This paper provides insight into the architecture of the Cisco Catalyst 6500 family, including supervisor engines, line cards, chassis, and other components. The Catalyst 6500 series is a modular chassis family that supports a range of line-card options and delivers high performance up to 400Mpps, making it one of the highest performing switch products in the market. The chassis options range from 3 to 13 slots and support redundant supervisor engines and power supplies. The series is NEBS L3 compliant.