Introduction

This document describes the Cisco NX-OS configuration limits for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches.

The values provided in this guide should not be interpreted as theoretical system limits for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series hardware or Cisco NX-OS software. These limits refer to values that have been validated by Cisco. They can increase over time as more testing and validation is done.

Verified Scalability Limits - Unidimensional

The tables in this section list the verified scalability limits for the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches for Cisco NX-OS Release 9.3(8).

These limits are validated with a unidimensional configuration. The values are provided in these tables focus on the scalability of one particular feature at a time.

Each number is the absolute maximum that is currently supported by this Cisco NX-OS release for the corresponding feature. If the hardware is capable of a higher scale, future software releases could increase this verified maximum limit. Results might differ from the values that are listed in this guide when you try to achieve maximum scalability with multiple features enabled.

Note

If only one number is provided, the verified limit applies to all supported platforms and line cards.
Verified limits are provided only for supported platforms.
If a feature is not supported for a particular platform, the verified limit is not provided.

Table 1. Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders (FEX) Straight Through Mode Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)
Feature	Supported Platforms	Verified Limits
Fabric Extenders¹ and Fabric Extender server interfaces	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX, and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	16 and 768
Fabric Extenders¹ and Fabric Extender server interfaces	Nexus 9500 switches	32 and 1536
VLANs across all Fabric Extenders	Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches	2000
VLANs across all Fabric Extenders	Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	562
VLANs per Fabric Extender server interface²	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9500 switches	75
Port channels	Nexus 9300 switches	256
	Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches + FEX	511
	Nexus 9500 switches	426
Unique Fabric Extenders per Cisco Nexus 9500 Series supported line card	Nexus 9500 switches	12

¹ When FEX configured using "AA" mode, then the maximum number of 6 FEX on the NFE base ToR and 16 FEX for the LSE base ToR are supported.

² For FEX HIF port channels, Cisco recommends that you enable STP port type edge using the spanning tree port type edge [trunk] command.

Table 2. ePBR Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)
Feature	Supported Platforms	Verified Limits
Maximum services per switch	Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches	150³
Endpoints per service	Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches	32
ePBR policies per switch	Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches	150
Policies per VRF	Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches	16
Services per chain	Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches	6
Match per policy.	Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches	16
Aces per match	Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches	256

³ Only 62 unique ACLs can be configured per slice of ASIC. Each ACL takes one label. If the same ACL is configured on multiple interfaces, the same label is shared. If each ACL has unique entries, the ACL labels are not shared, and the label limit is 62. In order to achieve 150 services per switch with the limitation of 62 ACLs per slice, the ingress interfaces should be spread across multiple slices of ASIC.

Note

For a list of platforms on which ePBR is supported, see the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS ePBR Configuration Guide.
For the ACL limitations, see the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS Security Configuration Guide.

Table 3. FC and FCoE Switch Level Configuration Limits (Unidimensional)
Feature	Supported Platforms	Verified Limits
FLOGI per port	Nexus 93180YC-FX switches	256
FLOGI per switch	Nexus 93180YC-FX switches	1000
Port channels	Nexus 93180YC-FX switches	8⁴
Maximum number of member ports in a port channel	Nexus 93180YC-FX switches	16
NPV switches per NPIV core switch	Nexus 93180YC-FX switches	8⁵
Maximum number of FC ports supported	Nexus 93180YC-FX switches	48
VFCs	Nexus 93180YC-FX switches	544⁶
VSANs	Nexus 93180YC-FX switches	32

⁴ The number of SAN port channels and virtual FC port channels, together, can be only 8 on the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switch.

⁵ Tested with FC NPV.

⁶ This is applicable only for the NPV mode.

Table 4. FC and FCoE Fabric Level Configuration Limits (Unidimensional)
Feature	Supported Platforms	Verified Limits
Zones	Nexus 93180YC-FX switches	8000
Zone members	Nexus 93180YC-FX switches	16,000
Zone sets	Nexus 93180YC-FX switches	32
Zone database size	Nexus 93180YC-FX switches	2 MB
FCNS entries in the fabric	Nexus 93180YC-FX switches	10,000
Device Alias	Nexus 93180YC-FX switches	8000
Switch hops from server to storage	Nexus 93180YC-FX switches	7

Table 5. Intelligent Traffic Director Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)
Feature	Supported Platforms	Verified Limits
Nodes per device group	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches	64
Nodes across all device groups	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches	256
Device groups per switch	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches	48
ITD services per switch	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches	150 ⁷
Ingress interfaces per ITD service	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches	8
Virtual IP addresses per ITD service	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches	255
Device groups per ITD service	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches	48

⁷ Only 62 unique ACLs can be configured per slice of ASIC. Each ACL takes one label. If the same ACL is configured on multiple interfaces, the same label is shared. If each ACL has unique entries, the ACL labels are not shared, and the label limit is 62. In order to achieve 150 ITD services per switch with the limitation of 62 ACLs per slice, the ingress interfaces should be spread across multiple slices of ASIC.

