New Cisco 9500 Series

Yesterday, it seems Cisco updated their 9500 line, and added a couple new models. The C9500-16X stands out.

So, we want a Cisco switch that supports MPLS. We were looking at the C3850 as the ASR920 had too few 10G ports at only 4 or 6 max. We need more 10G fiber ports.

There a couple of models of the C3850 that had 12 and 24 10G fiber ports. Everyone says the 9300 is the replacement for the C3650 and C3850, but the 9300 doesn't have any models with lots of 10G fiber ports. Thats the 9500.

Can anyone tell me how licensing works on these models? I think we would need the Network Advantage over the Network Essentials as the Network Advantage support MPLS. Is this an honor based system, or do they actually disable the features available in the Network Advantage if you were to buy a Network Essentials switch for example? Does it throw error codes or what?

Then what is all this DNA stuff, and what if I don't want it? I think you are forced to buy it, so what the cheapest option?

Can anyone explain in simple terms how SMARTNET works on these devices? The Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches come with an enhanced limited Lifetime Warranty (E-LLW) that includes Next-Business-Day (NBD) delivery of replacement hardware where available and 90 days of 8x5 Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) support. So after 90 days I assume you have to pay SMARTNET for TAC support right? But no need to hardware replacement SMARTNET as its included in warranty? If we don't want SMARTNET can we still download the latest software? Lifetime warranty with HPE and Extreme means everything is free forever like support, NBD hardware replacement, and software, but I doubt CISCO does this.