Arista DCS-7050CX3-32C-R: High-Density 100G Spine Switch with Enhanced Compute
The Arista DCS-7050CX3-32C-R is a rear-to-front airflow 100 Gigabit spine switch delivering 32 QSFP100 ports and 6.4 Tbps full-duplex throughput in a single rack unit. The “C” variant ships with 16 GB DRAM and 32 GB flash storage as standard, providing enhanced computing and storage capacity over the standard 32S model. This switch is purpose-built for large-scale leaf-spine data center architectures, cloud infrastructure, and high-performance computing environments.
Airflow Configuration
This model features rear-to-front (reverse) airflow, suitable for reverse thermal design and non-standard hot-aisle/cold-aisle configurations. If forward airflow is required, see theÂ
DCS-7050CX3-32C-FÂ model.
Key Specifications
- Ports: 32 × 100G QSFP100 + 2 × SFP+ (1/10GbE)
- Maximum Port Density: 32 × 100GbE, 64 × 50GbE, 32 × 40GbE, 128 × 25GbE, 129 × 10GbE, or 2 × 1GbE (max total 129 ports)
- Throughput:Â 3.2 Tbps switching fabric, 6.4 Tbps full-duplex, non-blocking wire-speed
- Forwarding Rate:Â 2 billion packets per second
- Latency:Â 800 nanoseconds cut-through
- Packet Buffer:Â 32 MB shared with Dynamic Buffer Allocation
- CPU:Â Quad-Core x86
- System Memory:Â 16 GB DRAM
- Flash Storage:Â 32 GB
- Power Supply: 2 × hot-swappable (1+1 redundant) PWR-500-AC-R or PWR-500-DC-R
- Fans: 4 × hot-swappable (N+1 redundant)
- Power Consumption:Â Typical 165W, Maximum 334W
- Form Factor:Â 1RU
- Dimensions: 17.3 × 1.75 × 16 inches (44 × 4.4 × 40.64 cm)
- Weight:Â 21 lbs (9.45 kg)
- Minimum EOS Version:Â 4.30.4
- EOS Feature License:Â LIC-FIX-2
What the “C” Means
The CX3-32C variant ships with 16 GB DRAM and 32 GB flash storage as standard factory configuration. In contrast, the CX3-32S ships with 8 GB DRAM and 8 GB flash storage, with 16 GB/32 GB available as optional upgrades. The “C” guarantees enhanced memory and storage from the factory, supporting larger forwarding tables, more extensive telemetry buffering, and greater application headroom. Additionally, the CX3-32C requires a minimum EOS version of 4.30.4, compared to 4.20.5 for the 32S.
QSFP100 Port Flexibility
Each of the 32 QSFP100 ports supports multiple breakout configurations, enabling seamless migration and mixed-speed deployments:
- Native 100GbE:Â Single 100G connection per port
- 2 × 50GbE: Dual 50G connections per port
- 4 × 25GbE: Four 25G connections per port (up to 128 × 25G total)
- 40GbE:Â Single 40G connection per port
- 4 × 10GbE: Four 10G connections per port (up to 128 × 10G total)
Deployment Scenarios
- Leaf-Spine Architecture Spine Layer:Â Serves as the spine switch for 7050SX3 leaf clusters, delivering 100G uplinks with exceptional forwarding capacity and sub-microsecond latency.
- Cloud and Hyperscale Spine:Â Core switch for large-scale cloud fabric deployments requiring high port density and throughput with minimal latency.
- Campus Core and Aggregation:Â Aggregation point for campus networks connecting building-level edge switches at 100G speeds.
- Migration from 10G/40G to 25G/100G:Â QSFP100 breakout capability allows mixed-speed connections to support gradual migration of leaf switches and end devices.
- High-Performance Computing Spine:Â Ultra-low latency and deterministic performance make this ideal for HPC cluster interconnection.
Platform Capabilities
- Port Speeds and Breakout:Â 100GbE, 50GbE, 40GbE, 25GbE, 10GbE, and 1GbE with per-port breakout flexibility
- Routing and Fabric:Â ECMP up to 128-way with 1K groups; LACP support for 64 ports per channel and 128 groups per system; MLAG support for 64 ports per MLAG
- Table Sizes (UFT Mode 2 default):Â MAC 288K, IPv4 Host 16K, IPv4 LPM 360K (ALPM), IPv6 Host 8K, ACLs 3K (7K custom), Egress ACLs 2K, STP 64 (MST)/510 (RPVST+), IGMP 288K max 16K unique
- Quality of Service:Â Eight traffic classes, egress queue management, weighted fair queuing, and traffic shaping
- Telemetry and Analytics:Â Latency Analyzer (LANZ), sFlow, Advanced Event Management (AEM), and streaming telemetry for real-time visibility
- Automation and Management:Â EOS and eAPI for programmable control, CloudVision integration, Stateful Fault Repair (SFR), Stateful Fault Containment (SFC), and Smart System Upgrade (SSU)
- Security:Â Control Plane Policing (CoPP), ACLs, authentication, and encrypted management interfaces
- Reliability:Â 4 hot-swappable fans with N+1 redundancy, dual hot-swappable power supplies, and non-blocking architecture
Similar Arista 7050CX3 Models to Consider
Related Resources
Arista 7050 Series Switches: Your Go-To Guide & Battle Card Breakdown
Summary
The DCS-7050CX3-32C-R delivers carrier-class spine performance with 32 × 100G ports, 6.4 Tbps full-duplex throughput, and enhanced compute resources in 1RU. Its flexible QSFP100 ports, advanced telemetry, and superior reliability make it the ideal choice for modern data centers scaling to 100G+ speeds. Available from BrightStar Systems fully tested, reset to factory defaults, and backed by a 1-year in-house warranty.