Note

For a list of platforms on which ITD is supported, see the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS Intelligent Traffic Director Configuration Guide.
For the ACL limitations, see the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS Security Configuration Guide.

Table 6. Interfaces Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)
Feature	Supported Platforms	Verified Limits
DHCP clients per switch	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	10 (IPv4) + 10 (IPv6)
Flex link	Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2, and 9364C switches	One pair consists of one each of active and backup interface. The active and backup interface can be either a physical port or port channel.
IP DHCP relay addresses (helper addresses) per L3 interface	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	32 (IPv4) + 32 (IPv6)
Generic routing encapsulation (GRE) tunnels	Nexus 9200, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2, 9500 switches, and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	16
Generic routing encapsulation (GRE) tunnels	Nexus 9300 switches	8
LACP rate fast support during system switchover	Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	606 ports in total on the Nexus 9516 switches with 16 line cards
Port channel links	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX, and 9700-EX line cards	32
SVIs	Nexus 9200 switches	490
	Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX/FX2 switches	1000 (with HSRP) 1000 HSRP groups
	Nexus 9300 switches	450 (with HSRP)
	Nexus 9300-FX3 switches	510
	Nexus 9300-GX	1000
	Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	490 (with HSRP), 1500 (without HSRP)
	Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards	3967
Selective Q-in-Q with Multiprovider tag	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches, and Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX, and 9700-EX line cards	4000 mappings, 10 provider VLANs; System wide: 48,000 mappings, 512 Provider VLANs
SVI Unnumbered	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	Primary (50); Secondary (450), 1 primary SVI can have a maximum of 50 secondary SVIs
vPCs	Nexus 9200, Nexus 9300, and Nexus 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	80
	Nexus 9300-EX switches	48
	Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	300
	Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX, and 9700-EX line cards	255
Static Network Address Translation (NAT)	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX/FX/FX2/FX3/GX switches	1023
Dynamic Network Address Translation (NAT)	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX/FX/FX2/FX3/GX switches	1023
Static twice Network Address Translation (NAT)	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX/FX/FX2/FX3/GX switches	768
Dynamic twice Network Address Translation (NAT)	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX/FX/FX2/FX3/GX switches	1023

Table 7. Label Switching Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)

Feature

Supported Platforms

Verified Limits

Forwarding Equivalence Classes (FECs) (Node /Prefix /Adj / Binding SID)

Nexus 9200 switches

MPLS Heavy Template: 512; Default: 128

Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches

128

Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

MPLS Heavy Template: 4096; Default: 1024

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

1000

Equal-cost multipaths (ECMPs)

Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches

Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX switches, and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

8 - way

Equal-cost multipaths Groups (ECMPs)

Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX2, and 9364C switches

MPLS Heavy Template: 7166 (with 4-way ECMP) and 4096 (with 8-way ECMP)

Default: 1024

Note

After the ECMP objects are exhausted, there is a fallback to the adjacency for all further routes.

Nexus 9300-FX and 9300-GX switches

MPLS Heavy Template and Default Routing Mode: 7166 (with a 4-way ECMP) and 4096 (with 8-way ECMP)

Note

After the ECMP objects are exhausted, there is a fallback to the adjacency for all further routes.

Nexus 9600-RX line cards

24,000 ECMP Groups 2 paths per ECMP

Note

Supported only on Cisco NX-OS Release 9.2(4).

