Cisco N9300-FX Series Switches 25G, 100G and Cloud Scale Specs

The Cisco N9300-FX Series is a fixed 1RU data center switching platform based on Cisco Cloud Scale technology. It provides high-density Ethernet interfaces, 40/100-Gbps uplinks, Layer 2 and Layer 3 scalability, VXLAN EVPN and ACI deployment options, telemetry, automation, intelligent buffer management, and hardware resiliency for top-of-rack, leaf, aggregation, and converged LAN/SAN designs.

Product selection and deployment fit

The three models use different access-port media and densities:

The N93180YC-FX is the primary choice when 25-Gbps server connectivity, fiber access, Fibre Channel, or high-density leaf-spine connectivity is required. Its 48 downlink ports can operate at 1, 10, or 25 Gbps Ethernet and can support 16/32-Gbps Fibre Channel when the required feature licensing and software support are available.

The N93108TC-FX is designed for copper access. Its 48 downlink ports can operate at 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, or 10 Gbps. It provides the same six-port QSFP28 uplink count as the N93180YC-FX and is suitable for migration from 1G and 10GBASE-T server connectivity toward higher-speed aggregation.

The N9348GC-FXP provides 48 copper Gigabit ports, four SFP28 ports, and two QSFP28 ports. It is the lowest-throughput platform in the series but is suited to environments where 1G access density and local switching are more important than 25-Gbps access density.

Port architecture and migration planning

The series supports staged migration across common data center speeds:

• 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps on the N93108TC-FX copper downlinks.
• 1 Gbps, 10 Gbps, and 25 Gbps on the N93180YC-FX fiber downlinks.
• 100 Mbps and 1 Gbps on the N9348GC-FXP copper downlinks.
• 1, 10, and 25 Gbps on the N9348GC-FXP SFP28 ports.
• 40 and 100 Gbps on QSFP28 uplinks.
• 50-Gbps operation is included among the supported flexible uplink connectivity options.

The N93180YC-FX and N93108TC-FX provide six QSFP28 uplink ports. The N9348GC-FXP provides two QSFP28 uplink ports, making it more appropriate for smaller leaf deployments or access designs with limited high-speed uplink requirements.

All ports on N9300-FX models support wire-rate MACsec when the required license is installed. MACsec applies to N9300-FX ports operating at 10 Gbps or higher. The N93180YC-FX ordering description identifies MACsec and Unified Ports capability, while the N93108TC-FX ordering description identifies MACsec capability.

The 25-Gbps interfaces support IEEE-compliant FC-FEC and RS-FEC. Fibre Channel capabilities require a feature license and must be validated against the target software release.

Operating modes and software architecture

The switches can operate in two principal modes:

• NX-OS mode for conventional Cisco Nexus switching deployments.
• ACI mode for policy-based Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure deployments.

The platform supports standards-based VXLAN EVPN fabrics, including hierarchical multi-site support. It also supports three-tier BGP architectures for non-blocking IPv6 network fabrics and segment routing for MPLS packet forwarding and traffic engineering without RSVP-TE.

Layer 3 protocol support includes:

• BGP
• OSPF
• EIGRP
• RIPv2
• PIM-SM
• Source-Specific Multicast
• MSDP
• IPv4 and IPv6 unicast and multicast routing

Programmability includes Power On Auto Provisioning, Ansible, Chef, Puppet, and SALT integrations. The platform supports Native YANG and OpenConfig models through RESTCONF and NETCONF. JSON-based RPC over HTTP/HTTPS exposes switch CLI functions through APIs.

The minimum image requirements listed for the models are:

Software packaging includes subscription and perpetual licensing options. The default system software provides Layer 2 security and management functions. Additional licensing is required for functions including Layer 3 IP unicast routing, IP multicast routing, and Cisco Nexus Data Broker.

Switching, security, and buffering capabilities

The FX models provide up to 2 million shared forwarding entries, with flexible TCAM allocation for custom ACL templates. Hardware scalability includes the following values:

Presales sizing should use the validated values for the proposed software release and feature combination. The datasheet identifies additional scalability templates as subject to the relevant verified scalability documentation.

