This documents will introduce cisco 3850 datasheet, and list frequently asked questions on cisco catalyst 3850 series switches.

1. Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series Switches Datasheet and FAQ
The Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series Switches are the next generation of enterprise-class, stackable, access layer switches.
1. Provide convergence between wired and wireless over a single platform.
2. Provide high availability with new and improved 480-Gbps stacking and Cisco StackPower ™.
3. Wired and wireless security and application visibility are natively built into the switch.
4. Support full IEEE 802.3at Power over Ethernet Plus (PoE+), Universal Power Over Ethernet (UPOE), modular
and field-replaceable network modules, redundant fans, and power supplies.
5. The Cisco Catalyst 3850 enhances productivity by enabling applications such as IP telephony, wireless, and
video for a true borderless network experience.
In addition, the Cisco Catalyst 3850 SFP based models support 12 or 24 SFP receptacles, and SFP+ based models
support 12, 24, or 48 receptacles. These SFP/SFP+ receptacles are compatible with a variety of Gigabit Ethernet
pluggable transceiver modules for both copper and fiber downlink support. These models add even more flexibility
to the interface choices that users can make in a single Cisco Catalyst 3850 switch or in a stack of Cisco Catalyst 3850
switches.
Model Comparison for the Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series Switches
Product Description
WS-C3850-12S-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 12 Port GE SFP IP Services
WS-C3850-12S-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 12 Port GE SFP IP Base
WS-C3850-12X48U-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port (12 mGig+36 Gig) UPoE IPServices
WS-C3850-12X48U-L Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port (12 mGig+36 Gig) UPoE LAN Base
WS-C3850-12X48U-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port (12 mGig+36 Gig) UPoE IP Base
WS-C3850-12X48UW-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 port(12 mGig) UPOE IPB with 5 AP Lic
WS-C3850-12XS-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 12 Port 10G Fiber Switch IP Services
WS-C3850-12XS-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 12 Port 10G Fiber Switch IP Base
WS-C3850-16XS-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 16 Port 10G Fiber Switch IP Services
WS-C3850-16XS-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 16 Port 10G Fiber Switch IP Base
WS-C3850-24P-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 Port PoE IP Services
WS-C3850-24P-L Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 Port PoE LAN Base
WS-C3850-24P-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 Port PoE IP Base
WS-C3850-24PW-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 Port PoE with 5 AP license IP Base
WS-C3850-24S-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 Port GE SFP IP Services
WS-C3850-24S-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 Port GE SFP IP Base
WS-C3850-24T-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 Port Data IP Services
WS-C3850-24T-L Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 Port Data LAN Base
WS-C3850-24T-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 Port Data IP Base
WS-C3850-24U-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 Port UPOE IP Services
WS-C3850-24U-L Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 Port UPOE LAN Base
WS-C3850-24U-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 Port UPOE IP Base
WS-C3850-24UW-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 Port UPOE with 5 AP licenses IP Base
WS-C3850-24XS-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 Port 10G Fiber Switch IP Services
WS-C3850-24XS-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 Port 10G Fiber Switch IP Base

2. WS-C3850-24XU-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 mGig Port UPoE IP Services
WS-C3850-24XU-L Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 mGig Port UPoE LAN Base
WS-C3850-24XU-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 mGig Port UPoE IP Base
WS-C3850-24XUW-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 24 mGig Port UPOE IP Base 5 AP License
WS-C3850-32XS-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 32 Port 10G Fiber Switch IP Services
WS-C3850-32XS-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 32 Port 10G Fiber Switch IP Base
WS-C3850-48F-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port Full PoE IP Services
WS-C3850-48F-L Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port Full PoE LAN Base
WS-C3850-48F-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port Full PoE IP Base
WS-C3850-48P-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port PoE IP Services
WS-C3850-48P-L Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port PoE LAN Base
WS-C3850-48P-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port PoE IP Base
WS-C3850-48PW-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port Full PoE w/ 5 AP license IP Base
WS-C3850-48T-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port Data IP Services
WS-C3850-48T-L Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port Data LAN Base
WS-C3850-48T-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port Data IP Base
WS-C3850-48U-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port UPOE IP Services
WS-C3850-48U-L Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port UPOE LAN Base
WS-C3850-48U-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port UPOE IP Base
WS-C3850-48UW-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port UPOE with 5 AP licenses IP Base
WS-C3850-48W-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port PoE with 5 AP licenses IP Base
WS-C3850-48XS-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port 10G Fiber Switch IP Services
WS-C3850-48XS-F-E Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port 10G Fiber Switch IP Services
WS-C3850-48XS-F-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port 10G Fiber Switch IP Base
WS-C3850-48XS-S Cisco Catalyst 3850 48 Port 10G Fiber Switch IP Base
How to distinguish specifications from SKU of Cisco Catalyst 3850 Switches?

