Arista DCS-7280CR2-60-F — 60 × 100GbE QSFP100 Switch Router with Front-to-Rear Airflow
TheÂ
Arista DCS-7280CR2-60-FÂ is a 2RU switch router in the 7280R2 Series, deliveringÂ
12 Tbps of non-blocking switching capacity withÂ
60 × 100GbE QSFP100 ports. Built on a deep buffer VOQ ASIC platform withÂ
24 GB of packet buffer memory andÂ
3.8 µs store-and-forward latency, the 7280CR2-60 provides full Layer 2/3 switch router capabilities — BGP routing, MPLS, Segment Routing, EVPN, VXLAN, and 128-way ECMP — with high-density 100GbE port density for spine, core, and data center interconnect deployments. The 60 QSFP100 ports support flexible breakout to 25GbE, 10GbE, and 50GbE, enabling maximum logical port counts up to 240 × 10GbE or 120 × 50GbE ports. The “
-F” suffix denotesÂ
front-to-rear airflow, where cool air enters from the non-port side and exhausts from the port side of the chassis. For rear-to-front airflow, see theÂ
DCS-7280CR2-60-R.
Key Features at a Glance
- 60 × 100GbE QSFP100 ports supporting breakout to 4×25GbE or 4×10GbE — up to 120 × 50GbE, 240 × 25GbE, or 240 × 10GbE additional ports
- 12 Tbps non-blocking switching capacity with 5.02 Bpps forwarding rate
- 3.8 µs store-and-forward latency with 24 GB VOQ deep packet buffer — eliminates head-of-line blocking
- Full Layer 3 switch router:Â BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, MPLS (LDP, RSVP-TE, BGP LU), SR-MPLS, EVPN, VXLAN, 128-way ECMP
- 768K MAC addresses, 768K IPv4 and IPv6 host routes, 1.3M IPv4 LPM routes, 1M IPv6 LPM routes — full Internet routing table support
- Multi-core x86 CPUÂ with 16 GB DRAM running Arista EOS
- IEEE 1588v2 PTPÂ hardware-assisted Precision Time Protocol for network clock synchronization
- Telemetry:Â LANZ, sFlow, Advanced Event Management (AEM), DANZ, streaming telemetry via gNMI and eAPI
- CloudVision integration, Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP), Python/Bash scripting, OpenConfig
- Hot-swappable dual PSU (1+1) and N+1 fan trays; front-to-rear (-F) airflow
- 2RU form factor — 1660W typical / 1850W maximum power draw; 1900W AC power supplies
- BrightStar Systems:Â Supplied fully tested, reset to factory defaults, and backed by a 1-year in-house warranty
12 Tbps Non-Blocking VOQ Architecture
The DCS-7280CR2-60-F deliversÂ
12 Tbps of full-duplex, non-blocking throughput — 60 × 100 Gbps in both directions simultaneously. TheÂ
Virtual Output Queue (VOQ)Â ASIC architecture maintains separate queues for each input-to-output port pair, eliminating head-of-line blocking. With aÂ
5.02 Bpps forwarding rate, the switch operates at full line rate across all port combinations regardless of traffic mix or packet size distribution. TheÂ
24 GB deep packet buffer is distributed across the VOQ structure, providing substantial burst absorption capacity. Unlike shared-memory switches with smaller buffer pools, the VOQ deep buffer architecture handles transient congestion, TCP incast events, and bursty traffic patterns without triggering early packet drops or ECN marking — delivering higher effective throughput in oversubscribed topologies and large-scale data center networks.
3.8 µs Store-and-Forward Latency
The 7280CR2-60-F operates in store-and-forward mode with a measured latency ofÂ
3.8 microseconds. The ASIC receives the complete packet, performs a full Layer 2/3 lookup, applies ACLs and QoS policies, and forwards the packet — all within 3.8 µs. This design trades the sub-microsecond latency of cut-through architectures for the ability to buffer, inspect, and apply policy at every forwarding decision, while maintaining sub-10-microsecond performance suitable for enterprise, service provider, and data center applications.
Port Configuration and Optics
The 7280CR2-60-F provides 60 × 100GbE QSFP100 uplink ports with flexible breakout capabilities:
- 60 × 100GbE QSFP100: Support for 100GBASE-SR4, LR4, DR, FR, CWDM4, ZR/ZR+, and DAC/AOC cables. Breakout to 4×25GbE or 4×10GbE via standard breakout cables.
