CISCO Nexus 9500 Aci Linecard 48p 1/10g Sfp+ Plus 4p Qsfp

N9K-X9564PX is an ACI ready leaf line card. It provides 48 1GE SPF/10GE SPF+ ports and 4 40GE QSFP ports. Each of its 4 40GE ports supports the 4x10GE break-out mode to function as 4 individual 10GE ports. As a result, the line card can provide a maximum of 64 10GE ports. The port speed flexibility allows simple and cost-effective network access and aggregation design.

The key components on this line cards include two NFEs, two ALEs, and a line card CPU. The two NFEs provide the front panel ports. One NFE has 48 1/10G ports and the other has 4 40G ports. The two ALEs provide extended buffer space, additional packet handling and the option to use the line card in ACI mode.
To provide port type and speed flexibility, the front panel ports of this line card can operate at different speeds. Port speed mismatch is one of the primary reasons for port congestion and packet buffering. Consequently, this line card may need more buffer space than what its NFEs can provide. The two ALEs provide up to 40MB of additional buffering each. Since ALE is located between NFEs and fabric modules, it can buffer transit traffic between them. Locally switched traffic from a 10G port to a 1G port on the same NFE can also be redirected to the ALE sitting on its north bound interface to take advantage of the extended buffer space.

Like N9K-X9636PQ, this line card also benefits from a PHY-less design for lower power consumption, lower latency as well as higher reliability.