Cisco WS-SUP720-3BXL
Catalyst 6500/Cisco 7600 Supervisor 720 Fabric MSFC3 PFC3BXL
Product Highlights
What's Included
1GB DRAM Switch Processor (1x MEM-SUP720-SP-1GB)
64MB Flash Route Processor (1x BF-S720-64MB-RP)
64MB Flash Switch Processor (1x BF-S720-64MB-SP)
When your Cisco Catalyst 6500 or 7600 Series chassis demands the highest forwarding capacity, largest routing tables, and richest hardware-based feature set, the WS-SUP720-3BXL Supervisor Engine 720 is the definitive answer.
The WS-SUP720-3BXL is the third-generation, top-tier supervisor engine for the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switch and Cisco 7600 Series Router. It integrates a high-performance 720 Gbps crossbar switch fabric with the MSFC3 route processor and the PFC3BXL policy feature card into a single hot-swappable module. With hardware-accelerated forwarding for IPv4, IPv6, and MPLS, the system delivers up to 400 Mpps for IPv4 and 200 Mpps for IPv6 traffic using distributed forwarding cards (dCEF). The PFC3BXL variant provides the largest TCAM of the Supervisor 720 family, scaling the hardware FIB to 1 million route entries — critical for environments carrying full Internet BGP tables.
This supervisor engine ships with 1 GB DRAM on both the route processor and switch processor, plus 64 MB boot flash on each, ensuring ample resources for advanced IOS feature sets. Two integrated Gigabit Ethernet uplink ports (one SFP, one selectable SFP or RJ-45) provide out-of-the-box connectivity. Whether deployed in enterprise campus cores, data center aggregation layers, or service provider edge networks, the WS-SUP720-3BXL delivers the scalable performance, security, and service intelligence that mission-critical infrastructures require.
Features & Benefits
720 Gbps Integrated Switch Fabric
The Supervisor 720 integrates a high-capacity crossbar switching fabric delivering up to 40 Gbps full-duplex per slot and a total system capacity of 720 Gbps. This enables support for third-generation high-density 4-port 10GE and 48-port 10/100/1000 line cards, as well as all existing LAN, WAN, FlexWAN, and optical services modules — protecting your line card investment while scaling bandwidth.
PFC3BXL — Extended Forwarding & TCAM
The PFC3BXL is the highest-end Policy Feature Card in the Supervisor 720 family, featuring an expanded TCAM that scales the hardware FIB to 1 million route entries. This is essential for service providers and large enterprises carrying full Internet BGP routing tables, preventing route overflow to the CPU and maintaining wire-rate forwarding under all conditions. It also supports up to 256K NetFlow entries and extended ACL label capacity.
MSFC3 Multilayer Routing Intelligence
The integrated MSFC3 (Multilayer Switch Feature Card 3) provides high-performance multilayer switching and routing intelligence. It efficiently utilizes CPU resources to support advanced routing protocols, policy enforcement, and control-plane functions. Paired with the PFC3BXL, it enables both centralized (CEF) and distributed (dCEF) forwarding architectures for maximum scalability.
Hardware-Based MPLS, IPv6 & QoS
The WS-SUP720-3BXL enables MPLS in hardware, supporting Layer 2 and Layer 3 MPLS VPNs, Ethernet over MPLS (EoMPLS), and MPLS Traffic Engineering. Hardware-based IPv6 forwarding at up to 200 Mpps ensures readiness for dual-stack deployments. Integrated QoS features include user-based rate limiting with up to 64 policy rates and per-flow or aggregate policing.
Carrier-Grade High Availability
Built-in redundancy features include Stateful Switchover (SSO) with Nonstop Forwarding (NSF), Route Processor Redundancy Plus (RPR+), Fast Software Upgrade (FSU), and Online Insertion and Removal (OIR) hot-swap capability. These features minimize downtime during planned maintenance and unplanned failover events, making the WS-SUP720-3BXL suitable for always-on network environments.
Comprehensive Security Features
The Supervisor Engine 720 delivers a robust security feature set including hardware-based ACLs, Port Security, CPU rate limiting, Multi-Path uRPF (Unicast Reverse Path Forwarding), 802.1X extensions, and DoS attack prevention. These capabilities enable network-wide security enforcement at wire speed without impacting forwarding performance.
Deployment Scenarios
Enterprise Campus Core / Distribution
Deploy the WS-SUP720-3BXL in a Catalyst 6509-E at the campus core or distribution layer to aggregate traffic from access-layer switches at wire speed. The 720 Gbps fabric and 40 Gbps per-slot capacity support high-density 10GE uplinks, while SSO/NSF redundancy ensures uninterrupted connectivity for thousands of users.
Service Provider Edge / PE Router
In Cisco 7600 Series deployments, the PFC3BXL's 1 million-entry FIB handles full Internet BGP routing tables in hardware, preventing CPU-punted traffic. Hardware MPLS support enables scalable Layer 3 VPN and EoMPLS services with up to 1024 VRFs, making it ideal for provider edge (PE) router roles.
Data Center Aggregation Layer
Use the WS-SUP720-3BXL to aggregate server farm traffic in a Catalyst 6500 chassis. Hardware-based QoS, NetFlow visibility, and high-throughput forwarding ensure predictable application performance, while hot-swap capability and redundant supervisor support minimize maintenance windows.
WAN Edge Aggregation
The Supervisor 720's compatibility with FlexWAN and optical services modules (DS-0 through OC-48/STM-16) makes it a versatile choice for WAN edge aggregation. Hardware GRE tunneling, MPLS TE, and comprehensive QoS policies enable efficient WAN traffic management across diverse media types.
General
Performance
Memory
Interfaces
Features
High Availability
Operating System
Physical
Compliance
Compatibility Notes
Compatible Chassis
- Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series: 6503, 6503-E, 6506, 6506-E, 6509, 6509-E, 6509-NEB, 6509-NEB-A, 6513
- Cisco 7600 Series: 7603, 7606, 7609, 7613, OSR-7609
DFC Compatibility Note
When using DFC3-equipped line cards, all DFC/PFC versions in the chassis must operate in a least-common-denominator mode. DFC3B-equipped line cards inserted into a chassis with a PFC3BXL supervisor must be present at boot time — they cannot be OIR'd after boot. Mixing PFC3 versions across redundant supervisors in the same chassis is not supported.
Operating System Support
The Supervisor Engine 720 family is supported on both Cisco IOS and Cisco Catalyst OS (CatOS).
Important Limitation
The WS-SUP720-3BXL does not support Virtual Switching System (VSS).
Downloads & Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
| Part Number | Product | Key Difference |
|---|---|---|
| WS-SUP720-3B | Supervisor 720 with PFC3B | Smaller TCAM than PFC3BXL — limited to ~192K IPv4 FIB entries; may punt routes to CPU with full BGP tables |
| WS-SUP720 | Supervisor 720 with PFC3A | Base PFC3A variant with the smallest TCAM and feature set of the Supervisor 720 family |
| VS-S720-10G-3CXL | Supervisor 720-10GE with PFC3CXL | Successor with integrated 10GE uplinks and PFC3CXL; supports VSS for virtual chassis pairing |
| VS-S2T-10G-XL | Supervisor 2T with 10GE | Next-generation replacement for WS-SUP720-3BXL with significantly higher performance and VSS support |
