Arista DCS-7060CX-32S-F — 32×100G High-Performance Spine Switch with Forward Airflow
TheÂ
Arista DCS-7060CX-32S-FÂ is a 1RU, 32-port 100G spine switch built on the first-generation 7060X platform. DeliveringÂ
6.4 Tbps of non-blocking switching capacity,Â
450 ns cut-through latency, and aÂ
16 MB shared packet buffer, it is a proven spine-layer platform for high-density 25G/100G leaf-spine fabrics in cloud-scale data centers, financial trading infrastructure, HPC clusters, and large enterprise environments. The 7060CX-32S represents the foundation of Arista’s 32-port 100G spine portfolio — a mature, widely deployed platform with an established record in production data centers worldwide. The “
-F” suffix denotesÂ
front-to-rear (forward) airflow, the standard configuration for traditional hot-aisle/cold-aisle data center designs where cold air is supplied from the front of the rack.
Key Features at a Glance
- 32 × 100GbE QSFP28 ports with 5-speed flexibility: 100G, 40G, 4×25G, 4×10G, or 2×50G per port
- 6.4 Tbps non-blocking switching capacity — full wire speed across all 32 ports simultaneously
- 450 ns cut-through latency for latency-sensitive financial and analytics workloads
- 16 MB shared packet buffer dynamically allocated to congested ports for fair queuing
- Broadcom Tomahawk ASIC — proven, production-hardened silicon used in data centers globally
- Front-to-rear airflow (“-F”)Â for standard hot-aisle/cold-aisle data center deployments
- Redundant, hot-swappable power supplies and fan trays for continuous high availability
- Full L2/L3 feature set:Â VXLAN, EVPN, MLAG, ECMP, BGP, and advanced routing
- Rich telemetry:Â LANZ, sFlow, AEM, and streaming telemetry
- Runs Arista EOS® with open APIs, Python/Bash scripting, and CloudVision® integration
Proven Spine Performance: 6.4 Tbps on Broadcom Tomahawk
TheÂ
7060CX-32S is built on Broadcom’s Tomahawk ASIC (BCM56960), the silicon that established the 100G data center switching standard and powers a significant share of production spine deployments globally. This platform heritage matters: Broadcom Tomahawk silicon has been extensively production-validated across hyperscale, financial, and enterprise environments, with the full depth of EOS feature development concentrated on this architecture over years of active deployment. For architects choosing between the 7060CX-32S and the next-generation 7060CX2-32S: both platforms deliver identical 6.4 Tbps throughput and 450 ns latency. The 7060CX-32S offers a proven, cost-effective spine option for deployments where the CX2’s additional 22 MB buffer (vs 16 MB here) is not a deciding factor. The 7060CX is particularly well suited for fabrics where traffic patterns are predictable and congestion management needs are well-understood.
6.4 Tbps Non-Blocking Architecture
TheÂ
DCS-7060CX-32S-FÂ deliversÂ
6.4 Tbps of full-duplex, non-blocking switching capacity across all 32 QSFP28 ports. Every port operates simultaneously at 100G line rate without oversubscription — the fundamental requirement for spine switches where east-west bandwidth is the primary architectural constraint. This throughput ceiling holds consistently regardless of traffic mix, packet size distribution, or active flow count, providing the predictable performance that production leaf-spine fabrics require.
450 ns Cut-Through Latency
In cut-through switching mode, theÂ
7060CX-32S-FÂ deliversÂ
450 nanoseconds of port-to-port latency with consistent, low jitter across all 32 ports. This sub-microsecond performance makes it suitable for high-frequency trading platforms, real-time analytics pipelines, and distributed financial processing systems where spine-layer latency directly impacts application performance and round-trip times across the fabric.
Port Density and 5-Speed Flexibility
The 7060CX-32S providesÂ
32 × QSFP28 ports, each configurable at five different speeds:
- 100GbE — native full-rate for spine-to-spine or spine-to-DCI connections
- 40GbE — backward compatibility with existing 40G leaf switches and uplinks
- 4 × 25GbE breakout — connect up to 128 leaf switches from a single spine
- 4 × 10GbE breakout — legacy 10G endpoint or switch connectivity
- 2 × 50GbE breakout — dual 50G connectivity for bonded NICs or storage nodes
The 16 MB shared buffer pool is dynamically allocated across all ports, concentrating available buffer depth on whichever ports experience congestion at any given moment — a more efficient approach than fixed per-port buffer allocation.
