Cisco Nexus 7000 Series

About the Cisco Nexus 7000 Series

The Cisco Nexus 7000 is a modular data-centre switch family — the chassis-and-line-card platform that carries a campus core, a data-centre aggregation layer or a service-provider point of presence. It is a different class of equipment from a fixed top-of-rack switch: the chassis provides the fabric and the slots, and the forwarding capacity, port mix and redundancy are all set by the supervisor engines, line cards and fabric modules you put in it.

Two generations of chassis are stocked here, and they are the first thing to distinguish:

• Nexus 7000 — the original family. Four chassis sizes: 7004 (4 slots), 7009 (9 slots), 7010 (10 slots) and 7018 (18 slots). Part numbers begin N7K-C70….
• Nexus 7700 — the later generation, with higher per-slot capacity and a newer supervisor and fabric. Four chassis sizes: 7702 (2 slots), 7706 (6 slots), 7710 (10 slots) and 7718 (18 slots). Part numbers begin N77-C77….

Both use the same NX-OS software model and the same modular design; the difference is capacity per slot and which supervisor generation they take. A 7706 and a 7009 are physically similar in size, but they are not interchangeable, and the choice between them determines which line cards and supervisors are available to you.

Reading a part number

A model such as C1-N7010-B2S2-R packs four pieces of information:

• C1- — a Cisco ONE SKU. These bundle hardware with a software subscription rather than a perpetual licence; the commercial terms differ from the standard part numbers (see below).
• N7010 — the chassis: a Nexus 7010, 10 slots.
• B2S2 — the bundled configuration: two I/O module slots' worth of line cards, and a Supervisor 2. On the newer bundles the supervisor is the S2E or S3E generation, written accordingly.
• -R — redundant. The bundle includes a second supervisor, so the chassis ships with control-plane redundancy already in place.

Line cards follow their own convention: N7K-F348XP-25 is an F3-series card with 48 ports of 10 Gigabit Ethernet, N7K-M324FQ-25L an M3-series card with 24 ports of 40 Gigabit Ethernet, and N7K-F306CK-25 an F3 card with 6 ports of 40 Gigabit Ethernet. The F, M and FCoE prefixes denote the card family — the letters after the port count denote the port type (XP for 10G SFP+, FQ for 40G QSFP, CK for 40G).

How to Choose a Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Switch

1. Nexus 7000 or Nexus 7700?

Decide this before anything else, because it determines the line cards and supervisors available to you. The Nexus 7700 is the later platform with higher per-slot forwarding capacity — the right choice for a new deployment, a data-centre aggregation role, or anywhere the fabric has to carry dense 10G and 40G. The Nexus 7000 is the earlier generation, and remains a sensible choice where capacity per slot is not the constraint and the priority is matching an existing installed base of N7K line cards. The two families do not share line cards, so this decision is effectively permanent.

2. Size the chassis by slot budget

Cisco names the chassis after its slot count, which makes sizing unusually direct:

• 7004 — 4 slots. Smallest chassis in the family; typically a supervisor pair plus two line cards.
• 7009 / 7706 — 9 or 6 slots. The mainstream aggregation sizes.
• 7010 / 7710 — 10 slots. A common core or large-aggregation configuration.
• 7018 / 7718 — 18 slots. The largest chassis, for a full data-centre core.

Remember that redundant supervisors consume slots. An 18-slot chassis with two supervisors has sixteen slots for line cards, not eighteen — and a 4-slot chassis with redundant supervisors has only two.

3. Plan the supervisor and redundancy first

The supervisor is the control plane, and the -R bundles ship with two of them. That matters in two ways: it consumes a slot (see above), and it is what allows an in-service software upgrade without dropping the control plane. A production core without redundant supervisors is a scheduled-outage waiting to happen — if the chassis is going into a live network, plan for the redundant configuration from the start rather than retrofitting it.

