The hardware of the Cisco Catalyst 9000 family has a common design, both internally and externally. Internally, the hardware uses a common ASIC, the Cisco UADP, providing flexibility for packet handling. Another common component is the switch CPU. For the first time in the history of Cisco Catalyst switches, there is an x86-based CPU onboard (except for the Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series), allowing it to host additional applications beyond those normally possible on a network switch.