Description
Cisco Nexus N9K-C9516 Modular Switch Chassis
High-Density Data Center Spine | 16 Line Card Slots | Cloud Scale Architecture | 21RU Modular Chassis
The Cisco Nexus N9K-C9516 is a massive, high-performance modular director chassis designed for ultra-dense data center aggregation, core, and spine layers. Standing at 21 Rack Units (21RU), this core-class platform features 16 horizontal line card slots capable of scaling to industry-leading densities across 1G through 400G deployments. Built for ultimate resiliency and cloud-scale environments, the N9K-C9516 utilizes a backplane-free design where fabric modules interface directly with line cards, eliminating physical midplane copper bottlenecks while ensuring massive investment protection, ultra-low latency, and market-leading network telemetry.
Key Technical Features
* Unparalleled Scalability
Features 16 line card slots supporting up to 768 native 10/25G SFP ports, 576 40/100G QSFP ports, or up to 256 ultra-dense 400G QSFP-DD ports.
* Backplane-Free Innovation
Line cards connect directly to vertical fabric modules via orthogonal connectors, radically improving airflow efficiency and switching performance.
* Enterprise Redundancy
Supports up to 2 dedicated supervisor modules, up to 6 fabric modules, and up to 3 giant multi-fan trays for full N+1 or N+N infrastructure resiliency.
* Cloud Scale Telemetry
Hardware-embedded ASIC capabilities stream line-rate flow logs and packet statistics without impacting CPU control plane performance bounds.
* Intelligent Power Grid
Houses up to 10 hot-swappable 3000W high-efficiency power supply units (PSUs), enabling grid redundancy configurations across high-load operations.
* Flexible Optical Architecture
Accepts both multi-rate transceivers and active/passive direct-attach copper breakout cables to adapt effortlessly into heterogeneous environments.
Specifications
| Product SKU | N9K-C9516 |
| Chassis Form Factor | 21 Rack Units (21RU) Modular Chassis |
| Line Card Slots | 16 Horizontal Expansion Slots |
| Supervisor Slots | 2 Dedicated Core Slots |
| Fabric Module Slots | Up to 6 Vertical Fabric Modules (Rear access) |
| Cooling / Fan Assembly | 3x N9K-C9516-FAN multi-rotor tray assemblies |
| Maximum Power Supplies | Up to 10 Hot-Swap PSUs (e.g., N9K-PAC-3000W-B or N9K-PDC-3000W-B) |
*All images are stock photos. Actual product will vary depending on the options chosen.
