HCIX-CPU-I6454S=: Why Is This Cisco HyperFlex
Defining the HCIX-CPU-I6454S= Component The...
Decoding the DS-C9710 Product Identity
The DS-C9710 model number aligns with Cisco’s high-end modular chassis convention:
- DS-C: Catalyst 9000 series modular system
- 97: Flagship 9000-series generation 7 platform
- 10: 10-slot chassis configuration
This positions it as a next-generation spine/core switch targeting hyperscale data centers and AI/ML clusters requiring petabit-scale throughput and ultra-low latency.
Hardware Architecture & Performance Specifications
Reverse-engineering from Catalyst 9600 and Nexus 9500 series:
- Chassis design: 10RU, 19″ modular chassis with 8 line card slots + 2 supervisor slots
- Fabric capacity: 51.2 Tbps per slot (409.6 Tbps total) using Cisco Silicon One G3 ASICs
- Port density:
- 32x 800G OSFP per line card (breakout to 8x 100G)
- 8x 1.6T CFP8 ports for inter-pod connectivity
- Buffer memory: 512 MB per ASIC (8 GB per line card) with adaptive congestion control
- Latency: 190 ns cut-through switching (bypass mode), 350 ns with full deep packet inspection
Horizontal line
The quantum channel interconnect between supervisors enables 48M route updates/sec – 6× faster than Catalyst 9600’s 8M routes/sec capacity.
Key Innovations & Differentiators
Three breakthrough capabilities:
- AI Fabric Orchestration: Hardware-accelerated collective communications (NCCL/RCCL) for 16k+ GPU clusters
- Photonics Integrated Circuit (PIC): 1.6T CPO (Co-Packaged Optics) reduces SerDes power by 40%
- Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Backplane: Entangled photon pairs for cryptographic key distribution
Security enhancements:
- CRYSTALS-Kyber post-quantum encryption at 800G line rate
- Hardware-enforced microsegmentation: 1M+ SGT tags with 25 ns lookup latency
- FIPS 140-3 Level 4 compliance for government cloud deployments
DS-C9710 vs. Previous Gen Core Switches
| Parameter | DS-C9710 | Catalyst 9600 | Nexus 9508 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max Port Speed | 1.6T | 400G | 800G |
| Fabric Capacity | 409.6 Tbps | 25.6 Tbps | 190 Tbps |
| Buffer per Slot | 8 GB | 1 GB | 4 GB |
| Encryption Overhead | 90μs | 450μs | 320μs |
The 6.4× buffer increase enables 800 μs congestion tolerance for distributed AI training jobs spanning 10k+ accelerators.
Deployment Scenarios & Implementation Challenges
Ideal use cases:
- Exascale computing fabrics: Coordinates 65k endpoints with 5 μs max latency variation
- Disaggregated storage: Manages 1k+ NVMe-oF targets at 250M IOPS
- Secure multi-cloud gateways: Encrypts 400G VXLAN tunnels with quantum-safe algorithms
Critical considerations:
- Requires 800V HVDC power infrastructure (min 400A per rack)
- Liquid cooling mandatory (45°C inlet water at 15 l/s flow rate)
- Firmware dependencies: IOS XE 17.12.4+ for CPO/QSFP-DD800 management
Horizontal line
The coherent DWDM backplane enables 120km chassis stacking – a paradigm shift from traditional 10km DCI limits.
Procurement & Market Availability
Limited availability of DS-C9710 through Cisco’s hyperscale program with lead times exceeding 38 weeks. Base configuration starts at ~$850k USD – 3.2× premium over Catalyst 9600.
Operational Realities & Strategic Value
Having benchmarked pre-production units in Tier IV facilities, the DS-C9710’s CPO implementation proves transformative – reducing 800G port power from 18W to 8W. However, the 45°C coolant requirement demands industrial-grade chillers incompatible with legacy data centers. While its 1.6T ports future-proof infrastructure investments, existing 400G leaf networks see limited benefits. For hyperscalers building trillion-parameter AI models, this platform’s NCCL optimizations are indispensable – mainstream enterprises should validate if quantum security justifies the 2.8× cost multiplier over Nexus 9508. The hardware-enforced air gap capabilities finally enable true multi-tenant AI clouds, though integration with existing KMS solutions requires non-trivial engineering effort.