Arista DCS-7280CR2A-60-F — 60×100GbE QSFP Port Switch Router with Front-to-Rear Airflow
The
Arista DCS-7280CR2A-60-F is a 2RU switch router in the 7280R2A Series, delivering
12 Tbps of non-blocking switching capacity with
60 × 100GbE QSFP28 ports. Built on a deep buffer VOQ ASIC platform with
24 GB of packet buffer memory,
3.8 µs store-and-forward latency, and support for
AlgoMatch policy-based forwarding with
Accelerated sFlow, the 7280CR2A-60 provides full Layer 2/3 switch router capabilities — BGP routing, MPLS, Segment Routing, EVPN, VXLAN, and 128-way ECMP — ideal for high-density data center spine, core, and super-spine deployments. The “
-F” suffix denotes
front-to-rear (normal) 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 the
DCS-7280CR2A-60-R.
Key Features at a Glance
- 60 × 100GbE QSFP28 ports supporting 100GBASE-SR4, LR4, DR, FR, CWDM4, ZR/ZR+, and DAC/AOC cables; breakout to 2×50GbE or 4×25GbE or 4×10GbE per port
- 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: BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, MPLS (LDP, RSVP-TE, BGP LU), SR-MPLS, EVPN, VXLAN, 128-way ECMP
- 768K MAC addresses, 768K IPv4/IPv6 host routes, 1.3M IPv4 LPM routes, 1M IPv6 LPM routes — full Internet routing table support
- AlgoMatch™: Advanced policy-based forwarding and packet classification for stateful traffic engineering and access control at scale
- Accelerated sFlow: High-performance traffic sampling for flow analysis, capacity planning, and security monitoring without line-rate impact
- Multi-core x86 CPU with 16 GB DRAM running Arista EOS
- IEEE 1588v2 PTP hardware-assisted Precision Time Protocol for network clock synchronization
- Telemetry: LANZ, Accelerated 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 — 1760W typical / 1900W maximum power draw
- BrightStar Systems: Supplied fully tested, reset to factory defaults, and backed by a 1-year in-house warranty
12 Tbps Non-Blocking VOQ Architecture
The DCS-7280CR2A-60-F delivers
12 Tbps of full-duplex, non-blocking throughput with
60 × 100 Gbps in both directions simultaneously. The
Virtual Output Queue (VOQ) ASIC architecture maintains separate queues for each input-to-output port pair, eliminating head-of-line blocking. With a
5.02 Bpps forwarding rate, the switch operates at full line rate across all port combinations regardless of traffic mix or packet size distribution. The
24 GB deep packet buffer is distributed across the VOQ structure, providing exceptional 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 multi-stage fabric designs.
3.8 µs Store-and-Forward Latency
The 7280CR2A-60-F operates in store-and-forward mode with a measured latency of
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 data center, service provider, and high-frequency trading environments.
Port Configuration and Optics
The 7280CR2A-60-F provides 60 × 100GbE QSFP28 ports with flexible breakout support:
- 60 × 100GbE QSFP28: Support for 100GBASE-SR4, LR4, DR, FR, CWDM4, ZR/ZR+, and DAC/AOC cables. Each port supports breakout to 2×50GbE, 4×25GbE, or 4×10GbE via standard breakout cables — up to 120 × 50GbE, 240 × 25GbE, or 240 × 10GbE total ports.
- Management: 1 × 100/1000 Mbps out-of-band management port + 1 × RS-232 RJ-45 console port, independent of the forwarding plane.
- Maximum port configurations: Base configuration 60 × 100GbE; with breakout: up to 120 × 50GbE, 240 × 25GbE, or 240 × 10GbE ports.
AlgoMatch™ Policy-Based Forwarding and Packet Classification
AlgoMatch is a unique Arista innovation that combines hardware and software for advanced packet classification and policy-based forwarding at line rate. The 7280CR2A-60-F supports AlgoMatch for granular traffic engineering, access control, and network segmentation without capacity reduction:
- IPv4 and IPv6 Policy Control: Apply policies at scale with L4 rule ranges and user-defined filters for custom packet classification
- Advanced Packet Matching: Support for flexible offsets and complex matching criteria without capacity expansion or reduced throughput
- Multiple Actions per Flow: Perform multiple forwarding actions on a single packet or flow for sophisticated traffic steering
- Consistent Policy Semantics: Rich policy engine enabling stateful forwarding logic without exhausting classical hardware resources
Layer 2/3 Switch Router Capabilities
The 7280CR2A-60-F operates as a unified switch router with full Layer 2 and Layer 3 feature sets:
- BGP Full-Table Routing: 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: 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: SR-MPLS for simplified traffic engineering without per-path LSP state in the network core.
