The Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series is Cisco's lead stackable enterprise access platform in the Catalyst 9000 family, built on the UADP 2.0 ASIC for investment protection and high-density stacking. The modular-uplink C9300 takes a field-installable network module for 1G, multigigabit, 10G, 25G, or 40G uplinks, and Cisco positions it as the successor to the end-of-sale Catalyst 3850. The C9300-48UXM-E is the 48-port mixed-multigigabit UPOE configuration, combining a dozen 10G-capable ports with 36 ports up to 2.5G, at the Network Essentials tier, which separates it from the otherwise-identical Network Advantage C9300-48UXM-A. Network Essentials covers Layer 2 switching with routed access for a single-tier campus design. Three field-replaceable fans and dual power supplies keep it serviceable in always-on deployments.