Nexus 7700 Series Datasheet for the F3-Series 48-Port 1 and 10 Gigabit Fiber Ethernet Module

The Cisco Nexus 7700 F3-Series 48-Port Fiber 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet Module is a modular, wire-rate interface card for Cisco Nexus 7700 chassis. It provides 48 SFP and SFP+ ports, supports 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet connectivity, and delivers distributed Layer 2 and Layer 3 forwarding at up to 720 million packets per second (mpps). The module is intended for high-density data center aggregation, core, interconnect, and converged fabric deployments where port scale, low latency, and hardware-based forwarding are required.

Product role and architecture

The module uses the Cisco Nexus F3-Series Switch-on-a-Chip (SoC) ASIC. The SoC design combines packet processing and switching functions in a single hardware architecture intended to increase performance while reducing module power and cooling requirements.

The module supports the Cisco NX-OS data center switching feature set and is compatible with all Cisco Nexus 7700 platform chassis. It combines functions commonly associated with fabric interface line cards and edge interface modules, allowing the same module to participate in Layer 2, Layer 3, overlay, data center interconnect, security, and storage networking designs.

The module supports:

• 48 ports of 1 and 10 Gigabit Ethernet
• SFP interfaces for 1 Gigabit Ethernet
• SFP+ interfaces for 10 Gigabit Ethernet
• Wire-rate forwarding
• IPv4 and IPv6 Layer 2 and Layer 3 forwarding
• VXLAN hardware support
• LISP hardware support
• Cisco FabricPath
• Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE)
• OTV
• MPLS
• VPLS
• Virtual Device Contexts (VDCs)
• Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extender integration
• Hardware security features, including ACL processing, CoPP, TrustSec, and limited-port MACsec

The module occupies one I/O module slot in a Nexus 7700 chassis.

Capacity and forwarding performance

At the individual module level, the published forwarding capacity is 720 mpps for Layer 2 and Layer 3 traffic, supporting both IPv4 and IPv6 packets. The module provides up to 480 Gbps of data throughput.

The module has four ingress queues and eight egress queues per port. Its Virtual Output Queue buffer is 72 MB per module. Jumbo frames are supported for bridged and routed packets up to 9216 bytes.

The forwarding and table capacities are:

The published chassis-level density is based on 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports:

A fully populated Nexus 7700 18-Slot Switch using the F3-Series module is specified at up to 11.5 billion packets per second and 15.4 Tbps of switching performance. The overall Nexus 7700 platform is specified at more than 83 Tbps of switching capacity, with platform-level maximums of up to 768 native 10-Gbps ports, 384 40-Gbps ports, and 192 100-Gbps ports.

Presales sizing rules

• Size the chassis by required port count, fabric capacity, supervisor and system redundancy requirements, and future growth rather than by module port count alone.
• Reserve ports for uplinks, inter-switch links, storage connectivity, management or service insertion, and maintenance replacement.
• Validate the required optics before finalizing the module quantity. The module requires separately ordered SFP or SFP+ transceivers.
• Treat the 480 Gbps figure as the module data throughput specification and the 720 mpps figure as the forwarding performance specification. They describe different traffic characteristics and should not be substituted for one another.
• Confirm the required NX-OS feature and release support before committing to VXLAN, LISP, OTV, VPLS, MPLS, FCoE, OpenFlow, or other advanced functions.
• Check the destination fiber plant, connector types, attenuation, dispersion, and required attenuators for extended-reach optics.
• Do not assume that every 10 Gigabit Ethernet optic supports FCoE. The optic table specifically identifies passive and active twinax options as not supporting FCoE.

Network and virtualization capabilities

The module supports foundational Layer 2 and Layer 3 protocols through NX-OS. Its F3-Series hardware is intended for environments that require a combination of high-density Ethernet connectivity and virtualization-aware forwarding.

VXLAN and LISP

Hardware support for VXLAN provides overlay networking across separate Layer 2 domains. This supports repeatable data center pods and can facilitate virtual machine movement across Layer 3 infrastructure.

LISP support is intended for multihomed routing, scalable any-to-any WAN connectivity, and data center virtual machine mobility.

FabricPath and FEX

The module is identified as a critical enabler of Cisco FabricPath. FabricPath supports resilient and scalable Layer 2 networks while allowing existing spanning-tree-based deployments to connect to a FabricPath environment.

Integration with Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders can reduce the number of separately managed switching points. In a presales design, the operational benefit depends on the selected FEX architecture, host density, uplink requirements, and NX-OS feature support.

Data center interconnect

The module supports OTV and VPLS for extending applications across geographically separated data center sites. It also supports MPLS for 10 Gigabit Ethernet data center deployments.

These capabilities should be evaluated against the required failure domains, transport services, routing boundaries, operational model, and traffic isolation requirements. The module’s support for a protocol does not remove the need to validate the complete end-to-end design.

VDC

Virtual Device Contexts allow one physical device to be configured and managed as multiple logical devices. Each provisioned logical device is managed as if it were a separate physical device. VLAN scale is specified at 4096 simultaneous VLANs per VDC.

