The Arista DCS-7280R4-64QC-10PE-F is a 2RU switch router in the 7280R4 Series, delivering 14.4 Tbps of non-blocking switching capacity with 64 × 100GbE QSFP28 ports and 10 × 800GbE OSFP ports. Built on Arista’s 7th-generation deep buffer VOQ ASIC platform with 16 GB of packet buffer memory and 3.8 µs store-and-forward latency, the R4-64QC-10PE provides full Layer 2/3 switch router capabilities including BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, MPLS (LDP, RSVP-TE, BGP LU), SR-TE, EVPN, VXLAN, and 512-way ECMP. The mixed-density port configuration combines high-radix 100GbE connectivity with 800GbE uplinks in a single 2RU platform. The platform features an Eight-Core x86 CPU with 64 GB DRAM, 480 GB SSD storage, and a field-serviceable 7001-SUP-L supervisor module.The “-F” suffix denotes front-to-rear airflow, where cool air enters through the fan side and exhausts from the port side.
Key Features at a Glance
64 × 100GbE QSFP28 ports for high-radix leaf-spine and aggregation connectivity
10 × 800GbE OSFP ports supporting 800G, 400G (2×400G), and 100G breakout modes for high-bandwidth uplinks
2 × 10GbE SFP+ ports supporting 10G and 1G line rates
1 × QSFP-LS port for dedicated ZR/ZR+ line system optics
Hot-swappable dual PSU (1+1) and 4× N+1 fan trays; front-to-rear (-F) airflow
2RU form factor — 630W typical / 1317W maximum power draw
BrightStar Systems: Available from BrightStar Systems fully tested, reset to factory defaults, and backed by a 5-year in-house warranty
Deployment Scenarios
High-Radix Leaf with 800G Uplinks
64 × 100GbE QSFP28 downlink ports provide high-radix server connectivity for leaf-spine architectures supporting hundreds of 100G-attached compute or storage nodes
10 × 800GbE OSFP uplink ports deliver 8 Tbps of spine bandwidth, enabling non-blocking uplink ratios for demanding data center workloads
16 GB VOQ deep buffer absorbs transient congestion and incast bursts at the leaf layer without packet loss
512-way ECMP with resilient hashing distributes traffic across all uplink paths without flow redistribution on link events
Data Center Aggregation and DCI Gateway
Mixed 100G/800G port density consolidates aggregation and DCI gateway functions onto a single 2RU platform
64 × 100GbE QSFP28 ports aggregate traffic from multiple access or distribution switches
EVPN-VXLAN with MPLS underlay provides scalable L2 and L3 stretch across geographically distributed sites
1 × QSFP-LS port supports high-power ZR/ZR+ coherent optics for long-haul DCI transport
Service Provider Metro and Peering
FlexRoute engine supports scalable routing tables for Internet peering and metro aggregation deployments
Line-rate MPLS with LDP, RSVP-TE, and BGP LU for carrier-grade transport and VPN services
PTP IEEE 1588v2 hardware-assisted precision timing for 5G backhaul and timing-sensitive metro applications
64 × 100GbE QSFP28 ports provide dense subscriber/site aggregation with 10 × 800GbE core uplinks
14.4 Tbps Non-Blocking VOQ Architecture
The DCS-7280R4-64QC-10PE-F delivers 14.4 Tbps of full-duplex, non-blocking throughput — (64 × 100 Gbps) + (10 × 800 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 5.4 Bpps forwarding rate, the switch operates at full line rate across all port combinations.The 16 GB deep packet buffer is distributed across the VOQ structure, providing substantial burst absorption capacity for transient congestion, TCP incast events, and bursty traffic patterns.
3.8 µs Store-and-Forward Latency
The 7280R4-64QC-10PE-F operates in store-and-forward mode with a measured latency starting from 3.8 microseconds.
L2/L3 VPN Services: IP-VPN, EVPN over VXLAN and MPLS, LDP pseudowires, VPLS.
Precision Timing
PTP IEEE 1588v2: Hardware-assisted Precision Time Protocol supporting Boundary Clock and Transparent Clock modes.
Telemetry, Monitoring, and Analytics
LANZ (Latency Analyzer): Per-port, real-time microburst detection and queue depth monitoring at microsecond granularity.
Accelerated sFlow: Hardware-accelerated sampled packet telemetry for flow analysis and capacity planning.
Inband Network Telemetry (INT): Per-flow monitoring of traffic drops, latency, congestion, and network path in real-time.
Streaming Telemetry: Real-time counter and state export via gNMI (gRPC) and Arista eAPI (REST). Supports OpenConfig data models.
Advanced Event Management (AEM): Programmable event-driven automation within EOS.
DANZ: Arista’s telemetry fabric for advanced mirroring, SPAN/TAP aggregation, and L2/3/4 filtering.
EOS Automation and Provisioning
The 7280R4-64QC-10PE-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).
Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP): Automatic configuration download on first power-up via DHCP.
Python and Bash: Native on-box scripting with full Linux shell access.
eAPI (JSON-RPC): RESTful programmatic interface to all configuration and operational commands.
OpenConfig and gNMI: Vendor-neutral data models and high-performance streaming RPC.
NETCONF and RESTCONF: Standards-based configuration management interfaces.
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
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
Note: Wire-speed TunnelSec encryption (MACsec, IPsec, VXLANsec) is available on the K-variant DCS-7280R4K-64QC-10PE-F. The standard R4-64QC-10PE does not include encryption.
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
PFC (Priority Flow Control) and DCBX (Data Center Bridging Exchange)
Power: 630W typical / 1317W maximum; PWR-2411 AC or DC power supplies
Redundancy: Dual hot-swappable PSU (1+1) and 4 hot-swappable FAN-7022HQ fan trays (N+1)
Supervisor: Field-serviceable 7001-SUP-L module with Eight-Core x86 CPU, 64 GB DRAM, 480 GB SSD
Storage: 480 GB SSD, 1 × USB port
System Memory: 64 GB DRAM, 16 GB packet buffer
Lifecycle and Reliability
Self-Healing Software: EOS includes Stateful Fault Repair (SFR) and Stateful Fault Containment (SFC).
In-Service Software Updates: Dual-partition boot with Smart System Upgrade (SSU) and Accelerated Software Update (ASU).
Field-Serviceable Supervisor: The 7001-SUP-L supervisor module can be replaced in minutes without disconnecting network cabling or removing the chassis.
BrightStar Systems 5-Year Warranty: Supplied fully tested, reset to factory defaults, and backed by a 5-year in-house warranty.
Scalability and Table Sizes
MAC Addresses: 384K
FlexRoute: Scalable IPv4 and IPv6 routing tables with flexible allocation of L2 and L3 forwarding table resources
ECMP: 512-way
Minimum EOS: 4.35.0
EOS Feature License: Group 5
Similar Arista Models to Consider
DCS-7280R4K-64QC-10PE-F: K-variant with TunnelSec wire-speed encryption on all QSFP28 and OSFP ports, large-scale routing with over 5M IPv4 routes, and Algorithmic ACLs (400K+ rules)
DCS-7280R4-32PE-F: Full 800G density with 32 × 800GbE OSFP ports; 25.6 Tbps throughput; 32 GB buffer
DCS-7280R4-32DE-F: Full 800G density with 32 × 800GbE QSFP-DD ports; 25.6 Tbps throughput; 32 GB buffer
DCS-7280CR3K-96-F: R3 Series with 96 × 100GbE QSFP28 ports; 9.6 Tbps throughput; 16 GB packet buffer
Related 7280R4 Series Resources
For comprehensive technical documentation and comparative model information across the Arista 7280 family, visit Arista 7280 Series Overview.
Summary
The Arista DCS-7280R4-64QC-10PE-F is a 2RU switch router combining 64 × 100GbE QSFP28 ports with 10 × 800GbE OSFP ports, 2 × 10GbE SFP+ ports, and 1 × QSFP-LS port, 14.4 Tbps non-blocking throughput, 16 GB VOQ deep packet buffer, and full Layer 2/3 capabilities including BGP, MPLS, SR-TE, EVPN, and VXLAN. The mixed-density configuration provides high-radix 100G connectivity with 800G uplinks in a single platform. Featuring a field-serviceable 7001-SUP-L supervisor module, PTP precision timing, and comprehensive telemetry, the 7280R4-64QC-10PE-F is available from BrightStar Systems fully tested, reset to factory defaults, and backed by a 5-year in-house warranty.
QoS: Up to 8 queues per port; 802.1p and DSCP classification; ECN; strict priority, WRR, and WFQ scheduling; policing/shaping; ACL-based marking
Table Sizes and FlexRoute
MAC Addresses: 384K
FlexRoute: Scalable IPv4 and IPv6 routing tables with flexible L2/L3 forwarding resource allocation
ECMP: 512-way
Precision Timing
PTP IEEE 1588v2: Hardware-assisted Boundary Clock and Transparent Clock modes
Security Features
Access Control: IPv4/IPv6 ingress and egress ACLs (L2/L3/L4 fields), MAC ACLs, ACL drop logging and counters, Service ACLs
Secure Boot: Digitally signed EOS images ensure trusted software boot process
Authentication: TACACS+, RADIUS, SSHv2; Role-Based Access Control (RBAC); AAA
Control Plane Protection: Control Plane Policing (CoPP), DHCP relay/snooping, MAC Security, ARP trapping, uRPF
Note: Wire-speed TunnelSec encryption (MACsec, IPsec, VXLANsec) is available on the K-variant DCS-7280R4K-64QC-10PE-F only. The standard R4-64QC-10PE does not include encryption.
