Arista DCS-7280CR3K-36S-FLX-F | 7280R3 36-Port 100G Switch, 2x 400G, 28.8 Tbps

Q: What is the difference between the FLX license variant and the standard model?
A: The FLX license (DCS-7280CR3K-36S-FLX-F) provides enhanced routing capabilities with support for over 256,000 routes, advanced MPLS features including LER/LSR roles, VXLAN, and EVPN. The standard model without FLX has reduced routing scale. The K-variant (CR3K vs CR3) indicates large route table support with expanded memory.

Q: Can this switch be deployed in spine or leaf roles?
A: Yes, the DCS-7280CR3K-36S-FLX-F is designed for universal spine or leaf deployment. With 36x100G ports and 2x400G uplinks, it functions effectively as a high-density spine switch or aggregation layer device in large-scale data center fabrics. The deep buffer and advanced routing features support both roles.

Q: Does this model support MPLS and carrier-grade routing?
A: Yes, with the FLX license, this switch provides full MPLS functionality including LDP, RSVP-TE, Segment Routing, and BGP Labeled Unicast. It supports over 256K routes with the FlexRoute engine, making it suitable for service provider edge, IP peering, and data center interconnect applications.

Q: What type of optics are compatible with the QSFP28 and 400G uplink ports?
A: The QSFP28 ports support a wide range of 100G, 50G, 40G, 25G, and 10G optics including SR4, LR4, ER4, and direct attach copper cables. The 2x400G ports support QSFP-DD optics at 400G, 200G, or 100G speeds. All ports support breakout configurations for flexible connectivity.

Q: Is the switch suitable for high-frequency trading or low-latency applications?
A: Yes, the DCS-7280CR3K-36S-FLX-F delivers sub-microsecond latency (approximately 3.8 µs) with non-blocking architecture and deep VOQ packet buffering. It is designed for latency-sensitive environments including HFT, real-time analytics, and high-performance computing clusters.