FECs * ECMPs

Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches

1000

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

8000

Flex counters for segment-routing in ingress direction

Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches

4000 (includes ingress and egress)

Nexus 9200 switches

4000 (includes ingress and egress) (MPLS Heavy Template)

Nexus 9300-EX/FX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

Total ingress label stats: 4000; VRF ingress label stats: 1000; (MPLS Heavy Template)

Flex counters for segment-routing in Egress direction

Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches

4000 (includes ingress and egress)

Nexus 9200 switches

4000 (includes ingress and egress) (MPLS Heavy Template)

Nexus 9300-EX/FX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

Total ingress label stats: 48,000 (MPLS Heavy Template)

Egress Peer Engineering

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

IAS option B labels

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

450,000

Label-switched paths (LSPs) for label stack imposition⁸

Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches

128 (with 4 - way ECMP and 3 label stack push)

Nexus 9200 switches

256 (with 32 - way ECMP and 5 label stack push)

Nexus 9300-EX/FX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

256 (with 32 - way ECMP and 5 label stack push)

Layer 3 VPN routes

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

450,000

Layer 3 EVPN Labels

Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches

128

Nexus 9200 switches

128 (With MPLS Heavy Template)

Nexus 9300-EX/FX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

1000 (With MPLS Heavy Template)

LDP session

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards⁹

200

Node Sid/Prefix SID

Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches

128

Nexus 9300-EX/FX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

4000

Adjacency SID

Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches

128

Nexus 9300-EX/FX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

112

Binding SID

Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches

Nexus 9300-EX/FX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

1000

Private VLANs (PVLANs)

Primary VLANs ¹⁰

Nexus 9300, and 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches

400

Secondary VLANs ¹¹

Nexus 9300, and 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches

400

Ports in Community host mode

Nexus 9300, Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

Ports in isolated host mode

Nexus 9500 switches

Nexus 9300, Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

Ports in isolated trunk host mode

Nexus 9500 switches

Nexus 9300, Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

Ports in promiscuous mode

Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX switches

Nexus 9500 switches

Nexus 9300, 9300-FX2/FX3 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

Ports in promiscuous trunk mode

Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX switches

Nexus 9500 switches

Nexus 9300, 9300-FX2 /FX3 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

PVLANs allowed on a PVLAN port ¹²

Nexus 9300, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches

400

⁸ For Cisco Nexus 9300 and 9500 Series switches, LSPs *ECMP* label stack push cannot exceed 1500.

⁹ N9K-X9636C-RX, N9K-X9636C-R, N9K-X9636Q-R, and N9K-96136YC-R

¹⁰ The 400 PVLAN-mapping scale per PVLAN port is only applicable when port is configured as promiscuous trunk port

¹¹ The 400 PVLAN-mapping scale per PVLAN port is only applicable when port is configured as promiscuous trunk port

¹² The 400 PVLAN-mapping scale per PVLAN port is only applicable when port is configured as promiscuous trunk port

Note

For network scalability, Cisco recommends using a hierarchical routing design with multi-hop BGP for advertising the attached prefixes from a top-of-rack (ToR) or border leaf switch.

Table 8. Layer 2 Switching Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)
Feature	Supported Platforms	Verified Limits
MAC addresses	Nexus 9200 and 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	92,000
	Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches	90,000
	Nexus 9300-GX switches	92,000 (default system routing mode) 200,000 ¹³
	Nexus 9364C switches	90,000 (default system routing mode without system routing layer 3 scale) 32,000 (default system routing mode with system routing layer 3 scale)
	Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards	192,000
	N9K-C9264PQ, N9K-C9272Q, N9K-C9236C, N9K-C92300YC, N9K-C92304QC, N9K-C92300YC, and 9300-EX switches	200,000 ¹⁴
MST instances	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches and Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX, and 9700-EX/FX line cards	64
MST PV count with single instances 0	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	190,000
MST virtual ports with more than 1 MST instance	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	48,000
	Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	85,000
	Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards	236,000
RPVST virtual ports (physical ports * vlans)	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	12,000
	Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	22,000
	Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards	13,750
RPVST logical ports (logical ports * vlans)	Nexus 9300-EX/FX/FX2/FX3 switches	12,000
	Nexus N9K-X9716D-GX and 9700-EX/FX line cards	22,000
	Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards	13,750
VLANs	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX, and 9700-EX/FX line cards	3967 (the remaining 127 VLANs are reserved)
VLANs	Nexus 92348GC-X switches	4096
VLANs in RPVST mode	Nexus 9200 and 9300-EX/FX/FX2/FX3/GX switches	3967
	Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches	500
	Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	3967¹⁵
	Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards	250
Total number of VLANs × ports with switch port isolated (3967 VLANs x 48 ports)	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches, and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	190,000
Private VLANs (PVLANs)
Primary VLANs	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX/FX/FX2, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	16
Secondary VLANs	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX/FX/FX2, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	20
Ports in Community host mode	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX/FX/FX2, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	40
Ports in isolated host mode	Nexus 9500 switches	20
Ports in isolated host mode	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX/FX/FX2 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	40
Ports in isolated trunk host mode	Nexus 9500 switches	22
Ports in isolated trunk host mode	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX/FX/FX2 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	40
Ports in promiscuous mode	Nexus 9500 switches	48
Ports in promiscuous mode	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX/FX/FX2 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	5
Ports in promiscuous trunk mode	Nexus 9500 switches	80
Ports in promiscuous trunk mode	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX/FX/FX2 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	5
PVLANs allowed on a PVLAN port	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX/FX/FX2, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	16

