Modern data centers require a hardware and software solution that offers the flexibility and agility of software-based solutions while ensuring the robustness of physical services appliances. These hyper-distributed data centers need a solution that natively integrates networking and security and other services, is simple and cost-effective to deploy and can automate policy creation and management at scale to ensure uptime and advanced protection at scale.
Data center switches with P4 programmable ASICs and integrated DPUs provide the optimal solution, by bringing the best-in-class hardware acceleration and the flexibility of software-based solutions. By offloading services tasks such as layer-4 segmentation,policy enforcement as well as compute intensive networking services to the data processing units, these switches enable faster threat detection and enhanced network efficiency. Unlike traditional firewalls, the distributed security architecture of these
switches provides scalable, distributed policy enforcement across workloads and network nodes. Advanced telemetry and management tools simplify operations while enabling real-time monitoring and actionable insights, making them essential for addressing the complexity and scalability needs of modern data centers.
Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches enable customers to unlock the value of DPU acceleration through security functions today and other services in the future. First and foremost, Cisco Smart Switches enable customers to integrate network, security, and other functions into a compact fixed form factor. Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches enable customers integrate network, security, and other services such as Carrier-Grade NAT, IPsec, telemetry, Encapsulated Remote SPAN (ERSPAN), and load balancing into a compact fixed form factor that greatly reduces the total cost of ownership for customers and simplifies operations.
Key benefits of Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches:
● Architectural simplicity and scalability: Streamline operations with a unified approach to networking and security. Cisco Nexus® Dashboard simplifies centralized management and monitoring, while Hypershield fortifies hyper-distributed data centers with scalable and automated security.
● Consistent policy: Consistent network services and security policy for containers, bare-metal and VMs.
● Cost optimization: Reduce complexity and operational costs by consolidating networking, security, and telemetry functions into a single physical form factor. This integration lowers hardware, power, and maintenance expenses while enhancing operational efficiency.
● Unmatched performance: Harness real-time, low-latency processing capabilities powered by DPUs, optimized for hybrid-cloud environments and AI/ML workloads.
● Scalable, high-speed security: Deliver robust security at scale with multi-terabit speed enforcement of micro segmentation policies. Protect east-west traffic and ensure compliance with modern cybersecurity standards without compromising performance.
● Make data centers future-ready: Design infrastructure investments with flexibility to support evolving technologies and workloads. Unlock advanced DPU-enabled applications such as firewalling, dynamic segmentation, high-performance load balancing, and real-time telemetry over the next five to seven years, ensuring long-term value and adaptability.
The Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switch family consists of 100G and 25G switches with DPU 800G acceleration. This may be extended to include other form factors, port speeds and services capabilities in the future.
Table 1. Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches
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