The Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series provides the broadest selection of 10- and 100-Mbps media, densities, interoperability, and chassis deployment options. The 100BASE-X, 100BASE-FX, and 10BASE-FL modules provide another alternative for the access and distribution layer and metropolitan (metro) access deployments. The 100BASE-X module offers customers flexibility to mix and match different optics, and maximize their investment protection by allowing pay-as-you-grow through support of modular, Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP) optics.

Cisco Catalyst 6500 10BASE-FL, 100BASE-FX, and 100BASE-X modules offer:

- Fiber to the desktop
- Choice of media and connector types-The 100BASE-X module supports multimode fiber (62.5- and 125-micron), and single-mode fiber using modular SFPs, enabling mix-and-match, pay-as-you-grow optic deployments. Fixed MT-RJ for 100BASE-FX and 10BASE-FL modules supports multimode fiber (62.5- and 125-micron) and single-mode fiber.
- Port densities-Up to 48 ports per 100BASE-X module are supported, enabling up to 576 100BASE-X ports per 13-slot chassis; up to 24 ports per 10BASE-FL module are supported, enabling up to 288 ports of 10BASE-FL per 13-slot chassis (configured with 12 interface modules).
- Scalable and predictable system performance-The modules provide 32-Gbps switching and throughput of 15 Mpps.
- Superior traffic management-The modules are available with large 256-MB buffers for 48 ports. Available with 4 transmit queues per port, with 1 strict priority queue for quality of service (QoS). Each port supports Weighted Random Early Detection (WRED) for congestion avoidance within each queue, and Deficit Weighted Round Robin (DWRR) as well as Weighted Round Robin (WRR) for scheduling between queues to aid in traffic prioritization. Up to 8 thresholds can be configured to manage differentiated levels of service.
- Operational consistency-Configurations are available for Cisco Catalyst 6500 3-, 6-, 9-, and 13-slot chassis running Cisco IOS® Software and Cisco Catalyst Operating System Software; they are interoperable with all other interfaces and services modules, and forward-compatible with all Cisco Catalyst 6500 supervisor engines.
- Maximum network uptime and resiliency-The modules support the Cisco Enhanced Per- VLAN Spanning Tree Plus (PVST+) protocol, IEEE 802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) and IEEE 802.1s Multiple Spanning Tree (MST) protocol, Per-VLAN Rapid Spanning Tree (PVRST) protocol, Hot Standby Router Protocol (HSRP), Virtual Router Redundancy Protocol (VRRP), Gateway Load Balancing Protocol (GLBP), Cisco EtherChannel®, and IEEE 802.3ad link aggregation for fault-tolerant connectivity.
- Extensive management tools-The modules support the CiscoWorks network management platform; Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) Versions 1, 2, and 3; and four Remote Monitoring (RMON) groups (statistics, history, alarms, and events).