¹³ Layer 2 unidimensional scale only. SVI, Layer 3 interface, and VXLAN VLANs are not supported. 200K MAC is enabled only when " system routing template-l2-heavy" is configured and the system is reloaded.

¹⁴ Layer 2 unidimensional scale only. SVI, Layer 3 interface, and VXLAN VLANs are not supported. 200K MAC is enabled only when " system routing template-l2-heavy" is configured and the system is reloaded.

¹⁵ On EOR, support is for 12,000 PV count with 3967 vlans and RPVST with default timers. If 22,000 PV count is needed with 3968 vlans and RPVST, recommended hello timer value is 4 or higher. It is also recommended to tune forward delay and max age accordingly

Note

The number of supported VLANs per vPC should be within the MST or RPVST virtual port count that is specified in this table, depending on the topology.
The number of supported STP VLAN port instances, for Fabric Extender host interface ports, should be less than 13000.

Table 9. Multicast Routing Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)

Feature

Supported Platforms

Verified Limits

Egress NAT

Nexus 9300-EX/FX/FX2 switches

2000

Ingress NAT

Nexus 9300-EX/FX/FX2 switches

2000

Egress and Ingress NAT

Nexus 9300-EX/FX/FX2 switches

2000

IPv4 multicast routes

Note

The limits are for a combination of IPv4 and IPv6 multicast routes. Layer 2 multicast entries are a part of the total 120K limits. For example, 110K IPv4 + 2K IPv6 multicast routes + 8K Layer 2 multicast entries.

Nexus 9200 and 9348GC-FXP switches

8192 (Layer 2 + Layer 3)

Note

Cisco Nexus 9200 switches do not support the system routing template - Ipm - heavy mode for IPv4 multicast routes. Make sure to reset the LPM maximum limit to 0.

Nexus 9300 switches

8192 (Layer 2 + Layer 3)

Nexus 9300-EX switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards

8192 (Layer 2 + Layer 3); 32,768 (layer 2 + Layer 3 with system routing template - multicast -heavy mode); 8192 (with system routing template - lpm - heavy mode)

Nexus 9332C and 9364C switches

16,384 (Layer 2 + Layer 3) with the default template and the system routing layer 3 scale configuration.

Nexus 9300-FX2 switches

8192 (Layer 2 + Layer 3); 32,768 (Layer 2 + Layer 3 with system routing template -multicast -heavy mode); 131,072 (with system routing template -multicast - ext - heavy mode)

Nexus 9300-FX3 switches

128,000 (64,000 *, G + 64,000 S,G)

Nexus 9500 switches

32,768 (Layer 2 + Layer 3)

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-FX line cards

8192 (Layer 2 + Layer 3); 32,768 (layer 2 + Layer 3 with system routing template - multicast -heavy mode); 131,072 (with system routing template - multicast - ext - heavy mode) ¹⁶

Nexus 9300-FX/GX switches

32,768 (layer 2 + Layer 3 with system routing template - default, multicast -heavy mode); 131,072 (with system routing template - multicast - ext - heavy mode)

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-line cards

32,768 (Layer 3)

IPv6 multicast routes

Nexus 92160YC-X, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, and 9500 switches

8192 (Layer 3 with system routing template - default, multicast - heavy, multicast - ext - heavy and multicast - heavy, multicast - ext - heavy, dual - stack - multicast)

Nexus 9300-FX2 and 9364C switches

8192 (Layer 3 with system routing template -multicast -heavy mode)

Nexus 9300-FX3 switches

8192 (4096 - *, G + 4096 - S,G)

Nexus 9332C and 9364C switches

8192 (Layer 2 + Layer 3 with system routing template -multicast -heavy mode)

Nexus 9348GC-FXP switches

8192 (layer 2 + Layer 3 with system routing template - multicast -heavy -multicast - ext - heavy mode)