- Maximum port configurations: Up to 240 × 25GbE, 240 × 10GbE, or 120 × 50GbE ports via QSFP100 breakout.
- Management: 1 × 100/1000 Mbps out-of-band management port + 1 × RS-232 RJ-45 console port, independent of the forwarding plane.
- Storage: 1 × USB port for management and configuration access
Layer 2/3 Switch Router Capabilities
The 7280CR2-60-F operates as a unified switch router with full Layer 2 and Layer 3 feature sets:
- BGP Full-Table Routing:Â 768K IPv4 and IPv6 host routes, 1.3M IPv4 unicast LPM routes, 1M IPv6 LPM routes in the hardware FIB. Supports MP-BGP, BGP graceful restart, and 128-way ECMP for load balancing across equal-cost paths.
- MPLS:Â Line-rate MPLS label switching with LDP, RSVP-TE, and BGP Labeled Unicast (BGP LU) for carrier-grade MPLS networks and VPN services.
- Segment Routing:Â SR-MPLS for simplified traffic engineering without per-path LSP state in the network core.
- EVPN and VXLAN:Â VXLAN Tunnel Endpoint (VTEP) and EVPN control plane for multi-tenant overlay networks, data center interconnect, and MAC mobility.
- Routing Protocols:Â OSPF, OSPFv3, IS-IS, RIPv2, VRF, BFD, uRPF, VRRP, VARP, and Policy-Based Routing (PBR).
- Layer 2:Â 802.1w/s Spanning Tree, RPVST+, 4096 VLANs, Q-in-Q, 802.3ad LACP (64 ports/channel, 224 groups), MLAG (128 ports per MLAG), Jumbo Frames (9216 bytes), IGMP snooping.
Telemetry, Monitoring, and Analytics
- LANZ (Latency Analyzer):Â Per-port, real-time microburst detection and queue depth monitoring at microsecond granularity. Records egress port, queue, drop reason, and timestamp for every congestion event.
- sFlow v5:Â Industry-standard traffic sampling for flow analysis and capacity planning. Integrates with third-party collectors (Kentik, Splunk, Solarwinds).
- Streaming Telemetry:Â Real-time counter and state export via gNMI (gRPC) and Arista eAPI (REST). Supports OpenConfig data models for vendor-neutral management.
- Advanced Event Management (AEM): Programmable event-driven automation within EOS — customize alerts and actions, automate routine tasks, and respond to real-time network conditions.
- DANZ:Â Arista’s telemetry fabric for advanced mirroring (14 sessions), port mirroring, SPAN/TAP M:N aggregation, and L2/3/4 filtering.
- IEEE 1588v2 PTP:Â Hardware-assisted Precision Time Protocol for synchronized network timing, supporting Boundary Clock and Transparent Clock modes.
EOS Automation and Provisioning
The 7280CR2-60-F runsÂ
Arista EOS, a modular operating system built on a standard Linux kernel where each process runs in its own protected memory space and communicates through an in-memory state-sharing database (Sysdb). This architecture enables in-service software updates and self-healing resiliency without data plane interruption.
- CloudVision:Â Centralized configuration management, network-wide change control, topology visualization, and compliance monitoring across multi-site Arista deployments.
- Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP): Automatic configuration download on first power-up via DHCP — no manual CLI access required for initial deployment.
- Python and Bash:Â Native on-box scripting with full Linux shell access for custom event handlers and automation workflows.
- eAPI (JSON-RPC):Â RESTful programmatic interface to all configuration and operational commands. Integrates with Ansible, Terraform, and custom orchestration.
- OpenConfig and gNMI:Â Vendor-neutral data models and high-performance streaming RPC for configuration and telemetry.