3. • Series Number: 3850
• Number of Ports: 12, 24, or 48
• Downlink Ports: T, data-only port; P, port with PoE power supply support(Full 15.4w power on 24
ports); PF/F/PW, port with PoE power supply support(Full 15.4w power on 48 ports); U, port with UPOE
power supply support; S, SFP module slot; X, mGig port or SFP/SFP+ module slot
• Cisco IOS: L, Lan Base; S, IP Base; E, IP Services
What are the supported uplink modules in the Cisco Catalyst 3850?
The Cisco Catalyst 3850 supports the following uplink modules:
● 4 x 1GE network module
● 2 x 1/10GE network module
● 4 x 1/10GE network module (can be used for the 48-port RJ-45 models and for the 12-port (or higher) 10-gigabit-
capable models)
● 8 x 10GE network module (can be used on the 24-port and 48-port multigigabit switch and also on the 24-port
10G SFP+ switch)
Cisco 10-Gigabit Ethernet Transceiver Modules for Cisco 3850 Series Switches
Network Device Transceiver Model Minimum Software Release Required
DOM Support Software Release
WS-C3850-24T
WS-C3850-24P
WS-C3850-48T
WS-C3850-48P
WS-C3850-48F
(With C3850-NM-2-10G or
C3850-NM-4-10G uplink modules)
SFP-H10GB-CU1M
SFP-H10GB-CU3M
SFP-H10GB-CU5M
— XE 3.2.0SE
SFP-10G-SR
SFP-10G-LRM
SFP-10G-LR
SFP-10G-ER
SFP-10G-SR-S
SFP-10G-LR-S
SFP-10G-ER-S
XE 3.2.0SE XE 3.2.0SE
SFP-10G-ZR
SFP-10G-ZR-S
DWDM SFP+
XE 3.3.3SE XE 3.3.3SE
CWDM SFP+ XE 3.7.0 XE 3.7.0
SFP-H10GB-CU1-5M
SFP-H10GB-CU2M
SFP-H10GB-CU2-5M
SFP-H10GB-ACU7M
SFP-H10GB-ACU10M
SFP-10G-AOC1M
SFP-10G-AOC2M
SFP-10G-AOC3M
SFP-10G-AOC5M
SFP-10G-AOC7M
— XE 3.6.0E