Nexus 9300-GX switches

8192

MLD snooping groups

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, and 9300-FX/FX2, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

8192

Multicast FPV

Nexus 9300-GX switches

IPv4 32,000 (Layer 2 + Layer 3) multicast routes

Outgoing interfaces (OIFs)

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

40 (SVI + physical layer 3) or 256 (physical layer 3)

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

16 OIFs for 32K mroutes or 287 OIFs for 1000 mroutes

IGMP snooping groups

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards

8000

Nexus 9300-FX2 switches and Nexus 9700-FX line cards

8000 (with system routing template - default), 16000 (with system routing template - multicast -heavy - multicast - ext - heavy mode)

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

8000

Nexus 9300-FX/FX3/GX switches and N9K-X9716D-GX line card

16,000

PIM neighbors

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches

250

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX and 9700-EX/FX line cards

500

MVPN- unidimensional

Multicast VRFs

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards (except the N9K-X96136YC-R line card)

300

Default MDT groups

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards (except the N9K-X96136YC-R line card)

300

MVPN Peers (PIM neighbors) per device

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards (except the N9K-X96136YC-R line card)

900

Maximum number of PEs per VRF

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards (except the N9K-X96136YC-R line card)

200 PEs per VRF with up to 3 VRFs (600 PIM neighbors)

Maximum number of Data MDT groups per VRF on a PE

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards (except the N9K-X96136YC-R line card)

1000

Maximum number of Data MDT groups across all VRFs on a PE

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards (except the N9K-X96136YC-R line card)

10,000

Maximum number of MDT groups across all VRFs on PE

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards (except the N9K-X96136YC-R line card)

10,300 (10,000 Data + 300 default DMT)

Maximum number of Multicast routes on a PE node

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards (except the N9K-X96136YC-R line card)

32,000

¹⁶ All line cards must have the FX type.

Note

The IPv4 multicast routes and the IPv4/IPv6 host routes share the same hardware table. Limits are provided for both the default line card mode and the max host line card mode.
High availability (graceful restart and stateful switchover) is not supported when unicast or multicast aggressive timers are configured at any scale.

Table 10. IP Fabric for Media Solution Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)

Feature

Verified Limits

Number of nodes

35 (2 spines and 33 leafs)

No of routes

32,000

Host Policy

Sender

8000

Receiver

8000

PIM

512

FlowPolicy

2000

ASM group-range

NBM Static Flows

Per switch maximum (receiver leaf where the static OIF will be programmed) mroutes

1500

Per fabric maximum mroutes

8000

VRFs

PMN NAT

Egress-NAT

1000 with ing-nbm tcam 512

Ingress-NAT

1000 with ing-nbm tcam 512

Ingress/Egress NAT

1500 with ing-nbm 512

Ingress/Egress NAT

2000 with ing-nbm 0

RTP Flow Monitoring with ACL

ACL

128 IPv4 ACL entries or 64 IPv6 ACL entries (total 128 TCAM spaces)

Note

With combined IPv4 and IPv6 ACL entries, the scale limit cannot exceed 128 TCAM spaces.

Note

For a list of supported platforms, see Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS IP Fabric for Media Solution Guide.

Table 11. Programmability Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)
Feature	Supported Platforms	Verified Limits
OpenFlow ports	Nexus 9300 switches	96
OpenFlow Layer 2 flows	Nexus 9300 switches	32,000
OpenFlow Layer 3 flows	Nexus 9300 switches	3000
OpenFlow IPv6 Layer 3 flows	Nexus 9300 switches	1500
gNMI
VRF - Default	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-FX line cards	16 concurrent subscriptions
VRF - Management	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-FX line cards	16 concurrent subscriptions
VRF - Default and Management	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-FX line cards	32 concurrent subscriptions
Paths	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-FX line cards	48 paths in a single subscription
Message size	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-FX line cards	Less than 12 MB
Aggregate MO's	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-FX line cards	150,000

Table 12. QoS Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)
Feature	Supported Platforms	Verified Limits
Class maps per policy map	Nexus 9300-GX switches	128
AFD	Nexus 9300-GX switches	32 profiles
WRED	Nexus 9300-GX switches	32 profiles
Ingress 1R2C	Nexus 9300-GX switches	1280
Egress 1R2C	Nexus 9300-GX switches	256
Ingress 2R3C	Nexus 9300-GX switches	766
PFC all ports	Nexus 9300-GX switches	766
Total policy maps	Nexus 9300-GX switches	4000