Security
- Control Plane Policing (CoPP):Â Rate-limiting of CPU-destined traffic to protect routing stability
- ACLs: Ingress/egress access control lists at L2, L3, and L4 enforced in the ASIC at line rate — up to 24K ACL entries per forwarding engine
- TACACS+ and RADIUS:Â Centralized authentication and accounting for administrative access
- Secure Boot:Â Cryptographic verification of bootloader and EOS image integrity
- MAC Security, DHCP Relay/Snooping, ARP trapping for Layer 2 security enforcement
Quality of Service (QoS)
- Up to 8 queues per port with strict priority, weighted round-robin (WRR), and weighted fair queueing (WFQ)
- 802.1p and DSCP classification and remarking
- ECNÂ (Explicit Congestion Notification) marking for TCP-friendly congestion signaling
- PFC (Priority Flow Control) and DCBX (Data Center Bridging Exchange) for converged traffic
- Egress shaping and policing per-interface and per-queue
Physical Specifications and Airflow
The “
-F” airflow configuration providesÂ
front-to-rear cooling, where cool air enters from the non-port side and exhausts from the port side. Both -F andÂ
-R (rear-to-front)Â variants are electrically identical.
- Form Factor: 2RU — 19 × 3.5 × 25.2 inches (48.3 × 8.9 × 64 cm)
- Weight:Â 54.8 lbs (24.9 kg)
- Power:Â 1660W typical / 1850W maximum; dual 1900W AC power supplies (hot-swappable 1+1)
- Cooling:Â 4 hot-swappable fan trays (N+1 redundancy), FAN-7002H-F
- Storage: 4 GB Flash, 1 × USB port
- Compliance:Â FCC Class A, CE, RoHS, WEEE
Lifecycle and Reliability
- Self-Healing Software:Â EOS includes Stateful Fault Repair (SFR) for automatic recovery from software faults without data plane impact, and Stateful Fault Containment (SFC) for fault isolation.
- In-Service Software Updates:Â Dual-partition boot with Smart System Upgrade (SSU) and Accelerated Software Update (ASU) for planned upgrades with minimal disruption.
- Configuration Rollback:Â Instant rollback to previous configuration snapshots via EOS configuration replace.
- BrightStar Systems 1-Year Warranty:Â Supplied fully tested, reset to factory defaults, and backed by a 1-year in-house warranty.
Scalability and Table Sizes
- MAC Addresses:Â 768K
- IPv4 Host Routes:Â 768K
- IPv6 Unicast Host Routes:Â 768K
- IPv4 Unicast LPM Routes:Â 1.3M
- IPv6 Unicast LPM Routes:Â 1M
- ACL Entries per Forwarding Engine:Â 24K
- ECMP:Â 128-way
- LACP:Â 64 ports/channel, 224 groups
- MLAG:Â 128 ports
Similar Arista Models to Consider
- DCS-7280CR2-60-R: 60×100GbE QSFP100 with rear-to-front airflow. Same electrical and performance specifications as the -F variant.
- DCS-7280CR2-60-DC-F: 60×100GbE QSFP100 with DC power supplies for telco and carrier environments. Same performance and table sizes as the AC-powered variant.
- DCS-7280CR3K-32P4-F: 32×400GbE OSFP + 4×100GbE QSFP100 third-generation 7280R3 switch router with 512-way ECMP and enhanced forwarding scale for ultra-high-density core deployments.
Related 7280 Series Resources
For comprehensive technical documentation and comparative model information across the Arista 7280 family, visitÂ
In-depth technical overview of the Arista 7280R series.
Summary
The Arista DCS-7280CR2-60-F is a 2RU switch router with 60 × 100GbE QSFP100 ports, 12 Tbps non-blocking throughput, 24 GB VOQ deep packet buffer, and full Layer 2/3 capabilities including BGP, MPLS, SR-MPLS, EVPN, and VXLAN. Running Arista EOS with CloudVision integration, ZTP, and comprehensive telemetry (LANZ, sFlow, AEM, DANZ), the 7280CR2-60-F is available from BrightStar Systems fully tested, reset to factory defaults, and backed by a 1-year in-house warranty.
Q. What type of networking environment is the DCS-7280CR2-60-F best suited for?
A. It is designed for high-demand environments such as data centers, cloud networks, and enterprise IT infrastructures.
Q. Does the switch support efficient cooling?
A. Yes, it features a front-to-back airflow design to optimize cooling performance in high-density deployments.
Q. What kind of power supply does this model use?
A. It comes with redundant AC power supplies to ensure continuous operation and minimize downtime.
Q. How many ports does the DCS-7280CR2-60-F offer?
A. The switch provides 60 x 100G QSFP28 ports for high-speed Ethernet connectivity.
