Arista DCS-7280CR3K-36A-F 36×100/400GbE High-Performance Data Center Switch Router with Full Breakout Flexibility

Arista DCS-7280CR3K-36A is a high-capacity 36-port 100/400GbE router-switch built for cloud-scale, carrier, and enterprise core networks. Powered by Arista’s R3K architecture, it delivers exceptional forwarding performance, deep buffering, and rich Layer 2/Layer 3 capabilities for demanding traffic flows across modern data centres.

With advanced automation, real-time telemetry, and robust high-availability hardware, this platform provides deterministic low-latency switching and reliable routing at scale. It is designed for spine, super-spine, border routing, and aggregation environments that require consistent performance, security, and long-term operational efficiency.

KEY FEATURES:

• Total Ports: 36 × 100/400GbE QSFP-DD high-density ports
• Switching Capacity: Up to 28.8 Tbps (full duplex)
• Breakout Support: QSFP-DD ports support 1×400G, 2×200G, 4×100G, 8×50G, 8×25G, or 8×10G breakout.
• FLX-F: Enables full breakout on all QSFP-DD ports
• Forwarding Rate: Up to 11.4 Bpps line-rate performance
• Packet Buffer: Ultra-deep buffers for congestion-heavy workloads
• CPU: Multi-core x86 processor optimised for routing and high-speed control-plane operations
• System Memory: 16 GB or higher, depending on software profile
• Flash Storage: Up to 64 GB SSD storage
• MAC Address Table: Support for large L2 domains with expansive table size
• Routing Scale: High-scale IPv4/IPv6 unicast and multicast capabilities (BGP, OSPF, IS-IS, EVPN)
• Latency: Low and predictable under full load, ideal for real-time traffic flows
• Airflow: Front-to-rear or rear-to-front (model-dependent)
• Fans: Hot-swappable N+1 redundant fan modules
• Power Supply: Dual hot-swappable AC power supplies
• Power Consumption: Energy-efficient R3K silicon with optimised performance-per-watt
• Dimensions: 1RU high-density form factor optimised for spine/super-spine deployments
• Operating Temperature: 0°C to 40°C
• Supported OS: Arista EOS with advanced routing, automation, and telemetry
• Management Ports: Dedicated RJ-45 console, 1G management port, USB interface
• Mounting: Standard 19-inch rackmount support
  

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS: 

HARDWARE:

PERFORMANCE:

SECURITY:

MANAGEMENT:

PHYSICAL & ENVIRONMENTAL:

ADVANCED FEATURES:

Industry-Leading Deep Buffer Architecture:

The DCS-7280CR3K-36A includes a high-capacity deep-buffer design optimised for bursty and high-fan-in traffic scenarios common in spine, border, and storage networks. This ensures lossless forwarding even under extreme congestion, supporting large-scale multicast, heavy east-west traffic, and storage replication workloads without packet drops. Its intelligent buffer management dynamically allocates memory based on real-time network load, reducing jitter and latency during spikes. This architecture is especially beneficial in hybrid cloud environments where unpredictable traffic surges must be absorbed smoothly.

High-Scale Routing with R3K Architecture:

Powered by Arista’s R3K routing silicon, the platform supports massive IPv4/IPv6 routing tables, high-speed convergence, and carrier-class features including MPLS, Segment Routing, and EVPN-VXLAN. This enables the switch to operate as a border leaf, spine, or core router with deterministic forwarding and minimal jitter. With route scaling in the hundreds of thousands, it provides headroom for future network growth without performance compromise. Its hardware-accelerated routing engine ensures consistent performance under full control-plane load.

Hardware-Accelerated EVPN-VXLAN Fabric:

The switch delivers full hardware offload for VXLAN encapsulation/decapsulation, EVPN control-plane signalling, symmetric IRB, and multi-site DCI features. This allows seamless L2/L3 extension across large data centre fabrics, enabling hybrid cloud, multi-tenant segmentation, and high-availability networks. Its distributed architecture ensures optimal path selection and fast convergence during link or node failures. This makes it ideal for enterprises building scalable, highly elastic cloud fabrics.

MLAG for Non-Stop L2/L3 Operation:

Supports Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation (MLAG) for instant failover, active-active uplinks, and uninterrupted traffic flow. MLAG reduces downtime during upgrades, maintenance, or hardware replacement, ensuring predictable reliability in mission-critical deployments.
It provides link and device redundancy without requiring complex protocols like spanning tree. This simplifies network designs and improves overall service continuity.

CloudVision® Real-Time Telemetry & Automation:

Native integration with Arista CloudVision offers end-to-end visibility, automated provisioning, compliance auditing, real-time streaming telemetry, and network-wide state management. Operators can perform network changes at scale using GUI or programmable API workflows. CloudVision’s advanced analytics engine uses time-series data to highlight anomalies and predict potential failures. This helps operators resolve issues proactively before they impact services.

Advanced QoS with Congestion Awareness:

The switch supports advanced multi-level QoS with congestion control, priority queuing, and traffic shaping. Enhanced policies ensure optimal performance for latency-sensitive applications like VoIP, video streaming, financial trading, and storage replication. Hardware-driven traffic scheduling ensures bandwidth fairness across all flow types. Intelligent queue management prevents microburst-induced packet drops, even in heavily loaded networks.

Smart System Upgrade (SSU) & Hitless Patching:

With SSU and ISSU (In-Service Software Upgrade), administrators can apply software updates, apply patches, or modify configuration features without impacting live traffic critical for 24/7 operations where downtime is unacceptable. The platform ensures full control-plane and data-plane stability during upgrades. This drastically reduces operational risk in networks with strict availability SLAs.

Secure Infrastructure with Trusted Boot:

Supports secure boot, signed EOS firmware, runtime integrity checks, and encrypted management channels. This ensures end-to-end device security from the hardware layer to the control plane, protecting the infrastructure from tampering or unauthorized access. It also provides secure logging and compliance-aligned audit trails. This helps enterprises meet stringent regulatory and governance requirements.

Network Telemetry & Flow Analytics:

Built-in sFlow, NetFlow, IPFIX, FlowTracker, and event-driven telemetry engines deliver granular traffic insights. Operators can trace flow behaviour, identify bottlenecks, audit security events, and maintain full visibility across data centre and WAN environments. Continuous packet-level monitoring improves troubleshooting efficiency and reduces MTTR. The platform’s telemetry framework is designed for large-scale environments with millions of flows.

Flexible Programmability & Automation:

Supports Python scripting, EOS SDK, Bash shell, eAPI, gNMI/gRPC, and OpenConfig for full automation capabilities. This allows system integrators and DevOps teams to integrate network functions into their CI/CD and NetDevOps pipelines. Its open, Linux-based EOS architecture enables custom tools and workflows without vendor lock-in. This helps maintain operational flexibility across diverse enterprise and cloud infrastructures.

ORDERING INFORMATION:

WARRANTY & SUPPORT:

Manufacturers are responsible for warranties, which are based on the purchase date and validity. We make sure the products we sell are delivered on time and in their original condition at Grabnpay. Whether it's physical damage or operational issues, our team will help you find a solution. We help you install, configure, and manage your devices. We'll help you file a warranty claim and guide you every step of the way.

All listed prices reflect standard market rates. Final commercial terms, including volume-based discounts, will be provided based on purchase volume, MOQ, and other applicable criteria. For more information about switches & other accessories, contact our technical support team.