Intelligent buffer management distinguishes short-lived mice flows from long-lived elephant flows during congestion. Approximate Fair Dropping with Elephant Trap identifies elephant flows after they cross a configured threshold. Dynamic Packet Prioritization can place mice and elephant flows into separate queues, allowing latency-sensitive traffic to receive priority treatment while preserving bandwidth for larger flows.

The platform supports RoCE using Data Center Bridging functions:

• Priority-based Flow Control for per-priority loss avoidance.
• Enhanced Transmission Selection for bandwidth allocation during contention.
• Data Center Bridging Exchange Protocol for exchanging priority and bandwidth information.
• Explicit Congestion Notification for congestion marking without packet drops.
• ECN statistics for tracking marked packets.

These capabilities should be considered when designing storage, high-performance computing, analytics, and other traffic patterns that require controlled congestion behavior.

Availability and operational management

Virtual Port-Channel provides Layer 2 multipathing and reduces dependence on Spanning Tree Protocol for supported designs. Up to 64-way ECMP supports Layer 3 fat-tree architectures and adds path resiliency and capacity.

Hardware availability features include:

• Up to two hot-swappable power supplies.
• Hot-swappable fan trays.
• N+1 power and fan redundancy.
• Modular NX-OS processes.
• Process restart without loss of state.
• Hot and cold patching.
• Online diagnostics.

The platform supports Cisco Data Center Network Manager for provisioning, topology visibility, fabric operations, compliance, and endpoint visualization. Cisco Nexus Data Broker supports TAP and SPAN aggregation for traffic monitoring.

Cisco Network Assurance Engine provides policy, configuration, and dynamic-state verification. The datasheet describes continuous verification, problem identification, impact analysis, root-cause analysis, and remediation guidance without using packet data.

Environmental, physical, and acoustic specifications

All three models are 1RU platforms. The N93180YC-FX and N93108TC-FX use the same chassis dimensions. The N9348GC-FXP is shorter.

Acoustic levels are significant for office-adjacent or low-noise installations:

The N9348GC-FXP is the shortest chassis and has the lowest typical and maximum power figures, but its published acoustic levels are higher than those of the other two models at the listed fan conditions. Rack placement should account for airflow direction, front-to-back or reverse airflow requirements, ambient temperature, and service access.

Weights without power supplies or fans are 17.4 lb (7.9 kg) for the N93180YC-FX and N93108TC-FX, and 14.2 lb (6.44 kg) for the N9348GC-FXP. Power supply weights range from 2.42 lb to 2.8 lb. Each fan tray weighs 0.26 lb (0.12 kg).

Power and facility planning

The N93180YC-FX and N93108TC-FX support 500W AC, 930W DC, or 1200W HVAC/HVDC power supplies. The N9348GC-FXP supports 350W AC or 440W DC power supplies.

For redundant deployment, use two power supplies and independent power circuits. The published typical and maximum figures represent input drawn from the power circuit; they are not the output rating printed on the power supply. The datasheet does not specify a PoE budget, so PoE endpoint requirements should not be included in sizing for these models without separate product validation.

SKU and ordering matrix

Base switches

Power supplies

Fan trays and mounting

Software licenses

Power cords

Warranty and support

The N9300-FX Series includes a 1-year limited hardware warranty. Hardware replacement is provided with a 10-day turnaround from receipt of an RMA.

Available services include:

• Data Center Quick Start Service for technical advice and deployment assistance.
• Data Center Accelerated Deployment Service for planning, design, implementation, operational readiness, and recommended next steps.
• Migration Service for migration from Cisco Catalyst 6000 Series switches.
• Global Cisco Product Support available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for associated software, hardware, and technologies.
• Solution Support for Cisco ACI.
• SMARTnet Service.
• Smart Net Total Care service.

A complete presales bill of materials should include the base switch, redundant power supplies, matching airflow fan trays, rack kit, regional power cords, software entitlement, optics or transceivers, and any required feature licenses for Layer 3, MACsec, Fibre Channel, ACI, NX-OS Advantage, or Nexus Data Broker functions.