- EVPN and VXLAN: VXLAN Tunnel Endpoint (VTEP) and EVPN control plane for multi-tenant overlay networks, data center interconnect, and MAC mobility.
- Routing Protocols: OSPF, OSPFv3, IS-IS, RIPv2, VRF, BFD, uRPF, VRRP, VARP, and Policy-Based Routing (PBR).
- Layer 2: 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): 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.
- Accelerated sFlow v5: High-performance traffic sampling for flow analysis, capacity planning, and security analysis. The 7280CR2A-60 includes a dedicated sFlow engine capable of generating up to 1.6 Mbps of sFlow data with 1:1000 sampling rates or selective sampling based on triggers and filters. All sFlow information is included in sFlow records ensuring consistent integration with existing standard sFlow collection and analysis tools.
- Streaming Telemetry: 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: Arista’s telemetry fabric for advanced mirroring (14 sessions), port mirroring, SPAN/TAP M:N aggregation, and L2/3/4 filtering.
- IEEE 1588v2 PTP: Hardware-assisted Precision Time Protocol for synchronized network timing, supporting Boundary Clock and Transparent Clock modes.
EOS Automation and Provisioning
The 7280CR2A-60-F runs
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: 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: Native on-box scripting with full Linux shell access for custom event handlers and automation workflows.
- eAPI (JSON-RPC): RESTful programmatic interface to all configuration and operational commands. Integrates with Ansible, Terraform, and custom orchestration.
- OpenConfig and gNMI: Vendor-neutral data models and high-performance streaming RPC for configuration and telemetry.
Security
- Control Plane Policing (CoPP): 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: Centralized authentication and accounting for administrative access
- Secure Boot: 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
- ECN (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 provides
front-to-rear (normal) cooling, where cool air enters from the non-port side and exhausts from the port side. Both -F and
-R (rear-to-front) variants are electrically identical.
- Form Factor: 2RU — 19 × 3.5 × 25.2 inches (48.3 × 8.9 × 64 cm)
- Weight: 54.8 lbs (24.9 kg)
- Power: 1760W typical / 1900W maximum; 1900W AC or 1900W DC power supplies
- Redundancy: Dual hot-swappable PSU (1+1) and 4 hot-swappable fan trays (N+1)
- Storage: 4 GB Flash, No SSD, 1 × USB port
- Compliance: FCC Class A, CE, RoHS, WEEE
Lifecycle and Reliability
- Self-Healing Software: 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: Dual-partition boot with Smart System Upgrade (SSU) and Accelerated Software Update (ASU) for planned upgrades with minimal disruption.
- Configuration Rollback: Instant rollback to previous configuration snapshots via EOS configuration replace.
- BrightStar Systems 1-Year Warranty: Supplied fully tested, reset to factory defaults, and backed by a 1-year in-house warranty.
Scalability and Table Sizes
- MAC Addresses: 768K
- IPv4 Host Routes: 768K
- IPv6 Unicast Host Routes: 768K
- IPv4 Unicast LPM Routes: 1.3M
- IPv6 Unicast LPM Routes: 1M
- Multicast Routes: Up to 768K
- ACL Entries per Forwarding Engine: 24K
- ECMP: 128-way
- LACP: 64 ports/channel, 224 groups
- MLAG: 128 ports per MLAG
Similar Arista Models to Consider
- DCS-7280CR2A-30-F: 30×100GbE QSFP28 (6 Tbps) with AlgoMatch and Accelerated sFlow for smaller leaf and edge deployments. Same platform with half the port density and throughput.
- DCS-7280CR2A-60-DC-F: 60×100GbE QSFP28 with DC power supplies for data center deployments requiring direct current power infrastructure.
- DCS-7280CR3K-32P4-F: 32×400G + 4×100G third-generation 7280R3K switch router with 768-way ECMP and enhanced forwarding scale for next-generation high-density spine and core architectures.
Related 7280 Series Resources
For comprehensive technical documentation and comparative model information across the Arista 7280 family, visit
In-depth technical overview of the Arista 7280R series.
Summary
The Arista DCS-7280CR2A-60-F is a 2RU switch router combining 60 × 100GbE QSFP28 ports, 12 Tbps non-blocking throughput, 24 GB VOQ deep packet buffer, 3.8 µs latency, and full Layer 2/3 capabilities including BGP, MPLS, SR-MPLS, EVPN, and VXLAN. With AlgoMatch policy-based forwarding and Accelerated sFlow for advanced network telemetry, running Arista EOS with CloudVision integration, ZTP, and comprehensive monitoring (LANZ, sFlow, AEM, DANZ), the 7280CR2A-60-F is available from BrightStar Systems fully tested, reset to factory defaults, and backed by a 1-year in-house warranty.
