Arista DCS-7280CR3A-72-R | 7280R3A 72-Port 100G QSFP Switch, 7.2 Tbps

Q: What is the difference between the -F and -R suffix models?
A: The -R suffix indicates rear-to-front airflow (cold aisle intake from port side, hot exhaust toward fan side), while -F models have front-to-rear airflow. Choose based on your data center hot/cold aisle configuration for optimal cooling efficiency.

Q: What transceiver types are supported on the 100GbE QSFP ports?
A: The QSFP ports support a wide range of 10G, 25G, 40G, 50G, and 100G transceivers including QSFP28, QSFP+, and SFP+ (via breakout). Common options include 100GBASE-SR4, 100GBASE-LR4, 40GBASE-SR4, and breakout to 4x25G or 4x10G SFP+.

Q: Is this switch suitable for spine or leaf deployment?
A: Yes, the 7280R3A Series is designed as a universal leaf and spine platform. The 72-port 100G configuration works well as a high-density spine switch in large-scale data center fabrics or as a leaf switch for high-bandwidth aggregation scenarios.

Q: Does this model support advanced routing features?
A: Yes, running Arista EOS, this switch router supports full Layer 3 routing including BGP, OSPF, VXLAN, EVPN, MLAG, and 128-way ECMP. It features flexible forwarding table allocation for MAC, routing, host, and ARP tables to suit diverse deployment scenarios.

Q: What are the power supply redundancy options?
A: The DCS-7280CR3A-72-R ships with two 1500W AC power supplies configured for 1+1 redundancy. The supplies are hot-swappable, allowing replacement without downtime. Both supplies are rear-to-front airflow compatible (BLUE designation).