Cisco C9610-SUP-3 - Supervisor 3 module

Cisco Part Number: C9610-SUP-3 is a Cisco C9610 Series Smart Switches Supervisor 3 module

Introducing the Cisco C9610 Series Smart Switches—a new generation of high-performance hardware built to elevate campus networking with unmatched port density and superior bandwidth capacity. Engineered for the demands of the AI-driven enterprise, these switches deliver seamless support for 25G and 100G uplinks and include forward-looking readiness for 400G, ensuring your network infrastructure is fully prepared for the future.

Cisco Supervisor Engine 3

The Cisco Supervisor Engine 3 (C9610-SUP-3) is engineered to deliver exceptional performance, scale, and operational efficiency for modern enterprise campus networks. Built on the advanced Cisco Silicon One architecture, it provides the forwarding scale, bandwidth, and intelligence required for environments transitioning toward next-generation, high-density connectivity.

Designed for Demanding Campus Architectures

Supervisor Engine 3 is purpose-built for customers deploying medium to large Layer 2 and Layer 3 infrastructures, requiring robust ACL capabilities, flexible NetFlow (FNF) support, and medium QoS buffering. It is the ideal choice for campus distribution or collapsed-core designs where high MAC address and ARP/NDP scale is essential.

With support for a wide range of high-speed interfaces—10G/25G/50G SFP and 40G to 400G QSFP—it delivers the bandwidth and flexibility required for fast-evolving enterprise access and aggregation layers.

Next-Generation Cisco Silicon One Performance

At its foundation, the Supervisor Engine 3 integrates four Cisco Silicon One E100 ASICs, connected through a Q200L fabric ASIC, delivering unprecedented forwarding performance:

E100 ASIC

• Up to 12.8 Tbps bandwidth (6.4 Tbps full duplex)
• Up to 3.9 Bpps forwarding
• 64 MB dedicated low-latency shared buffer per ASIC

Q200 ASIC

• Up to 25.6 Tbps bandwidth (12.8 Tbps full duplex)
• Up to 8 Bpps forwarding

Together, these components provide deterministic, hardware-accelerated performance to support large route tables, complex policy controls, and high-speed data flows at scale.

Optimised for Modern Applications and Services

The Supervisor Engine 3 includes a powerful Intel 2.0 GHz x86 CPU (8 cores) with 32 GB DDR4 memory, ensuring fast control-plane operations and support for advanced services. With up to 960 GB SATA SSD storage, it enables container-based application hosting directly on the switch for operational flexibility.

High Scale for Growing Networks

To support expanding enterprise networks, the Supervisor Engine 3 delivers:

• Switching scale: up to 128K MAC addresses
• Routing scale: up to 1 million IPv4/IPv6 routes
• Full IPv6 hardware support for wire-rate forwarding
• Dual-stack IPv4 and IPv6 operation
• Flexible allocation across routing, Layer 2, ACL, and QoS tables

These capabilities provide an efficient path to IPv6 adoption without compromising performance.

Supervisor performance comparison

¹Based on C9610R chassis with 8 line cards operating at 3.2 Tbps.
²Varies based on selected SDM ASIC template.
³Total routes are shared between IPv4 and IPv6.
⁴Table maximum. The exact % of allocation will depend on specific IP/mask combinations.
⁵Feature is not available at FCS, but it is hardware capable.