Cisco Catalyst 6500/6500-E Series Replacement — What Cisco Recommends
Cisco support for the Cisco Catalyst 6500/6500-E Series ended Oct 2022 — unsupported units need a plan. Cisco's own end-of-life bulletin names the successor below — quoted from the source, with the successor's live support status where EOSL.ai tracks it.
The Cisco-named replacement
per-part mapping in the bulletin (4 replacement parts listed) — named in the Cisco EOL bulletin ↗ as the migration path.
C6800-48P-SFP is not yet tracked on EOSL.ai — no vendor end-of-life notice has been captured for it, which is typical of current products.
Cisco Catalyst 6500/6500-E Series lifecycle dates
| SKU group | End of sale | EOSL / last support | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switch hardware | Oct 2017 | Oct 2022 | bulletin ↗ |
Per-part-number replacement mapping (9)
As listed in the Cisco bulletin's migration table for each part number.
| End-of-life part | Description | Bulletin-listed replacement |
|---|---|---|
| 2D-X6848-SFP-2T | C6800-48P-SFP | |
| 2D-X6848-TX-2T | C6800-48P-TX | |
| 2D-X6848-TX-2TXL | C6800-48P-SFP-XL | |
| WS-X6824-SFP-2T | C6800-48P-SFP | |
| WS-X6824-SFP-2TXL | C6800-48P-SFP-XL | |
| WS-X6848-SFP-2T | C6800-48P-SFP | |
| WS-X6848-SFP-2TXL | C6800-48P-SFP-XL | |
| WS-X6848-TX-2T | C6800-48P-TX | |
| WS-X6848-TX-2TXL | C6800-48P-TX-XL |
Migration questions
What is the replacement for the Cisco Catalyst 6500/6500-E Series?
Cisco's end-of-life bulletin names C6800-48P-SFP as the recommended migration path for the Cisco Catalyst 6500/6500-E Series. The exact wording and any per-part-number mapping are in the linked bulletin.
Is the Cisco Catalyst 6500/6500-E Series end of life?
Cisco support for the Cisco Catalyst 6500/6500-E Series ended Oct 2022 — unsupported units need a plan. Full lifecycle dates by part number: https://eosl.ai/system/cisco-catalyst-6500-6500-e/.
Is there a per-part-number replacement mapping for the 6500/6500-E Series?
Yes — the bulletin maps replacements at the part-number level for 9 SKUs (for example 2D-X6848-SFP-2T → C6800-48P-SFP). The full table is on this page.
Do I have to buy the Cisco-recommended replacement?
No. The bulletin's named successor is Cisco's suggested path, not an obligation. Teams also keep 6500/6500-E Series units running under third-party maintenance after the support cutoff, migrate to a different vendor, or run low-criticality units to failure with the risk documented. See the support-options guide for the trade-offs.