Security and converged fabric functions

Integrated hardware security features include:

• Configurable Control-Plane Policing to protect the supervisor CPU from excessive traffic
• ACL counters and logging for packet visibility
• Layer 2 through Layer 4 ACLs for IPv4 and IPv6
• Cisco TrustSec support, including Security Group Tag processing
• Line-rate data confidentiality and data integrity functions associated with TrustSec
• IEEE 802.1AE MACsec support on ports 41 through 48

MACsec support is limited to the rightmost eight ports on the module. These ports support the AES cipher using a 128-bit key.

TrustSec SGT processing has a specific interface configuration requirement. For Layer 2 switch ports, trunked interfaces should be used instead of access VLAN interfaces. Layer 3 interfaces should be configured as Layer 3 subinterfaces to force the dot1q header over the Layer 3 interconnection. The dot1q header must be present for correct processing and transport of SGT-tagged packets.

The module also supports integrated FCoE. FCoE consolidates Ethernet and storage traffic onto a common high-performance fabric. Presales designs must verify the FCoE license or ordering requirement, supported optics, target storage adapters, and the applicable NX-OS release.

Supported optics and cable assemblies

The module requires separately ordered SFP or SFP+ modules. The following matrix consolidates the listed interface options and their principal use cases.

10 Gigabit Ethernet options

Important optic conditions include:

• The minimum cabling distance for the SR, LRM, LR, and ER modules is 2 m according to IEEE 802.3ae.
• Links longer than 30 km are considered engineered links according to IEEE 802.3ae.
• A mode-conditioning patch is required when SFP-10G-LRM is used over traditional MMF types such as FDDI-grade, OM1, and OM2.
• SFP-10G-LRM MMF support is limited to ports 41 through 48. Its 300 m SMF support applies to all ports.
• SFP-10G-ER requires a 5 dB, 1550 nm fixed-loss attenuator for distances greater than 20 km.
• SFP-10G-ZR requires a 15 dB attenuator for distances below 5 km, a 10 dB attenuator for distances from 5 to 25 km, and a 5 dB attenuator for distances from 25 to 45 km.
• FCoE is not supported on the listed passive and active twinax cable options.
• FCoE traffic is supported up to 80 km where the applicable optic and design support it.

Gigabit Ethernet options

A mode-conditioning patch is required for GLC-LH-SMD over traditional MMF types such as FDDI-grade, OM1, and OM2. The maximum distance of the GLC-ZX-SMD depends on fiber quality, splices, connectors, and the use of suitable single-mode fiber.

Ordering matrix

Management and automation

The module exposes the following programming and management interfaces:

• XML
• Scriptable CLI
• Cisco Data Center Network Manager web services
• Python
• Tool Command Language interpreter
• Cisco Embedded Event Manager
• Cisco ONE Platform Kit
• OpenFlow

Front-panel indicators provide operational and troubleshooting status:

The specified software compatibility is Cisco NX-OS Software Release 6.2.6 or later. Feature availability must be checked against the release notes and the intended NX-OS deployment.

Physical and environmental requirements

The module occupies one I/O module slot and has the following physical characteristics:

The published environmental compliance includes EMC, FCC Part 15 Class A, ICES-003 Class A, EN55022 Class A, CISPR22 Class A, AS/NZS CISPR22 Class A, VCCI Class A, KN22 Class A, CNS13438 Class A, CISPR24, EN55024, EN50082-1, EN61000-3-2, EN61000-3-3, EN61000-6-1, and EN300 386.

The listed environmental standards include NEBS criteria, SR-3580 NEBS Level 3 using GR-63-CORE and GR-1089-CORE, Verizon NEBS compliance, Century Link NEBS requirements, ATT NEBS requirements, ATT TP76200 Level 3, and ETSI 300 019-2-1, Class 1.2 storage; ETSI 300 019-2-2, Class 2.3 transportation; and ETSI 300 019-2-3, Class 3.2 stationary use. The source specification identifies validation as in progress for the marked environmental standards.

Safety compliance includes UL/CSA/IEC/EN 60950-1 and AS/NZS 60950.

The provided specification does not state an MTBF value for the module. It also does not state an acoustic noise rating. These values must therefore be obtained from the complete chassis-level environmental and acoustic documentation when required for facility approval, data center thermal modeling, or operational acceptance.

No PoE capability or PoE power budget is specified for this fiber SFP/SFP+ module. PoE should not be included in the bill of materials or access-layer power calculation unless separately documented for the complete system design.

Warranty and service

The Nexus 7700 platform switches include a standard Cisco one-year limited hardware warranty.

Available service offerings described for the platform include:

• Cisco Advanced Services for architecture-led deployment and optimization
• Cisco Smart Net Total Care Service for access to network experts and support resources
• Cisco Smart Call Home capability for proactive diagnostics and real-time alerts
• Services covering deployment, operational optimization, migration, investment protection, and skills development

Service selection should be aligned with the required hardware replacement coverage, software support, response objectives, remote monitoring, escalation process, and operational ownership model. For a production design, the module warranty should be evaluated together with the chassis, supervisors, fabric modules, power supplies, optics, and software support terms.