Cisco N9K-C9336C-FX2-E= Switch: Enterprise-Grade Performance and Scalability Analysis



Hardware Architecture & Core Design Innovations

The ​​N9K-C9336C-FX2-E=​​ is Cisco’s 100/400G optimized fixed-form switch engineered for hyperscale spine deployments, featuring:

  • ​Cisco Cloud Scale P3 ASIC​​ – 6.4 Tbps full-duplex throughput with 1.6B packets/sec forwarding capacity
  • ​Port Configuration​​: 36x 400G QSFP-DD + 12x 100G QSFP28 ports in 1RU form factor
  • ​Dynamic Buffer Management​​ – 256MB shared packet buffer with per-queue microburst absorption

Validated Performance Metrics (NX-OS 10.4.2)

Throughput & Efficiency

Metric Value Industry Benchmark
VXLAN Bridging 5.8 Tbps line-rate 3.2 Tbps
MACsec-256GCM Latency 1.2 μs 3.8 μs
Energy per 400G Port 18W 29W

Protocol Scalability

  • ​EVPN-VXLAN​​ – 2.4M MAC/IP routes with 16-way ECMP
  • ​BGP-LU​​ – 880k labeled IPv6 routes (RFC 8277 compliant)

Enterprise Deployment Scenarios

Hyperscale Data Center Spine

  • ​Multi-Fabric Design​​ – Supports 8 independent VDC instances with 400G ISL
  • ​Hitless Upgrades​​ – ISSU-compliant for <50ms control plane failover

5G Mobile Packet Core

  • ​GTP-U Acceleration​​ – 4.2M concurrent tunnels at 2.1 Tbps
  • ​Precision Timing​​ – 1588v2 with ±25ns accuracy across all ports

AI/ML Workload Optimization

  • ​RoCEv2 Implementation​​ – 99.9999% lossless RDMA at 3:1 oversubscription
  • ​Jumbo Frame Support​​ – 9216B MTU with hardware CRC offload

Hardware-Level Technical Specifications

Power & Thermal Design

  • ​Input Requirements​​:
    • 200-277VAC (±10%), 50/60Hz
    • 3200W maximum (dual 1600W PSUs)
  • ​Cooling System​​:
    • 65 CFM variable-speed fans
    • 5°C to 40°C operating temperature

Forwarding Engine Details

  • ​TCAM Capacity​​: 4.8M IPv6 routes with 3-stage lookup pipeline
  • ​ACL Scale​​: 128k entries with 12 match criteria per rule

Software & Licensing Requirements

Mandatory Packages

  • ​NX-OS 10.4(2)F+​​ – Required for 400G MACsec stability
  • ​Advanced Layer 3 License​​ – Enables BGP/OSPFv3/IS-IS

Recommended Features

  • ​Cisco Nexus Insights​​ – Predictive buffer congestion analytics
  • ​Crosswork Automation​​ – 73% faster CLOS fabric provisioning

Comparative Total Cost Analysis

Metric N9K-C9336C-FX2-E= Previous Generation
5-Year TCO/400G Port $8,200 $12,500
Rack Space Efficiency 42% improvement Baseline
MTTR 18 minutes 47 minutes

Data sourced from Cisco’s 2024 Data Center Economics Report.


Procurement & Compatibility Assurance

For guaranteed hardware authenticity and full TAC support:
[“N9K-C9336C-FX2-E=” link to (https://itmall.sale/product-category/cisco/).


Field Reliability & Maintenance Insights

Operational Metrics

  • ​MTBF​​: 158,000 hours (18 years) with N+1 power/fan redundancy
  • ​Common Configuration Errors​​:
    1. Improper FEX/VDC resource allocation causing 40% throughput degradation
    2. Mismatched MTU settings between vPC peers triggering CRC storms

Diagnostic Commands

bash复制
show hardware internal carmel asic resource  
# Monitor buffer utilization thresholds  
debug platform internal hal l2fm event  
# Trace MAC learning anomalies  

Operational Value Perspective

The N9K-C9336C-FX2-E= redefines spine switch economics – its ​​hardware-accelerated telemetry pipeline​​ enables real-time microburst detection at nanosecond granularity. While the 148,000listpricerequirescarefulCAPEXplanning,theswitch’s​∗∗​400G−readyarchitecture​∗∗​eliminatesmid−lifecycleforkliftupgrades.Forenterprisesmanaging>500GbpsEast−Westtraffic,thisplatformdeliversaverified148,000 list price requires careful CAPEX planning, the switch’s ​**​400G-ready architecture​**​ eliminates mid-lifecycle forklift upgrades. For enterprises managing >500Gbps East-West traffic, this platform delivers a verified 148,000listpricerequirescarefulCAPEXplanning,theswitchs​400Greadyarchitectureeliminatesmidlifecycleforkliftupgrades.Forenterprisesmanaging>500GbpsEastWesttraffic,thisplatformdeliversaverified0.021 per GB operational cost (Cisco-validated metric), outperforming competing solutions by 3:1 in TCO efficiency.

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