4. Understand what a Cisco ONE (C1-) part number means

The C1-N7… models in this catalogue are Cisco ONE SKUs. They bundle the chassis, line cards and supervisor into a single orderable configuration, and the software is delivered under a subscription model rather than a perpetual licence tied to the hardware. Commercially that changes three things: the up-front cost profile, what happens at renewal, and how the asset is accounted for. Functionally the hardware is the same. If your procurement model does not accommodate software subscriptions, order the equivalent standard N7K- or N77- part numbers instead — both are shown on this page so the two can be compared directly.

5. Match the line card family to the traffic

Line cards are where the port mix is set. The families stocked here span 10G SFP+, 40G QSFP and FCoE-capable variants, and the price spread is wide — from under US$6,000 for a 48-port 10G F3 card to over US$65,000 for a dense 40G M3 card. Since a chassis is bought for years and the cards can be changed, the practical approach is to buy the chassis and supervisor for the lifetime requirement and the line cards for the traffic you have now.

Cisco Nexus 7000 Series Model Comparison

Nexus 7000 chassis and fabric

Nexus 7700 chassis

Nexus 7700 bundled configurations (line cards and S3 supervisor included)

Nexus 7000 line cards (F3 and M3 series)

Cisco ONE packaged configurations (subscription licensing)

Prices are our current selling prices in US dollars, excluding shipping. Click a model number for the full specification table and availability. The two line-card prices of US$65,928.00 (N7K-M324FQ-25L and N7K-M348XP-25L) are the same by coincidence of the price list, not a listing error — they are different cards.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between the Nexus 7000 and the Nexus 7700?

Generation and capacity. The Nexus 7700 is the later platform with higher per-slot forwarding capacity and a newer supervisor and fabric generation; its chassis are the 7702, 7706, 7710 and 7718. The Nexus 7000 is the earlier family — 7004, 7009, 7010 and 7018. They do not share line cards, so the choice effectively locks in which cards you can use. Choose the 7700 for a new deployment; choose the 7000 where matching an existing N7K line-card inventory matters more than per-slot capacity.

How many line-card slots will I actually have?

The chassis slot count minus the supervisors you fit. A 7004 with two supervisors has two line-card slots left; an 7018 with two has sixteen. This is why the -R (redundant) bundles exist: they include the second supervisor rather than leaving you to discover the slot cost later.

What does the -R suffix on a Cisco ONE part number mean?

Redundant supervisor. C1-N7010-B2S2 includes one Supervisor 2; C1-N7010-B2S2-R includes two, giving control-plane redundancy so that a software upgrade or a supervisor failure does not take the control plane down. Compare the two prices on this page and the cost of the redundancy is visible directly.

What is Cisco ONE and why is the part number prefixed C1-?

Cisco ONE SKUs bundle hardware with a software subscription rather than a perpetual licence. Functionally the hardware is identical to the equivalent standard part number — what differs is the commercial model: up-front cost, renewal terms, and how the software is accounted for. If your procurement does not accommodate subscriptions, the equivalent N7K- and N77- part numbers are shown on this page so the two can be compared line by line.

How do I read a line card part number such as N7K-M324FQ-25L?

N7K is the platform, M3 the card family (M-series), 24 the port count and FQ the port type — 40 Gigabit Ethernet QSFP in this case. XP denotes 10G SFP+, CK another 40G variant, and the F prefix (as in N7K-F348XP-25) marks the F-series family. FCoE-capable variants carry FCOE in the name.

Can I mix line card families in one chassis?

Within a chassis generation, yes — a 7706 can carry a mix of cards from the families it supports, which is how a single chassis serves both 10G server access and 40G uplinks. The constraint is generation, not family: N7K cards and N77 cards do not interchange between the two chassis generations. Tell us the chassis model and the port mix you need and we will confirm which cards fit before you order.

Do you supply supervisors, fabric modules and power supplies separately?

Yes. Supervisors, fabric modules, power supplies, fan trays and line cards are all available alongside the chassis. For a core chassis it is usually worth quoting the complete configuration at once, so that slot allocation, power budget and fabric capacity are checked together rather than discovered as incompatible after delivery.