July 20th #CiscoChat Recap — Unboxing the Catalyst 9000, Unveiling the Future

When you’ve got big, exciting news, sharing the story simply won’t do. You need to do a show-and-tell. And with the launch of the Catalyst 9000 line, our latest, greatest network switches, that means a lot of showing and a lot of telling.

That’s exactly why our latest #CiscoChat was held on Facebook Live, and featured Muninder Sambi and myself, the “Switching Dudes.” We walked through a live unboxing of the 9300, 9400, and 9500 series models and explained all the ways the Catalyst 9000 solutions help bring the business into a new era of networking, ever ready to adapt and evolve to solve shifting challenges. We also discussed how the switches simplify mobility management, meet IoT and cloud requirements, and look great while doing it — thanks to its user-centric design created with Pininfarina engineers, the same engineers behind the design of Ferrari’s iconic cars.

If you haven’t already, check out the live unboxing video yourself. Or, you can follow along here with our highlight reel of responses to #CiscoChat viewer questions.

What’s the superior switch: the Catalyst 9300, 9400, or 9500?

There’s not a bad choice in the bunch. But if the Switching Dudes had to choose? Muninder’s pick is the 9400. And mine is the 9300 — a bit simpler and easier. Still, all Catalyst switches are part of the same family, running on the same operating system with the same design.

So far, are there any exciting use cases for these switches?

Muninder explained how the switches were launched with a new architecture called Software-Defined Access. This technology allows hundreds of Catalyst to operate as one fabric, for faster, more secure network access.

Then, I discussed the magic of Encrypted Traffic Analytics, an innovation that can detect malware-encrypted flows without decrypting the flow. Yes, you read that correctly. It is possible!

How did Sachin and Muninder contribute to the creation of the Catalyst series switches?

We were both instrumental in bringing the Catalyst 9000 series switches to life. Hundreds of thousands of people were also involved in the project — and more than 200 patents were secured in the process.

As Muninder summarized in closing, the Catalyst 9000 “preserves all the excellence of the past, and is built for the next decade.” We couldn’t have said it any better.

To find out more, visit the new digital home of the Catalyst 9000, and click here to find out if your network is ready for digital transformation. Make sure to tune into future #CiscoChats!