Table 13. Security Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)
Feature	Supported Platforms	Verified Limits
Egress ACLs	Nexus 9600-R line cards	20,000
System ACLs	Nexus 9600-R line cards	4000 TCAM entries in internal TCAM 64,000 TCAM entries in external TCAM
ACLs	Nexus 9300-FX3	Ingress - 3584 IPv4, 1792 IPv6
RACL Labels (maximum)	Nexus 9504 and 9508 switches	4000
DHCP snooping bindings	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards	2048
IPv4 ingress access control entries (ACEs)	Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards	RACL on LC N9K-X9636C-RX: 100,000 PACL on LC N9K-X9636C-RX: 12,000 RACL-2048, PACL-1024 (without TCAM Carving) IPv4 52640 ACEs per system PACL IPv4: 1024 TCAM entries in internal TCAM PACL MAC: 2048 TCAM entries in internal TCAM RACL IPv4: 2048 TCAM entries in internal TCAM
IPv6 ingress access control entries (ACEs)	Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards	RACL-1024, PACL-1024 (without TCAM Carving) IPv6 25,200 ACEs per system PACL IPv6: 1024 TCAM entries in internal TCAM RACL IPv6: 1024 TCAM entries in internal TCAM
IPv4 ingress TCAM entries	Nexus 9200, Nexus 9300-EX/FX/FX2/FX3 switches, N9K-X9716D-GX and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	3582 (per slice of the forwarding engine)
IPv4 ingress TCAM entries	Nexus 9300-GX switches	4608
IPv4 egress TCAM entries	Nexus 9200, Nexus 9300-EX/FX/FX2/FX3/GX switches, N9K-X9716D-GX and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	1792 (per slice of the forwarding engine)
IPv4 egress TCAM entries	Nexus 92348GC-X switches	Ingress - 3072 IPv4, 1792 IPv6
IPv6 ingress TCAM entries	Nexus 9200, Nexus 9300-EX/FX/FX2/FX3 switches, N9K-X9716D-GX and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	1792 (per slice of the forwarding engine)
IPv6 ingress TCAM entries	Nexus 9300-GX switches	2302 (per slice of the forwarding engine)
IPv6 egress TCAM entries	Nexus 9200, Nexus 9300-EX/FX/FX2/FX3/GX switches, N9K-X9716D-GX and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	896 (per slice of the forwarding engine)
IPv6 egress TCAM entries	Nexus 92348GC-X switches	Ingress - 3072 IPv4, 1792 IPv6

Note

The TCAM entries scalability limits also apply to policy-based TCAM entries (PBACLs).
Only 62 unique ACLs can be configured. Each ACL takes one label. If the same ACL is configured on multiple interfaces, the same label is shared. If each ACL has unique entries, the ACL labels are not shared, and the label limit is 62.

Table 14. SRv6 Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)
Feature	Supported Platforms	Verified Limits
ARP	Nexus 9300-GX switches	48,000
Host and LPM IPv4 routes	Nexus 9300-GX switches	470,000
Host and LPM IPv6 routes	Nexus 9300-GX switches	256,000
Leaf	Nexus 9300-GX switches	256
SID DB	Nexus 9300-GX switches	2000
SRv6 and VXLAN Peer	Nexus 9300-GX switches	256
VRF	Nexus 9300-GX switches	1000
ND	Nexus 9300-GX switches	24,000
SRv6 Traffic Engineering policies	Nexus 9300-GX switches	1000
Number of prefixes (IPv4 and IPv6) that use SRv6 Traffic Engineering policies	Nexus 9300-GX switches	50,000
Maximum number of preferences per policy	Nexus 9300-GX switches	3
Maximum number of segment lists	Nexus 9300-GX switches	3000

Feature

Supported Platforms

Verified Limits

MPLS Stripping

Labels

Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches

12,000

Ingress interfaces

Nexus 9200 and 9300 switches

Nexus 9500 switches

400

Egress interfaces

Nexus 9200 and 9300 switches

Nexus 9500 switches

PTP

PTP ports

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2, and 9500 switches

64 per system

Note

The verified limit for Nexus 9336C-FX2 switch is 144 per system.

N9K-C93180YC-FX3 and N9K-C93180YC-FX3S switches

20 per system

N9K-C93108TC-FX3P switches

25 per system

Nexus 9300-GX switches

64 per system

N9K-C92160YC-X line cards

44 per system

Nexus 9500 switches with Nexus 9700-EX line cards

1305 per chassis

The per line card limit is based on the maximum physical ports supported.

