The Cisco Catalyst^® 6800 Family Switches offer a 8-port 40-Gigabit Ethernet module to serve a variety of high-bandwidth needs for the next-generation enterprise. Working in conjunction with the Catalyst^® Supervisor Engine 2T/2TXL (VS-S2T-10G & VS-S2T-10GXL) or Catalyst Supervisor Engine 6T/6TXL (C6800-SUP6T & C6800-SUP6T-XL), they can serve different needs on campus deployments. The line card includes two variants: the Catalyst 6800 8-port 40-Gigabit Ethernet Fiber Module non-XL and the Catalyst 6800 8-port 40-Gigabit Ethernet Fiber Module XL.

The modules support hardware-based multicast replication, Quality of Service (QoS), Access Control Lists (ACLs), jumbo frames, and low latency to enable secure and predictable performance for bandwidth-intensive applications. Both share a common ASIC architecture and support the same set of features in hardware. The eight-port 40-Gigabit Ethernet Modules can also operate in performance mode. They include hardware features such as Virtual Switching System (VSS), Location ID Separation Protocol (LISP), Security Group Tagging (SGT) and Access Control (SGACL), MACsec (802.1ae), traffic shaping, and Hierarchical Quality of Service (HQoS), Software-Defined Access (SDA) among others. The line cards also have front-facing passive UHF RFID technology, providing the latest Auto-ID capabilities for asset management. They support Quad Small Form-Factor Pluggable (QSFP) transceivers. The modules are designed to meet the increasing demand for aggregation of 40-Gigabit Ethernet streams in campus deployments, as well as for 40-Gigabit Ethernet transport in the core.