DCS-7050TX-96-R Arista 7050TX QSFP+ 48 Ports Layer 3 Managed Switch

Arista DCS-7050TX-96-R 7050TX 48 Ports Managed Switch

The Arista DCS-7050TX-96-R represents a pinnacle of high-density, low-latency 10 Gigabit Ethernet switching within the renowned Arista 7050 series. Engineered for performance-critical environments, this 1U fixed-configuration switch is designed to address the demands of modern leaf-spine architectures, big data analytics, high-performance computing (HPC), and virtualized cloud networks. By combining 48 copper 10GBASE-T ports with 4 high-speed uplink ports in a compact form factor, it provides an optimal blend of access layer connectivity and efficient spine aggregation.

Core Architecture and Performance Specifications

At the heart of the DCS-7050TX-96-R lies a purpose-built, cut-through switching architecture that delivers deterministic, sub-microsecond latency. This design is critical for financial trading, real-time analytics, and clustered application environments where every nanosecond counts.

Switch Fabric and Throughput

The switch boasts a robust internal fabric capable of supporting line-rate, non-blocking performance across all ports simultaneously. With a total aggregate throughput of 1.28 Terabits per second (Tbps), it ensures that traffic flows seamlessly between the high-density 10GbE access ports and the high-bandwidth uplinks without contention or packet drops, even under full load.

Buffer Capacity

To handle intense bursty traffic patterns common in data centers, the 7050TX-96-R is equipped with a deep packet buffer memory. This intelligent buffering scheme, combined with advanced traffic management, prevents congestion-related packet loss during microbursts, maintaining application performance and consistency.

Port Configuration and Connectivity Details

The defining feature of this model is its specific port arrangement, offering versatile connectivity options for a variety of server and upstream network requirements.

48-Port 10GBASE-T RJ-45 Interface

The 48 copper RJ-45 ports support 10GBASE-T operation using standard Cat6a/Cat7 cabling, simplifying deployments and leveraging existing structured cabling investments. Each port offers multi-speed capability, auto-negotiating down to 1000BASE-T and 100BASE-TX, providing backward compatibility for legacy servers or network devices. This makes it an ideal top-of-rack (ToR) switch for connecting servers with onboard 10GbE NICs or mezzanine cards.

Power over Ethernet (PoE/PoE+) Consideration

It is important to note that the DCS-7050TX-96-R does not provide Power over Ethernet capabilities. The 10GBASE-T ports are designed for data connectivity only. For environments requiring PoE, alternative models within the Arista portfolio should be considered.

4-Port QSFP+ Uplink Module

The four built-in QSFP+ (Quad Small Form-factor Pluggable Plus) ports provide flexible high-speed uplink connectivity. Each port can operate as a single 40 Gigabit Ethernet interface or, with the use of a breakout cable, can be split into four independent 10 Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ connections. This flexibility allows for efficient connectivity to spine switches—using 40GbE or 100GbE (via appropriate transceivers)—or for expanding the number of available 10GbE ports by connecting to additional access switches.

Supported Transceivers and Cables

Arista's universal port philosophy ensures support for a wide range of optical transceivers and direct-attach copper (DAC) cables. For the QSFP+ ports, options include 40GBASE-SR4, 40GBASE-LR4, and 40GBASE-CR4 DAC cables for short-reach connections. The use of QSFP-100G-SR4 or similar transceivers can enable 100GbE connectivity on these ports, future-proofing the investment.

Layer 3 Routing and Network Features

Operating as a fully functional Layer 3 switch, the DCS-7050TX-96-R goes beyond simple switching to provide robust routing capabilities essential for modern data center fabrics.

Advanced Routing Protocols

The switch runs the full-featured Arista EOS (Extensible Operating System) and supports a comprehensive suite of dynamic routing protocols. This includes BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) with EVPN (Ethernet VPN) extensions for building scalable VXLAN fabrics, OSPFv2/v3 (Open Shortest Path First), and PIM-SM (Protocol Independent Multicast - Sparse Mode) for efficient multicast routing. Its ability to hold large routing tables makes it suitable for spine-layer deployments in larger networks.

