flexible Netflow, embedded Wireshark and MACSec encryption.

A number of customers across different verticals such as finance, health care, and education are already beginning to standardize on Catalyst 4500E with Supervisor8-E or Supervisor8L-E. For high scale deployments, the Cisco Catalyst 4500E Supervisor8-E continues to provide industry leading modular access performance for customers.

To learn more about how Catalyst 4500E Supervisor8-E and Supervisor8L-E can provide industry leaving modular access in your Enterprise, click here.