DCS-7060SX2-48YC6-R Arista 7060X2 25GbE 6x 100GbE QSFP28 48 Ports Ethernet Switch

Understanding of Arista 48 Ports Ethernet Switch

The Arista Networks 7060X2 Series represents a pivotal evolution in high-performance, fixed-configuration data center switching. Engineered for the most demanding cloud, enterprise, and high-performance computing (HPC) environments, this series delivers exceptional throughput, ultra-low latency, and advanced programmability. At the heart of this series is a focus on providing robust 25GbE and 100GbE access layers with the flexibility to support diverse deployment models, including spine-and-leaf architectures, high-density server aggregation, and storage networking. The 7060X2 switches are built on Arista's Extensible Operating System (EOS), providing a stable, programmable, and feature-rich foundation for network automation and operational efficiency.

DCS-7060SX2-48YC6-R: Core Architecture and Design Philosophy

The Arista DCS-7060SX2-48YC6-R is a specific SKU within the 7060X2 Series that exemplifies a perfect balance of port density, speed, and thermal efficiency. This 1U rack-mountable switch is designed with a rear-to-front airflow configuration, making it ideally suited for data centers employing hot aisle/cold aisle containment strategies where cooling is delivered through perforated tiles in a raised floor. Its design prioritizes deterministic performance, power efficiency, and seamless integration into automated cloud networks.

Form Factor and Physical Specifications

The switch occupies a standard 1U (1.75 inches) of rack space, maximizing port density per rack unit. It measures 17.3 inches in width, 21.8 inches in depth, and 1.72 inches in height. The chassis is constructed from robust, lightweight materials, ensuring durability in data center environments. The fixed-configuration design eliminates moving parts like fans from the front panel, presenting a clean interface of network ports and status LEDs. The weight of the unit is approximately 22.5 lbs (10.2 kg), varying slightly based on power supply and transceiver configuration.

Cooling and Airflow Design: Rear-to-Front

The "-R" suffix in the model number explicitly denotes a Rear-to-Front airflow direction. This is a critical specification for data center planning. In this configuration, cool air is intake from the rear of the switch and exhausted out the front. This aligns with data center designs where cold aisles are at the front of racks and hot aisles are at the rear. The switch features multiple, variable-speed fans designed for optimal cooling with minimal acoustic output. The fan modules are hot-swappable, allowing for maintenance and replacement without disrupting operation of the other fan or the switch itself.

Port Configuration and Interface Capabilities

The port configuration of the DCS-7060SX2-48YC6-R is its defining characteristic, offering a versatile blend of speeds for server connectivity and uplink aggregation.

48 Ports of 25GbE SFP28

The switch provides forty-eight (48) native SFP28 ports. These ports support data rates of 1GbE, 10GbE, and 25GbE, offering backward compatibility and investment protection. When populated with SFP28 optical transceivers or Direct Attach Copper (DAC) cables, these ports deliver full line-rate 25GbE connectivity. This high-density 25G access layer is ideal for connecting to modern servers equipped with 25GbE network interface cards (NICs), significantly increasing bandwidth over previous-generation 10GbE infrastructure while maintaining a familiar operational footprint.

6 Ports of 100GbE QSFP28

For uplink and spine connectivity, the switch is equipped with six (6) QSFP28 ports. Each port supports 100GbE using SR4, LR4, or AOC optics, or 40GbE using break-out cables or appropriate optics. Furthermore, these QSFP28 ports can be leveraged for 50GbE and 25GbE connections using break-out cables (e.g., QSFP28 to 4x SFP28 or 2x SFP28), effectively expanding the total number of available ports. This flexibility allows network architects to design cost-effective and high-bandwidth links to spine switches or core network aggregation points.

Network Visibility and Analytics

Arista's approach to network visibility is industry-leading. The DCS-7060SX2-48YC6-R supports a full suite of telemetry and monitoring features.

Arista DANZ (Data ANalyZer) Features

The switch includes integrated DANZ features like Mirroring (ERSPAN) and sFlow for network-wide traffic visibility. It also supports Advanced Event Management (AEM) and Latency Analyzer (LANZ) for detecting and queue congestion in real time.

