Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Cisco Express Forwarding 720 10-, 100-, And 1000-MBPS Ethernet-over-Copper Modules
Designed for high-performance enterprise and service provider distribution, core layers, data-center, and Web-hosting applications where voice capability is not required, Cisco Express Forwarding 720 twisted-pair interface modules provide line-rate 10/100/1000 Ethernet forwarding with the following operational advantages (refer to Table 3):

- Forwarding architecture: These modules use the central Cisco Express Forwarding engine located on the supervisor engine; optional field-upgradable Distributed Cisco Express Forwarding daughter cards are available.
- Forwarding performance: These modules forward packets up to 30 Mpps per system; they forward packets up to sustained 48 Mpps per slot for slots equipped with distributed forwarding cards (DFC or DFC3).
- Fabric connection: These modules connect to the switch-fabric channels using dual 20 Gbps switch-fabric channels (40 Gbps total).
- Supervisor engine: These modules work with Supervisor Engine 720.
- Distributed forwarding upgrade option: These modules help enable full locally distributed forwarding; they use an optional (part number WS-F6700-DFC3) upgrade to operate with the Supervisor Engine 720, and they provide optimal interface module performance.
- Slot and chassis requirements: These modules can occupy any slot in the Cisco Catalyst 6506, Catalyst 6509, Catalyst 6509-NEB, or Catalyst 6509-NEB-A; they require slots 9 through 13 when used in the Cisco Catalyst 6513. Cisco Catalyst 6503 support is under consideration for the future (refer to release notes for details).
- Maximum port density per chassis: These modules support up to 384 ports per Cisco Catalyst 6509, up to 240 Cisco Express Forwarding-based ports, and an additional 336 classic or Cisco Express Forwarding 256-based ports per Cisco Catalyst 6513.