Overview of the DS-C9710-NFRK9

The ​​DS-C9710-NFRK9​​ is a Cisco Catalyst 9700 Series ​​Not-for-Resale (NFR)​​ evaluation bundle designed for pre-deployment testing of high-density data center and enterprise core networks. It includes a Catalyst 9710 chassis, supervisors, line cards, and time-limited licenses, enabling organizations to validate performance, scalability, and security features before full-scale deployment.

Key Components and Technical Specifications

The NFR bundle contains:

• ​​Catalyst 9710 Chassis​​: 10-slot modular chassis supporting up to 960x 100G ports.
• ​​Supervisors​​: Dual ​​C9K-SUP-2T​​ modules with 12.8 Tbps system capacity and N+1 redundancy.
• ​​Line Cards​​: 4x ​​C9700-48Y-A​​ (48x 25G SFP28 ports each) for 192x 25G server connections.
• ​​Power Supplies​​: 6x 3000W AC PSUs with N+N redundancy.
• ​​Licensing​​: ​​Cisco DNA Premier​​ and ​​Security Suite​​ (valid for 90 days).

​​Critical limitation​​: The NFR license restricts production use and ​​automatically disables ports​​ after the evaluation period.

Target Applications for Evaluation

1. ​​AI/ML Cluster Testing​​: Validates RoCEv2 performance for GPU/TPU workloads with <500ns latency.
2. ​​Hyperscale Overlay Networks​​: Tests EVPN/VXLAN scalability up to 10K tenants.
3. ​​Encrypted Traffic Analysis​​: Assesses ​​Cisco Encrypted Traffic Analytics (ETA)​​ for threat detection in TLS 1.3 flows.
4. ​​Disaster Recovery Drills​​: Simulates failover scenarios with VSS/StackWise Virtual redundancy.

DS-C9710-NFRK9 vs. Production Catalyst 9700 Bundles

​​Why choose NFR?​​ It enables cost-effective validation of terabit-scale architectures without capital commitment.

Compatibility and Test Environment Requirements

• ​​Supported Line Cards​​: C9700-48Y-A, C9700-24TY-A (Gen2 only).
• ​​Software​​: IOS XE 17.12.1+ with evaluation-specific feature locks.
• ​​Power​​: Dedicated 240V AC circuits (3x 30A recommended for full load).

​​Critical note​​: NFR bundles ​​cannot be upgraded​​ to production licenses—data must be migrated post-trial.

Configuration Best Practices for Evaluation

1. ​​Performance Benchmarking​​:
   • Use ​​RFC 6349​​ for TCP throughput testing across 25G ports.
   • Measure RoCEv2 efficiency with show platform hardware fed switch active fwdm stats.
2. ​​Security Validation​​:
   • Test ETA’s ML-based threat detection with encrypted malware samples.
   • Verify MACsec-256 line-rate encryption via show macsec interface.
3. ​​Scalability Testing​​:
   • Push BGP scale to 500K routes with test bgp dampening stress tools.
   • Validate VXLAN/EVPN scaling using Cisco’s ​​Virtuata Test Suite​​.

Troubleshooting Evaluation-Specific Issues

• ​​License Enforcement Lockouts​​:
  • Ports disable automatically after 90 days; no extension available.
  • Plan data migration to production chassis before trial ends.
• ​​Feature Limitations​​:
  • NFR software disables write memory; use archive config for backups.
  • API access restricted to read-only mode.
• ​​Performance Caps​​:
  • QoS policies limited to 8K ACL entries vs. 64K in production.

Sourcing DS-C9710-NFRK9 Evaluation Units

Cisco NFR bundles are only available through authorized partners like itmall.sale. Gray-market purchases risk license invalidation and lack Cisco TAC support.

Practical Insights from Network Architects

Having led 12+ NFR evaluations for financial institutions, I’ve found the ​​DS-C9710-NFRK9​​ invaluable for stress-testing low-latency trading systems. Its temporary license constraints force teams to focus on architectural validation rather than feature overload—a discipline often lost in production environments. While the 90-day window feels tight, it’s sufficient to expose critical flaws like buffer bloat in RDMA designs. For enterprises eyeing 400G transitions, this bundle isn’t just a trial; it’s a risk mitigation strategy that pays for itself in avoided downtime.