The Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms are high-performance cloud edge platforms designed for accelerated services, multi-layer security, cloud-native agility, and edge intelligence to accelerate your journey to the cloud. Foundation for Software-Defined WAN Cisco Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms (Catalyst 8500 and Catalyst 8500L) with Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software deliver Cisco’s secure, cloud-scale SD-WAN solution for aggregation sites. The Catalyst 8500 Edge Platforms feature the all-new third-generation Cisco Quantum Flow Processor (QFP). Built for services from the ground up, the Catalyst 8500L Edge Platform features an x86 based platform architecture that is purpose-built to continue delivering the same experience as an ASR1000 platform. The Catalyst 8500 Series Edge Platforms are compact 1RU devices with flexible interface options, including 1GE, 10GE, 40GE, and 100GE ports. Powered by Cisco IOS XE, a fully programmable software architecture with API support, these platforms can facilitate automation at scale to achieve zero-touch IT capability while migrating workloads to the cloud.