Note

PTP Offload is supported on 9700-EX line cards.

Nexus 9508 switches with -R line cards

64 per line card

300 per chassis

Note

PTP Offload is supported on 9508-R line cards.

Nexus 9500 switches with Nexus 9600-RX line cards

128 per line card

512 per chassis

PTP offload

¹⁷

N9K-X9564PX line cards

32 PTP sessions per line card.

N9K-X9636PQ line cards

24 PTP session per line card.

PTP clients per port

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX/FX/FX2/FX3/GX switches, N9K-C92160YC-X line cards, Nexus 9500 switches with 9700-EX, 9508-R and 9600-RX line cards

sFlow

sFlow ports

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, and 9300-FX/FX2 switches

Nexus 9300-FX3 switches

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards

256

SPAN and ERSPAN

Configurable SPAN or ERSPAN sessions

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches and Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

Active SPAN or ERSPAN sessions¹⁸

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX, and 9700-EX/FX line cards

4 sessions (per chassis/ToR or based on the number of the line cards in the EoR.¹⁹

Active localized SPAN or ERSPAN sessions per line card²⁰

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

32 sessions across ports on single-line card

Active localized SPAN or ERSPAN session (Rx and Tx, Rx, or Tx)

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

32 sessions, 128 sources, and 1 destination

Source interfaces per SPAN or ERSPAN session (Rx and Tx, Rx, or Tx)

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards

Destination interfaces per SPAN session

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX, and 9700-EX line cards

1 (physical/PO interface)

Source VLANs per SPAN or ERSPAN session

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX, and 9700-EX line cards

Tap Aggregation

Redirect interfaces in the redirect port list

Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2, and Nexus 9500-CloudScale platform switches

Nexus 9300, 9300-FX3 and 9500 Merchant Silicon platform switches

Redirect port lists (or fan outs) per system

Nexus 9300, 9300-FX3, and 9500 switches

100

NetFlow

Flow monitors

Nexus 9300-EX switches and Nexus 9500 switches with 9700-EX and FM-E fabric line cards

2 flow monitors per type (2 IPv4 flow monitors and 2 IPv6 flow monitors).

1 flow monitor for CE flows

2 exporters for each flow monitor. Hence, a total of 4 different exporters can be configured.

Nexus 9300-FX/FX2/GX switches and 9500 with FX LC cards

30 IPv4 flow monitor and each flow monitor with two exporters

28 IPv6 flow monitor and each flow monitor with two exporters

32 Layer2 Flow monitor and each flow monitor with two exporters

Maximum number of exporters supported per flow monitor is 2

Layer 3 interfaces (Layer 3 ports, port channels, and SVIs) to which IPv4 flow monitors can be applied

Nexus 9300-EX switches

1024 (with members on just one ASIC slice): 922 for IPv4/IPv6 flow monitors, while 32 are reserved for the Layer 2 flow monitors.

Maximum number of SVIs supported:

492 with IPv4 flow monitors only
246 with IPv6 flow monitors only
165 with both IPv4 flow monitor and IPv6 flow monitors attached

Number of Layer 3 interfaces (Layer 3 ports, port channels, and SVIs) to which IPv4 flow monitors can be applied. You can use the show interface hardware-mappings command to check if the interface belongs to ASIC slice 0 or slice 1.

Layer 3 interfaces (Layer 3 ports, port channels, and SVIs) to which IPv6 flow monitors can be applied

Nexus 9300-EX switches

252 (with members on just one ASIC slice) or 126 (with members on both ASIC slices). You can use the show interface hardware-mappings command to check if the interface belongs to ASIC slice 0 or slice 1.

Maximum number of flows in the software table (IPv4 or IPv6 or CE flows)

Nexus 9000 switches

100,000 flows using the show flow cache command on 9500 modular chassis per line card

1,000,000 flows (1 Million) using the show flow cache command on 9300 switches

Maximum number of concurrent flows supported (IPv4 or IPv6 or CE flows)

Nexus 9300-EX/FX/FX2 switches

6000 traffic flows.

By increasing LCPU-PG-SIZE using the following command one can achieve Max 18000 concurrent flows, after modifying LCPU-PG-SIZE, the switch needs reboot after saving configuration

switch(config)# hardware qos lcpu-pg-size ?
  <200-10000>  Pool Group size
 
switch(config)# hard qos lcpu-pg-size  5000
Warning:Reload required for configured PG size to take effect. Save configuration and reload the system.
switch(config)# copy running-config startup-config

In Cisco Nexus Release 9.3(3), the hardware qos command is not supported.

