Arista DCS-7280CR3MK-32D4S-R | 7280R3 32-Port 100G Switch, 4x 400G QSFP-DD, MACsec

Q: What encryption capabilities does the DCS-7280CR3MK-32D4S-R support?
A: The switch supports line-rate MACsec with AES-256-GCM encryption on all ports, plus TunnelSec for authenticated IPsec-like encryption at wire speed up to 4.8 Tbps. This eliminates the need for external encryption devices while providing secure data center interconnect and multi-site connectivity.

Q: Can the 400G QSFP-DD ports be used with 100G optics?
A: Yes, the 4x QSFP-DD ports support flexible speed configurations including 400G, 200G, and 100G optics, providing investment protection and deployment flexibility. They are backward compatible with QSFP28 100G modules.

Q: What routing scale does this switch support?
A: The DCS-7280CR3MK-32D4S-R features a large route table supporting over 256,000 IPv4 routes with the FlexRoute engine, making it suitable for Internet peering, data center interconnect, and service provider edge deployments. It supports full BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, MPLS, Segment Routing, and EVPN.

Q: What is the deep buffer architecture used in this switch?
A: The switch uses an 8GB Virtual Output Queue (VOQ) architecture that eliminates head-of-line blocking and provides lossless forwarding even under heavy congestion. This deep buffer is ideal for spine deployments, IP storage, data analytics, and content delivery networks with bursty traffic patterns.

Q: What are the typical use cases for this switch model?
A: Primary use cases include data center spine deployments, high-density leaf-spine fabrics, data center interconnect with encryption, Internet exchange points, content delivery networks, IP storage networks, and service provider edge routing. The MACsec support makes it ideal for secure multi-tenant and multi-site architectures.