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DATA SHEET

6500-D14 and 6500-S14

6500 Packet-Optical Platform

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Front of 6500 D14/S14 product
Updated: June 10, 2026

Architected for high-capacity applications, the 6500-D14 and 6500-S14 are 13 RU chassis that can be tailored for a range of applications. These shelves support a wide variety of services, including the full mix of Ethernet, OTN, SDH/SONET, Fibre Channel, video, and transparent DWDM services. The 6500-D14 and -S14 are equipped with 14 service card-carrying slots and offer flexible, cost-efficient deployment options. The shelves support photonic and transponder applications scaling up to 1.6T using high-performance coherent optics.

Features and benefits

  • Supports the full suite of photonic architectures for service transport over high-capacity wavelengths scaling up to 1.6T DWDM
  • Enables simplified operations and reduced sparing costs through seamless networking flexibility with the 6500 family
  • Features modular, compact OTN switching, enabling sustainable OTN network evolution
  • Offers industry-leading WaveLogic coherent technology and intelligent control plane capabilities for scale and service differentiation
  • Provides a range of differentiated service offerings through various line and equipment protection options
  • Allows you to rapidly plan, provision, turn up, and troubleshoot services over multiple layers with Ciena's Navigator NCS
Figure 1. 6500-D14 transponder/muxponder configuration
Figure 1. 6500 D-14 transponder/muxponder configuration.

Product overview

The 6500-D14 and -S14 support sustainable OTN network evolution, with muxponder card-based OTN switching and control plane automation, using the high-capacity 1.2T OTN switch-on-a-blade module. This flexibility allows efficient scaling of OTN capacity up to 4.8T per 6500-D14 or -S14 and modernization of your network with power- and space-optimized OTN switching. Various line and equipment protection options are available, including common equipment redundancy, enabling a range of differentiated service offerings for increased network availability.

The 6500-D14 and -S14 support the complete suite of photonic architectures, including colorless-directionless-contentionless (CDC) and flexible grid ROADMs, for the power to dynamically send any service anywhere in the network. A full range of wavelength selective switch (WSS) cards and filters provide optimized performance and cost for various degree-branching sites.

Allowing you to continually get more from your network investment, the 6500-D14 and -S14 can be tailored to cost-effectively address applications from 100G to 1.6T DWDM with market-leading coherent innovations. Ciena's WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e) technology offers programmable line rates from 200 Gb/s to 1.6 Tb/s, enabling single-carrier 1.6 Tb/s wavelength transmission and thereby supporting 800G networking across long links. The WL6e 1.6T MOTR card is compatible with all 6500 D-Series and S-Series shelves, facilitating seamless technology upgrades. Ciena's market-leading WaveLogic 5 (WL5) coherent technology is optimized for efficient transport of 100G/400G client traffic. WL5 is offered on the 6500 with programmable 800G performance optics in the WaveLogic 5 Extreme (WL5e) 800G MOTR card and WaveLogic 5 Nano (WL5n) 400G Coherent Pluggable Transceivers across various interfaces.

6500-D14/S14 product highlighted in 6500 family
Figure 2. 6500 family

Additionally, Ciena's Navigator Network Control Suite® (Navigator NCS), powered by Navigator Multi-Layer Controller (Navigator MC), simplifies and automates lifecycle operations across Ciena's packet and optical infrastructure, spanning access, metro, core, and subsea domains. It synchronizes operations across network layers for efficient service creation, activation, and troubleshooting. Navigator NCS offers a unified GUI and open REST APIs for seamless integration and workflow automation, supported by Emulation Cloud for continual API testing.

The 6500-D14 and -S14 are part of the 6500 family, which offers various chassis form factors to provide flexible, cost-optimized configurations to best match site-specific requirements. Accelerate cost-efficient service delivery with the 6500-D14 and -S14, enabling a flexible range of services across the network while simplifying scalability for evolving demands.

Technical specifications

Specification Description
Physical dimensions22.7 in. (H) x 17.4 in. (W) x 11.0 in. (D)
577 mm x 443 mm x 280 mm
Power options6500-D14:
Redundant DC, max 60 A

6500-S14:
Redundant DC, max 60 A
Redundant DC, max 2 x 50 A
OTN switching capacityOTN: 4.8 Tb/s
Number of service card slots14
Photonic modulesFull suite of passive filters, 50/75/100GHz, flexible grid ROADMs, CDC, EDFAs, smart Raman, integrated OTDR, and multi-degree ROADM-on-a-blade
Transponders/muxpondersCoherent WL6e 1.6T muxponder clients: mix of OTU4, 100/400/800GbE (support in future) with coherent tunability from 200G to 1.6T (fully adjustable baud and line rate)
Coherent WL5e 800G muxponder (4 x 100GbE + 1 x 400GbE, 8 x 100GbE)
1.2T Flex OTN switch-on-a-blade (26 client ports, up to 400G of client capacity) and four QSFP-DD coherent line ports powered by WL5n 400G Pluggables, up to 800G total capacity
400G ADM-on-a-blade: 2 x 100G/200G coherent line(s) muxponder (36 client ports)
Coherent WaveLogic Ai (WLAi) 400G muxponder (4 x 100G) with integrated optical protection switch (OPS)
Coherent WLAi 400G flexible service transponder (34 client ports) with integrated OPS
Coherent WL3n 100GbE/OTU4 transponder
Coherent WL3n 100G muxponder (10 x 10G)
4 x 10G multi-rate optical transponder (OTR) with FIPS-certified AES-256 wire-speed encryption
OTN modules: 1 + 8 port OTN Flex MOTR (20G)
Operating temperature+41°F to +104°F (+5°C to +40°C), normal
+23°F to +131°F (-5° C to +55°C), short term
Relative humidity5% to 85%, noncondensing
Earthquake/seismicZone 4

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