Optics, Cables, and Interoperability
TheÂ
DCS-7060CX-32S-FÂ supports a broad ecosystem of standards-basedÂ
optics and cables:
- 100G QSFP28:Â 100GBASE-SR4, LR4, ER4, PSM4; QSFP28 DACs and AOCs for top-of-rack and cross-row spine-to-leaf connections
- 40G QSFP+:Â 40GBASE-SR4, LR4; QSFP+ DACs for legacy uplink compatibility
- Breakout cables: MPO-to-LC fan-out cables for 4×25G or 4×10G configurations
Spine-Optimized Fabric Support: VXLAN, EVPN, and ECMP
TheÂ
7060CX-32S-FÂ is purpose-built for the spine layer of modern leaf-spine architectures:
- VXLAN:Â Spine-layer VXLAN routing for scalable overlay fabrics with large VNI counts
- EVPN:Â BGP-based control plane for distributed MAC/IP learning, multi-tenancy, and workload mobility
- Up to 128-way ECMP:Â Maximum path diversity across the spine layer, distributing east-west traffic evenly across all leaf uplinks
- BGP and IS-IS:Â Full-featured underlay routing for IP fabric and routed-spine topologies
Telemetry, Monitoring, and Real-Time Insight
TheÂ
DCS-7060CX-32S-FÂ includes Arista’s full telemetry stack:
- LANZ (Latency Analyzer):Â Per-port, real-time queue depth visibility and microburst detection at the spine layer
- sFlow:Â Continuous traffic sampling for east-west flow analysis, elephant flow detection, and bandwidth planning
- AEM (Arista Event Monitor):Â Programmable alerting for link events, queue thresholds, and routing state changes
- Streaming Telemetry:Â High-frequency state and counter export to gRPC collectors, Grafana, Prometheus, and third-party NMS tools
EOS Automation and Extensibility
Running onÂ
Arista EOS®, theÂ
DCS-7060CX-32S-FÂ is built for automation-first network operations:
- Native on-box Python and Bash scripting via the Linux shell
- JSON-RPC eAPI for programmatic configuration — integrates natively with Ansible, Terraform, Salt, and Nornir
- CloudVision® for centralized configuration management, zero-touch provisioning, and change control
- OpenConfig and gNMI/gRPCÂ for model-driven management and streaming state export
Front-to-Rear Airflow and Data Center Fit
The “
-F” airflow configuration providesÂ
front-to-rear (forward) cooling, where cool air enters from the non-port side of the switch and exhausts from the port side. This is the standard configuration for:
- Traditional hot-aisle/cold-aisle containment deployments where cold air is supplied from the front of the rack
- Racks where the majority of compute and network gear already uses front-to-rear airflow
- Colocation facilities that standardize on forward airflow for all customer equipment
- New data center builds following ASHRAE thermal guidelines
If your racks useÂ
rear-to-front (reverse) airflow, consider theÂ
DCS-7060CX-32S-R — identical in every respect except airflow direction.
Compliance and Sustainability
- RoHS and WEEE compliant — energy-efficient Tomahawk silicon contributes to lower power per gigabit
- Secure boot with digitally signed EOS images
- Compact 1RU form factor maximizes port density per rack unit in spine aggregation rows
Security Features
- Secure boot and digitally signed EOS images
- Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)Â for granular operator and administrator separation
- TACACS+/RADIUS/LDAPÂ for centralized authentication and accounting
- ACLs for traffic policy and spine-layer segmentation enforcement
- Control Plane Policing (CoPP)Â to protect the switch CPU from volumetric attacks
Deployment Scenarios and Industry Applications
- 25G/100G Leaf-Spine Fabrics: Proven spine pairing for Arista 7050SX3 and 7060-series leaf switches — 32×100G non-blocking uplinks for full-bisection-bandwidth designs.
- High-Frequency Trading Infrastructure:Â 450 ns cut-through latency for trading floor core switching and inter-pod connectivity.
- Hyperscale and Cloud Data Centers:Â 6.4 Tbps non-blocking capacity with 128-way ECMP for fabric designs at scale.
- HPC and Research Clusters:Â High-bandwidth spine interconnect for parallel computing, MPI workloads, and scientific simulation.
- Large Enterprise Data Centers:Â Reliable, mature spine platform for multi-pod enterprise deployments with proven EOS feature depth.
Lifecycle, Reliability, and Future-Proofing
TheÂ
7060CX-32S-FÂ is built for long operational lifecycles with high MTBF ratings, field-replaceable fans and power supplies, and full EOS support. Its Broadcom Tomahawk ASIC is one of the most widely deployed and thoroughly tested data center switching platforms in the industry, providing operators confidence in long-term software support, vendor interoperability, and operational familiarity across large switch fleets.
Competitive Comparison
- Versus Arista DCS-7060CX2-32S-F: The CX2-32S-F adds 40% deeper buffer (22 MB vs 16 MB here) and native 25GbE support. For bursty east-west workloads, the CX2 provides more congestion headroom; for predictable traffic profiles, the 7060CX-32S-F offers proven value at lower cost.
- Versus Cisco Nexus 9332C: Comparable 32×100G spine platform; the 7060CX-32S-F differentiates on lower latency, LANZ buffer visibility, and Arista EOS’s open automation ecosystem.
- Versus Juniper QFX5200-32C:Â Similar port density; the 7060CX-32S-F differentiates on EOS automation depth and native CloudVision integration.
Similar Arista 7060 Models to Consider
Related 7060X Resources
Arista 7060 Series Switches: Architecture, Models, and Deployment Guide
The Proven 100G Spine for Production Leaf-Spine Fabrics
TheÂ
Arista DCS-7060CX-32S-F brings together 6.4 Tbps of non-blocking capacity, 450 ns cut-through latency, 32-port 100G density, and the proven Broadcom Tomahawk platform into a mature, production-validated 1RU spine switch. Its front-to-rear airflow makes it the standard choice for hot-aisle/cold-aisle data centers, and its full EOS feature set — from VXLAN/EVPN to LANZ telemetry and CloudVision automation — makes it ready to support any modern data center architecture. Available from BrightStar Systems fully tested, reset to factory defaults, and backed by a 1-year in-house warranty.
Q: What are the key benefits of the Arista DCS-7060CX-32S-F?
A. This switch delivers high-density 100GbE connectivity, low latency, and high throughput, making it perfect for cloud and high-performance data center environments.
Q: Does it support front-to-back airflow?
A. Yes, the DCS-7060CX-32S-F has a front-to-back airflow design for efficient cooling in data center racks.
Q: What operating system does the switch run on?
A. It uses Arista’s EOS platform, which offers advanced automation, programmability, and real-time telemetry.
Q: Can the power supplies be replaced without interrupting the network?
A. Yes, the DCS-7060CX-32S-F features hot-swappable, dual redundant power supplies for continuous operation.
