Cisco N3K-C36180YC-R | Nexus 3600 48-Port 10/25G SFP28 Switch, 6x 100G QSFP28, Layer 3

Q: What is the difference between the N3K-C36180YC-R and standard Nexus 3000 models?
A: The C36180YC-R is part of the R-Series family with larger buffers, enhanced routing table sizes, and support for 25G SFP28 and 100G QSFP28 interfaces. It is optimized for data center aggregation, IP storage, and big data applications requiring high throughput and advanced Layer 3 capabilities.

Q: Can the QSFP28 ports be broken out into multiple lower-speed ports?
A: Yes, each QSFP28 port can operate in native 100 Gigabit Ethernet mode, 40 Gigabit Ethernet mode, or be broken out into 4x 25 Gigabit Ethernet ports using appropriate breakout cables, providing deployment flexibility.

Q: What licensing is required for the N3K-C36180YC-R?
A: The Nexus C36180YC-R uses the Cisco NX-OS licensing scheme. Most features are included in the base software, but certain advanced features may require feature-specific licenses. Refer to the Cisco NX-OS Licensing Guide for your specific software release to confirm requirements.

Q: Is this switch suitable for spine-leaf data center architectures?
A: Yes, the C36180YC-R is well-suited for data center spine and leaf deployments, offering high-density 25G connectivity for leaf-to-spine or aggregation-to-core applications with low latency, high throughput, and comprehensive Layer 3 routing.

Q: Does the N3K-C36180YC-R support Virtual Port Channel (vPC)?
A: Yes, the switch supports vPC for dual-homed server and switch connectivity, providing redundancy and active-active Layer 2 forwarding without Spanning Tree Protocol blocking, ideal for high-availability data center designs.