Cisco Nexus 9000 Series

About the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series

The Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is Cisco's data-centre switching platform. Where the Catalyst range is built for campus and branch — endpoints, phones, Wi-Fi — the Nexus range is built for the data centre: high port density, low and predictable latency, 40G/100G/400G interfaces, and a choice of two operating modes, standard NX-OS or ACI fabric mode.

The series is organised into three hardware families, and the model number tells you which one you are looking at:

• Nexus 9200 (C92xx) — fixed, high-density platforms for 40G and 100G. Fewer, faster ports; used as spine switches or where a very dense 100G leaf is required.
• Nexus 9300 (C93xx) — the fixed leaf family and the most widely deployed. Port counts of 48 to 96, with 1G, 10G, 25G copper or fibre access ports and 40G / 100G uplinks. This is where most data-centre designs start.
• Nexus 9500 (C95xx) — modular chassis with 4, 8 or 16 line-card slots, used as the spine of a large fabric or the data-centre core. Line cards, supervisors and fabrics are ordered separately.

Supporting parts appear in the same catalogue: the N9K-M4PC-CFP2 100G uplink module, the N9K-SUP-A supervisor for the 9500 chassis and the C9K-PWR-650WAC-R power supply. Part numbers beginning C1-N9K are Cisco ONE software bundles, which package the hardware with a term software licence.

How to Choose a Nexus 9000 Switch

1. Which family — 9200, 9300 or 9500?

• 9300 for access/leaf: servers connect here, at 1G, 10G or 25G.
• 9200 for dense 40G/100G aggregation: fewer ports but much higher speeds per port.
• 9500 when you need modular expansion — line cards, dual supervisors, hundreds of ports in one chassis.

2. Copper or optical access ports?

Models with TC / TX in the number present BASE-T copper ports — use them where servers are racked nearby and 10G over Cat6a is acceptable. YC / Y4C / PX / PQ models present SFP+ / QSFP cages and require optics or DAC cables. Copper is cheaper per port and avoids transceivers; fibre reaches further and is the norm in larger halls.

3. How much uplink bandwidth?

The last group of digits in a 9300-series model number is the uplink configuration: 6 x 40/100G on the 93180 series, 12 x 100G on the 93240, 18 x 100G on the 92300. Match the uplink count to how many spines the leaf will connect to — a two-spine design needs two uplinks per leaf, a four-spine design four.

4. Do you need MACsec, SyncE or 400G?

• MACsec — the -FX / -FX2 / -FX3 models support line-rate encryption. Required where links cross untrusted space or where regulation demands it.
• SyncE / PTP — the 93180YC-FX3 adds synchronisation for time-sensitive workloads.
• 400G — the 9316D-GX (16 x 400/100G) and 93600CD-GX (28 x 100/40G plus 8 x 400/100G) are the 400G entry points.

5. NX-OS or ACI mode?

The same hardware runs either. NX-OS gives you a conventional CLI-driven switch — appropriate when the design is standard Layer 2/3 or VXLAN EVPN built and managed by hand. ACI adds the policy-controller model, where the fabric is defined once and pushed to every switch. The models ending -EX and -FX in the 9300 range are the ones normally deployed as ACI leaves and spines.

Cisco Nexus 9000 Model Comparison

Prices are our current selling prices in US dollars, excluding shipping. Click a model number for the full specification table and availability.

Chassis components and spares

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I choose between the Nexus 9200, 9300 and 9500?

By the role the switch plays. The 9300 is the leaf — servers connect to it. The 9200 is a high-density 40G/100G platform, normally a spine or a very dense 100G leaf. The 9500 is a modular chassis used as the spine of a large fabric or as the data-centre core, where line cards can be added as the fabric grows. Most designs combine 9300s as leaves with 9200s or 9500s above them.

What is the difference between Nexus and Catalyst?

They are different product lines for different parts of the network. Catalyst switches (9200, 9300, 9500) serve the campus — user devices, access points, phones, building distribution. Nexus switches serve the data centre — servers, storage, virtualisation hosts — and are built for higher port speeds, denser configurations and data-centre features such as VXLAN EVPN, ACI and MACsec. The two do not run the same software: Catalyst runs IOS-XE, Nexus runs NX-OS.

Which models support MACsec?

The -FX, -FX2 and -FX3 models in the 9300 family — for example N9K-C93180YC-FX, N9K-C93108TC-FX and N9K-C93240YC-FX2 — support line-rate MACsec encryption on the front-panel ports. If your security policy requires encrypted links between racks or between buildings, start from these models rather than adding an external encryption appliance.

Do the same switches work in both NX-OS and ACI mode?

Yes. The hardware is common; the operating mode is a deployment choice. NX-OS gives a conventional switch managed over CLI, API or Cisco DNA Center. ACI puts the fabric under a controller, which pushes policy to every switch at once. The 9300 -EX and -FX models are the ones most often deployed as ACI leaves.

What are the Cisco ONE (C1-N9K) part numbers?

They are Cisco ONE bundles — the same switches packaged with a term software licence rather than sold as bare hardware. You will see them in the catalogue with a C1- prefix. If you are working to a Cisco ONE agreement, tell us the equivalent hardware model and we will quote the matching bundle.

What does a Nexus 9500 chassis need besides the chassis itself?

A complete 9500 consists of the chassis, one or two supervisors (N9K-SUP-A), the required number of line cards, fabric modules, power supplies and fan trays. Bundles such as the N9K-C9508-B1/B2 ship with a subset pre-populated. Give us your port requirement and redundancy level and we will quote the complete bill of materials.

Do you supply QSFP and SFP optics for these switches?

Yes — 1G, 10G, 25G, 40G and 100G transceivers, along with DAC and AOC cables. Tell us the model and the distances involved and we will quote the correct optics with the switches.