4. SFP-10G-AOC10M
SFP-10G-BXD-I
SFP-10G-BXU-I
SFP-10G-BX40D-I
SFP-10G-BX40U-I
XE 3.7.1E XE 3.7.1E
WS-C3850-12XS
WS-C3850-16XS
WS-C3850-24XS
WS-C3850-32XS
(C3850-NM-8-10G uplink modules)
SFP-10G-SR
SFP-10G-LRM
SFP-10G-LR
SFP-10G-ER
SFP-10G-ZR
SFP-10G-SR-S
SFP-10G-LR-S
SFP-10G-ER-S
SFP-10G-ZR-S
DWDM SFP+
CWDM SFP+
SFP-H10GB-CU1M
SFP-H10GB-CU1-5M
SFP-H10GB-CU2M
SFP-H10GB-CU2-5M
SFP-H10GB-CU3M
SFP-H10GB-CU5M
SFP-H10GB-ACU7M
SFP-H10GB-ACU10M
SFP-10G-AOC1M
SFP-10G-AOC2M
SFP-10G-AOC3M
SFP-10G-AOC5M
SFP-10G-AOC7M
SFP-10G-AOC10M
SFP-10G-BXD-I
SFP-10G-BXU-I
SFP-10G-BX40D-I
SFP-10G-BX40U-I
XE 3.7.1E XE 3.7.1E
WS-C3850-48XS-S
WS-C3850-48XS-E
WS-C3850-48XS-F-S
WS-C3850-48XS-F-E
WS-C3850-48XS
SFP-10G-SR
SFP-10G-LRM
SFP-10G-LR
SFP-10G-ER
SFP-10G-ZR
SFP-10G-SR-S
SFP-10G-LR-S
SFP-10G-ER-S
SFP-10G-ZR-S
DWDM SFP+
CWDM SFP+
SFP-H10GB-CU1M
SFP-H10GB-CU1-5M
SFP-H10GB-CU2M
SFP-H10GB-CU2-5M
XE 3.7.2 XE 3.7.2

5. SFP-H10GB-CU3M
SFP-H10GB-CU5M
SFP-H10GB-ACU7M
SFP-H10GB-ACU10M
SFP-10G-AOC1M
SFP-10G-AOC2M
SFP-10G-AOC3M
SFP-10G-AOC5M
SFP-10G-AOC7M
SFP-10G-AOC10M
SFP-10G-BXD-I
SFP-10G-BXU-I
SFP-10G-BX40D-I
SFP-10G-BX40U-I
WS-C3850-12S
WS-C3850-24S
(With C3850-NM-2-10G or
C3850-NM-4-10G or
C3850-NM-8-10G uplink modules)
SFP-H10GB-CU1M
SFP-H10GB-CU3M
SFP-H10GB-CU5M
— XE 3.3.3SE
SFP-10G-SR
SFP-10G-LRM
SFP-10G-LR
SFP-10G-ER
SFP-10G-ZR
SFP-10G-SR-S
SFP-10G-LR-S
SFP-10G-ER-S
SFP-10G-ZR-S
DWDM SFP+
XE 3.3.3SE XE 3.3.3SE
CWDM SFP+ XE 3.7.0 XE 3.7.0
SFP-H10GB-CU1-5M
SFP-H10GB-CU2M
SFP-H10GB-CU2-5M
SFP-H10GB-ACU7M
SFP-H10GB-ACU10M
SFP-10G-AOC1M
SFP-10G-AOC2M
SFP-10G-AOC3M
SFP-10G-AOC5M
SFP-10G-AOC7M
SFP-10G-AOC10M
— XE 3.6.0E
SFP-10G-BXD-I
SFP-10G-BXU-I
SFP-10G-BX40D-I
SFP-10G-BX40U-I
XE 3.7.1E XE 3.7.1E
● 2 x 40GE network module (can be used on the 24-port and 48-port multigigabit switch and also on the 24-port
10G SFP+ switch)
Cisco 40-Gigabit Ethernet Transceiver Modules for Cisco 3850 Series Switches
Network Device Transceiver Model Minimum Release Required