VXLAN and Network Virtualization

With hardware-assisted VXLAN (Virtual Extensible LAN) routing and bridging, the 7050TX-96-R enables the creation of massively scalable Layer 2 and Layer 3 overlay networks. This facilitates multi-tenancy, workload mobility across subnets, and the breakdown of traditional VLAN scale limitations, which is a cornerstone of software-defined networking (SDN) architectures.

Access Control and Security

Comprehensive security features are embedded to protect the network infrastructure and data. These include ACLs (Access Control Lists) implemented in hardware for line-rate filtering without performance impact, DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) snooping, IP Source Guard, and dynamic ARP inspection to prevent spoofing and man-in-the-middle attacks.

Hardware Design and Reliability

Built for always-on data center operation, the 7050TX-96-R incorporates enterprise-grade hardware design principles.

Rack-Mountable 1U Form Factor

The switch is designed for standard 19-inch racks, occupying a single rack unit (1U) of height. This high port density per U maximizes space and power efficiency in crowded data center cabinets. The front-to-back or back-to-front airflow models (designated by -F or -R suffixes) allow it to be integrated into data centers with varying cooling schemes.

Redundant Power Supply and Cooling

The DCS-7050TX-96-R model includes integrated, fixed power supplies. For full power redundancy, the platform supports hot-swappable, redundant AC or DC power supply units (PSUs) in a separate, modular configuration. The fan tray is also modular and hot-swappable, with speed-controlled fans for optimal cooling and acoustics.

Deployment Use Cases and Applications

The versatile nature of the DCS-7050TX-96-R makes it suitable for a wide array of demanding network roles.

High-Performance Top-of-Rack (ToR) Switch

Its primary use case is as a high-density ToR switch in a leaf-spine architecture. The 48 copper ports connect directly to 1GbE or 10GbE servers, storage nodes, or appliances, while the QSFP+ uplinks provide high-bandwidth, low-latency connections to the spine layer, typically at 40GbE or 100GbE speeds.

Big Data and HPC Clusters

In big data environments running Hadoop, Spark, or similar distributed compute frameworks, the switch's low latency and high bisectional bandwidth prevent network bottlenecks during shuffle and data transfer phases. For HPC clusters, the predictable microsecond latency is essential for node-to-node communication.

Consolidated Layer 3 Leaf Switch

With its robust Layer 3 feature set, the switch can act as a true leaf node, performing inter-VLAN routing and policy enforcement at the edge. This distributes the routing load and contains broadcast domains, improving overall network resilience and performance.

Network Virtualization and Cloud Gateways

As a hardware VTEP (VXLAN Tunnel Endpoint), the 7050TX-96-R can seamlessly integrate with VMware NSX, Microsoft Hyper-V, or Kubernetes-based cloud platforms, providing the physical network underpinning for software-defined overlays and enabling seamless workload migration across the data center fabric.

Management and Integration Capabilities

The switch offers multiple pathways for management, catering to both traditional network operations and modern automation-centric teams.

Arista CloudVision Integration

For network-wide management and orchestration, the switch fully integrates with Arista CloudVision. CloudVision provides a unified workflow for provisioning, change management, and compliance across the entire Arista network, turning infrastructure into a programmable, intent-based system.

Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP)

The switch supports ZTP, allowing it to automatically bootstrap itself with the correct EOS image and configuration from a central server upon its first power-on. This feature dramatically simplifies large-scale deployments and the replacement of failed units.

Standard Management Interfaces

In addition to programmatic APIs, the switch provides out-of-band and in-band management via a dedicated 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ-45 management port, a console serial port (RJ-45), and a USB port for software image uploads. SNMP (v1, v2c, v3), Syslog, and NetFlow/sFlow support are all included for integration with existing network management systems.