Product Overview:
The Cisco N9K-X97160YC-EX is a high-performance, high-density line card designed for the Cisco Nexus 9500 Series modular switches. It provides 48 ports of 1/10/25-Gbps and 8 ports of 40/100-Gbps, making it an ideal solution for mixed-speed data center environments that demand scalable and flexible network performance.
Product Description:
The N9K-X97160YC-EX is a versatile line card that enables seamless migration to 25G and 100G networks while maintaining backward compatibility with 10G and 40G interfaces. Designed for use in the spine or leaf layer of modern data centers, this card delivers low latency, large buffers, and MACsec encryption. It is supported in Cisco NX-OS and ACI modes, helping enterprises and cloud providers build resilient, automated, and policy-driven infrastructures.
Key Features:
48 x 1G/10G/25G SFP28 ports
8 x 40G/100G QSFP28 ports
Deep buffer architecture for traffic burst absorption
MACsec encryption support on all ports
Backward compatible with 10G and 40G interfaces
Operates in both Cisco NX-OS and ACI mode
Compatible with Nexus 9504, 9508, 9516 chassis
Hot-swappable and easy integration into modular platforms
Technical Specifications:
| Specification | Details |
| Port Count | 48 x 1/10/25G (SFP28), 8 x 40/100G (QSFP28) |
| Interface Types | SFP+, SFP28, QSFP+, QSFP28 |
| Line Card Type | Mixed-speed fiber line card |
| Buffer Architecture | Deep buffer |
| MACsec Encryption | Supported |
| Operating Modes | NX-OS and ACI |
| Compatible Chassis | Nexus 9504, 9508, 9516 |
| Hot-Swappable | Yes |
Similar Line Card Comparison Table:
| Model | 10G/25G Ports | 40G/100G Ports | Interface Type | Buffer | MACsec | Use Case |
| N9K-X97160YC-EX | 48 | 8 | SFP28/QSFP28 | Deep | Yes | Mixed 25G/100G aggregation layer |
| N9K-X9636C-R | 0 | 36 x 100G | QSFP28 | Deep | Yes | 100G spine connectivity |
| N9K-X9564PX | 64 x 10G | 0 | SFP+ | Shallow | No | High-density 10G access layer |