6. DOM Support Software Release
C3850-NM-2-40G
WS-C3850-48XS-S
WS-C3850-48XS-E
WS-C3850-48XS-F-S
WS-C3850-48XS-F-E
WS-C3850-48XS
QSFP-40G-SR4
QSFP-40G-SR4-S
QSFP-40G-CSR4
QSFP-40G-LR4
QSFP-40G-LR4-S
XE 3.7.2 XE 3.7.2
QSFP-H40G-CU1M
QSFP-H40G-CU3M
QSFP-H40G-CU5M
QSFP-H40G-ACU7M
QSFP-H40G-ACU10M
QSFP-40G-SR-BD
XE 3.7.2
QSFP-40G-LR4-S
QSFP-40G-ER4
- XE Denali16.3.3
QSFP-40G-LR4-S
WSP-Q40GLR4L
XE Denali 16.5.1a
Source:Cisco Transceiver Modules Compatibility Information
Note: Customers need to purchase the IP Base software model or the IP Services software model in order to use a
Cisco Catalyst 3850 Series Switch as a wireless controller. LAN Base models require the purchase of a StackPower
cable separately to enable StackPower functionality.
Q. How do you manage the Cisco Catalyst 3850?
A. The Cisco Catalyst 3850 can be managed using the Cisco IOS Software CLI or using Cisco Prime ™ Infrastructure
2.0.
Q. What management ports are available on the Cisco Catalyst 3850?
A. The Cisco Catalyst 3850 comes with a 10/100 Ethernet dedicated management port on the backside of the switch
right above the console port. This port is in separate VRF called “Mgmt-vrf.” This is to segment the management
traffic from the global routing table of the switch.
Q. What are the power consumptions for copper and fiber SKUs?
A. For 24 port copper SKU the power consumption is 200W and for 48 port its 280W. In the case of both 12 Port
and 24 Port fiber SKUs its 200W.
Q. What are the different types of licenses in the Cisco Catalyst 3850?
A. There are two main types of Cisco Catalyst 3850 license: permanent RTU license and evaluation RTU license.
These are available for both image-based licensing (IP Base or IP Services) and AP count licensing.
A permanent RTU license is a paid license, with no expiration date. The universal Cisco IOS XE Software-based images
have all three license levels: LAN Base, IP Base, and IP Services. RTU CLI commands enable the switch license to be
moved between different license levels.
An evaluation RTU license allows the customers to evaluate image-based and/or AP count license for 90 days at no
cost.
Q. What are the license requirements for a Cisco Catalyst 3850 switch stack?
A. In a Cisco Catalyst 3850 stack, all switches should be at the same image-based license (IP Services/IPBase/LAN
Base) level. The active switch license level is considered as the reference, and the member switch licenses are
compared against it. If there is a mismatch, the active switch with the syslog message “ license mismatch error”
indicates that the stacking was unsuccessful. Because the 12-port and 24-port SFP models only ship with an IP Base

7. or IP Services base license, in order for them to stack with LAN Base switches, either the latter are upgraded to a
common higher license level or the former are downgraded to LAN Base through the CLI .
Q. How is the access point count license managed across a Cisco Catalyst 3850 stack?
A. The total access point count license of a Cisco Catalyst 3850 stack is equal to the sum of all the individual member
access point count licenses, up to a maximum of 50 access points. When new members are added to the stack, the
total access point count license of the stack is automatically recalculated. When members are removed from the stack,
the access point count license does not decrement until a reload of the stack.
Stack member addition example: A Cisco Catalyst 3850 stack with 3 switches, each with an access point count license
of 10 access points, will have support for a total of 30 access points. When a new Cisco Catalyst 3850 (Switch 4) is
added to the stack with an access point count license of 25 access points, the total access points supported by the
stack equals 50, since the total (30+25) 55 exceeds the stack limit.
Stack member remove example: In the preceding example, if Switch 4 is removed from the stack, the access point
count license stays at 50 access points until the stack is reloaded. After being reloaded, the stack returns to its original
value of 30 access points.
Q. How is stacking done in the Cisco Catalyst 3850?
A. The Cisco Catalyst 3850 introduces a revolutionary stacking technology called Cisco StackWise-480. It offers a
stacking bandwidth of 480 Gbps nonblocking, and it supports Cisco IOS Software Stateful Switchover (SSO)
technology. Both the stacking cables and connectors have been revamped in the Cisco Catalyst 3850 for easy
installation and removal.
Q. How many Cisco Catalyst 3850 switches can make up a Cisco StackPower stack?
A. Up to four switches can become part of the same Cisco StackPower stack in a ring topology.
Related Source:
https://ciscodatasheet.blogspot.com/2017/08/cisco-catalyst-3850-series-switches-faq.html
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/catalyst-3850-series-switches/qa_c67-722110.html
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/catalyst-3850-series-switches/data_sheet_c78-
720918.html