Cisco Nexus 9300 Series
Fixed data center leaf and spine switching. The Nexus 9300 cloud-scale switches deliver 1G to 400G (and 800G on newer models) in compact fixed form factors for spine-leaf fabrics in NX-OS or ACI mode.
The Nexus 9300 is the fixed-form-factor workhorse of the data center fabric. It serves as the top-of-rack leaf that terminates server and storage ports, and as a fixed spine for small and medium pods. Both NX-OS and ACI modes run on the same hardware, so the operating model and compliance story are a deliberate choice rather than a constraint of the box. With 400G cloud-scale line rates and 800G on the newest models, the 9300 is a credible leaf for GPU and AI back-end networks where east-west traffic dominates.
Why Cisco Nexus 9300 Series
- Fixed top-of-rack leaf and fixed-spine roles for small and medium fabrics.
- Cloud-scale ASICs spanning 1/10/25/40/100/200/400G, with 800G on newest models.
- Runs NX-OS (VXLAN BGP-EVPN) or ACI leaf mode.
- 400G QSFP-DD makes it credible for AI and GPU back-end fabrics.
What the platform brings
Dual-mode NX-OS and ACI operation
Every switch in the family runs in either Cisco NX-OS mode for standard programmable data-center networking or Cisco ACI mode for intent-driven, policy-based fabric automation. The same single NX-OS binary image supports the full series, simplifying image management.
Wire-rate MACsec encryption
IEEE 802.1ae MACsec is supported on the ports to encrypt traffic at the physical layer, providing secure server, border-leaf, and leaf-to-spine connectivity. On GX2 models a designated block of ports delivers wire-rate MACsec; on the FX3 access switches MACsec is available across the ports.
VXLAN EVPN and segment routing fabrics
Hardware supports standards-based VXLAN EVPN fabrics with hierarchical multisite, three-tier BGP designs for nonblocking IPv6 web-scale fabrics, and Segment Routing (SR and SRv6) so the network can forward MPLS and engineer traffic without RSVP-TE.
AI/ML congestion management and lossless RoCE
The platform supports Priority Flow Control, ECN, WRED, and intelligent buffer management with Approximate Fair Dropping and Dynamic Packet Prioritization to separate elephant and mice flows. It provides lossless RoCE transport with data-center bridging (ETS and DCBX) to cut job-completion time in AI/ML fabrics.
High availability with vPC and ISSU
Virtual port-channel (vPC) delivers Layer-2 multipath without Spanning Tree, while 128-way ECMP on GX2 (64-way on FX3) enables Layer-3 fat-tree designs. In-service software upgrades and software-maintenance upgrades let the switch patch and upgrade while continuing to forward traffic.
Extensive programmability and telemetry
Day-0 Power On Auto Provisioning, Ansible integration, native YANG and OpenConfig models over RESTCONF/NETCONF/gNMI, a REST API to the NX-OS Data Management Engine, and model-driven streaming telemetry give operators full automation and observability.
Cisco Nexus 9300 Series by the numbers
- Form factors
- 1RU and 2RU fixed-port switches
- Switching capacity (GX2 spine)
- Up to 51.2 Tbps (N9364D-GX2A, 64x400G)
- Forwarding rate (GX2)
- Up to 8.35 bpps
- Port speeds (GX2)
- 400G QSFP-DD, native 200/100/40G, with 4x10/25/50/100G and 2x200G breakouts
- Access-layer speeds (FX3)
- 1/10/25G SFP28 downlinks, 40/100G QSFP28 uplinks; multigigabit 100M/1/2.5/5/10G BASE-T
- Packet buffer
- 120 MB (GX2); 40 MB (FX3)
- Forwarding table scale
- Up to 2 million shared entries; up to 2M IPv4 LPM routes (GX2B)
- ACL entries
- Up to ~28,000 shared ingress/egress (per-slice 6,000 ingress / 3,000 egress)
- Power supplies and fans
- Hot-swappable PSUs with 1+1 redundancy, fans with N+1 redundancy
- Operating temperature
- 32 to 104 F (0 to 40 C)
Figures are from the published family data sheet and vary by model and configuration. Confirm exact specs for your SKUs in a validated quote.
Find the Cisco Nexus 9300 Series model that fits
Compare the models in this family. Open any datasheet to read the full specs right here.
Fixed leaf/spine
Nexus 9300-FX3
100G-class access and aggregation.
- 1/10/25/40/100G
- NX-OS or ACI
- Top-of-rack leaf
Nexus 9300-GX2
400G fixed switches.
- Up to 400G
- QSFP-DD optics
- AI/GPU back-end ready
Nexus 9300 800G
Newest 800G fixed platforms.
- Up to 800G
- Highest-density fabrics
Datasheets & guides
Built for deployments like these
- Compact high-density spine for massive scale-out 400G leaf-and-spine data-center fabrics
- Top-of-rack and middle-of-row access switching for dense 1RU and 2RU server racks
- AI/ML training fabrics needing lossless RoCE, low latency, and congestion management
- VXLAN EVPN or Cisco ACI fabrics spanning multiple sites with MACsec-encrypted leaf-to-spine links
- PoE-enabled access deployments and telco data-center edge with PTP/SyncE timing on FX3 models
Cisco Nexus 9300 Series questions, answered
Can these switches run both Cisco NX-OS and Cisco ACI?
Yes. Cisco provides two modes of operation. You can deploy the switches in standard Cisco NX-OS mode for programmable data-center networking, or in Cisco ACI mode for a holistic, intent-driven architecture with centralized automation and policy-based application profiles. Selected N9300-FX3 models also support Cisco Nexus Hyperfabric, a cloud-managed operating model.
Which models support Power over Ethernet?
Within the N9300-FX3 access family, the Cisco Nexus 93108TC-FX3P and the 9348GC-FX3PH support Power over Ethernet. The 93108TC-FX3P offers multigigabit 100M/1/2.5/5/10G BASE-T downlinks, making it suited to customers needing more versatility in access-port speeds.
How fast and dense is the GX2 spine line?
The N9364D-GX2A is a 2RU switch delivering 51.2 Tbps and 8.35 bpps across 64 fixed 400G QSFP-DD ports plus 2 1/10G SFP+ ports. The 48-port N9348D-GX2A provides 38.4 Tbps and the 32-port N9332D-GX2B is a 1RU switch at 25.6 Tbps. QSFP-DD ports also support native 200, 100, and 40G plus 10/25/50/100G and 200G breakouts.
Are these switches suitable for AI/ML network fabrics?
Yes. The platform supports Cisco Intelligent Packet Flow, a set of congestion-management and flow-control algorithms aided by hardware telemetry, including Priority Flow Control, ECN, WRED, and intelligent buffer management with Approximate Fair Dropping and Dynamic Packet Prioritization. It provides lossless RoCE transport with data-center bridging to reduce job-completion time and improve GPU efficiency.
Quote Cisco Nexus 9300 Series for your build.
Send your requirements for a procurement-ready quote, or build an instant budgetary estimate first.