Cisco Catalyst 8000 Series

The Cisco Catalyst 8000 Series Edge Platforms represent an enterprise class of cloud-scale edge routing hardware and virtualized network appliances engineered to power secure software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) and multi-cloud edge architectures. Designed to deliver high-throughput encryption, 5G-ready cellular connectivity, and modular flexibility, the Catalyst 8000 family enables organizations to modernize enterprise branch, campus, and aggregation WAN edges while reducing overall operational complexity.

Architecturally built on Cisco's custom silicon and multicore routing processors, the Catalyst 8000 series includes modular physical chassis (Catalyst 8300 and 8500), compact branch platforms (Catalyst 8200), and virtualized routing software (Catalyst 8000V) deployable across public clouds including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. The platforms feature dynamic core allocation, hardware-accelerated IPSec encryption, integrated Layer 7 application firewalls, Snort-based intrusion prevention (IPS), and native URL filtering. Managed centrally via Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager (vManage) or Cisco Catalyst Center, the series integrates seamlessly with Cisco ThousandEyes for hop-by-hop WAN path monitoring and Cisco Secure Access for unified SASE architectures.

Enterprise use cases include secure high-bandwidth SD-WAN deployment, direct internet access (DIA) for branch offices, multi-cloud interconnect routing, and branch network function virtualization (NFV). The Cisco Catalyst 8000 Series provides the security, performance, and flexibility required for modern hybrid work and distributed cloud applications.