Performance and Hardware Specifications

Underneath its sleek exterior, the DCS-7060SX2-48YC6-R houses powerful hardware designed for wire-speed performance at layers 2 and 3.

Switching Capacity and Forwarding Rate

The switch boasts a substantial aggregate switching capacity of 3.6 Terabits per second (Tbps). This non-blocking architecture ensures that all ports can simultaneously operate at their full rated speed without contention. The packet forwarding rate is an impressive 2.7 billion packets per second (Bpps), enabling it to handle massive quantities of data packets, including small-packet workloads common in web serving, financial trading, and big data analytics, with consistently low latency.

Buffer Memory and Latency

Equipped with a deep packet buffer memory, the switch efficiently manages micro-bursts and temporary congestion, preventing packet loss and ensuring smooth traffic flow. The latency figures are exceptionally low, typically in the range of microseconds, making this switch suitable for latency-sensitive applications. The exact latency can vary based on packet size and specific forwarding path but remains predictably minimal due to the custom silicon and optimized EOS forwarding algorithms.

Power Supply and Power over Ethernet

The DCS-7060SX2-48YC6-R supports dual, hot-swappable, redundant AC power supplies (typically 650W or 1100W options) in a 1+1 configuration for high availability. It is important to note that the SFP28 ports on this model do not provide Power over Ethernet (PoE) capabilities. The switch is designed purely for data connectivity in powered server and storage environments.

Layer 2 and Layer 3 Routing

It supports comprehensive Layer 2 protocols (IEEE 802.1D/w/s, VLANs, LACP, MLAG) and full Layer 3 routing. This includes static routing, OSPFv2/v3, BGP (with EVPN support), IS-IS, and PIM-SM/SSM for multicast routing. It can function as a pure Layer 2 switch, a default gateway for servers (Layer 3 switch/router), or a leaf in a VXLAN-EVPN fabric.

Virtualization and Overlay Networking

The switch is fully capable of participating in modern overlay networks. It supports VXLAN (Virtual Extensible LAN) with both hardware-based ingress and egress replication for BUM traffic. When combined with EVPN (Ethernet VPN) as the control plane, it enables the creation of scalable, multi-tenant Layer 2 and Layer 3 overlay networks across a IP underlay, essential for large-scale cloud and multi-cloud deployments.

Visibility and Analytics with CloudVision

While CloudVision is a separate platform, the DCS-7060SX2-48YC6-R is fully compatible with it. CloudVision provides centralized management, workflow automation, and real-time telemetry aggregation for networks composed of Arista switches. It turns the rich streaming telemetry data from the switch into actionable insights, proactive monitoring, and historical analysis.

Use Cases and Deployment Scenarios

The specific port mix and performance profile of the DCS-7060SX2-48YC6-R make it ideal for several key data center applications.

High-Density 25GbE Server Access Leaf

Its primary role is as a top-of-rack (ToR) or end-of-row (EoR) leaf switch in a spine-leaf (Clos) architecture. The 48x 25GbE ports connect a rack of high-performance servers, while the 6x 100GbE ports provide high-bandwidth, redundant uplinks to the spine layer. This provides a non-oversubscribed or minimally oversubscribed bandwidth ratio from server to spine.

Storage Network Aggregation

With support for low latency and features like Data Center Bridging (DCB) for Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), the switch can be deployed in storage networks to aggregate traffic from storage arrays and servers, consolidating LAN and SAN traffic onto a unified Ethernet fabric.

High-Performance Computing

The combination of high throughput, low latency, and support for RoCE (RDMA over Converged Ethernet) v1 and v2 makes this switch suitable for HPC clusters and AI/ML training environments where RDMA is used to accelerate data transfer between GPU servers and storage nodes.

Data Center Interconnect (DCI)

The high-speed 100GbE QSFP28 ports can be used for cost-effective Data Center Interconnect, linking two data center sites over dark fiber or DWDM networks using appropriate long-reach optics, with advanced features ensuring stability and performance over these extended links.