¹⁷ An EPLD upgrade is necessary before you use PTP offload.

¹⁸ A single forwarding engine instance supports four SPAN or ERSPAN sessions. For Cisco Nexus 9300 Series switches, if the first three sessions have bidirectional sources, the fourth session has hardware resources only for Rx sources. This limitation might also apply to Cisco Nexus 9500 Series switches, depending on the SPAN or ERSPAN source's forwarding engine instance mappings.

¹⁹ If the source interface configured for a monitor session is on the same line card, the maximum supported active SPAN sessions are 4. Based on the number of line cards in the EoR, the total number of active SPAN sessions are 4 x n, where n is the number of line cards on EoR, provided the source and destination interface are on the same line module.

²⁰ The number of SPAN or ERSPAN sessions per line card reduces to two if the same interface is configured as the bidirectional source in more than one session.

Note

PTP is supported for all Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches hardware except for the 100G 9408PC line card and the 100G M4PC generic expansion module (GEM).

Table 16. NetFlow Scalability Support (Flows)
Feature	Platform	Port Speed	Scale Limit per Slice (Flows)	Export Interval (seconds)	Packets / Flow
Layer 2 Flow monitor	Nexus 9300-EX switches	10G	3800	60	89,000
		40G	3800	60	356,000
		100G	3800	60	885,000
	Nexus 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	10G	6000	60	89,000
		40G	6000	60	356,000
		100G	6000	60	885,000
	Nexus 9300-GX switches	10G	6000	60	89,000
		40G	6000	60	356,000
		100G	6000	60	885,000
Layer 3 Flow monitor (IPv4)	Nexus 9300-EX	10G	27,000	60	12,000
		40G	27,000	60	54,000
		100G	27,000	60	160,000
	Nexus 9300-FX/FX2/FX3	10G	24,000	60	12,000
		40G	24,000	60	54,000
		100G	24,000	60	160,000
	Nexus 9300-GX switches	10G	24,000	60	12,000
		40G	24,000	60	54,000
		100G	24,000	60	160,000
Layer 3 Flow monitor (IPv6)	Nexus 9300-EX	10G	15,000	60	12,000
		40G	15,000	60	54,000
		100G	15,000	60	160,000
	Nexus 9300-FX/FX2/FX3	10G	11,000	60	12,000
		40G	11,000	60	54,000
		100G	11,000	60	160,000
	Nexus 9300-GX	10G	11,000	60	12,000
		40G	11,000	60	54,000
		100G	11,000	60	160,000

Table 17. NetFlow Scalability Support (Flows) for Cisco Nexus 9500 Family Switches
Feature	Platform	Scale Limit per Slice (Flows)
IP flow monitor	Nexus 9500-EX Line cards	2
IPv6 flow monitor		2
Layer 2 Flow monitor		1
Maximum number of exporters per each flow monitor		2
Flow Scale		24,000 per ASIC slice
IP flow monitor	Nexus 9500-FX Line cards	30
IPv6 flow monitor		28
Layer 2 Flow monitor		1
Maximum number of exporters per each flow monitor		2
Flow Scale		24,000 per ASIC slice

Table 18. NetFlow SVI Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)
Platform (VLAN Ports)	SVI			VLAN			SVI + VLAN
Platform (VLAN Ports)	IPv4	IPv6	IPv4 + IPv6	IPv4	IPv6	IPv4 + IPv6	IPv4	IPv6	IPv4 + IPv6
Member ports from Cisco Nexus 9300-EX switches	474	118	94	474	118	94	237	61	38
Member ports from Cisco Nexus 9300-FX switches	Total interfaces supported in the system
Member ports from Cisco Nexus 9300-EX and Nexus 9300-FX switches (EOR chassis)	474	118	94	474	118	94	237	61	38

Note

The scale numbers are based on the TCAM space available on the Cisco Nexus 9300-EX and Nexus 9300-FX switches. A IPv4 flow monitor uses 2 and 4 TCAM space for the Cisco Nexus 9300-EX and Nexus 9300-FX switches respectively. Similarly, a IPv6 flow monitor uses 8 and 2 TCAM space for the Cisco Nexus 9300-EX and Cisco Nexus 9300-FX switches respectively.

For port channels, SVIs, and VLANs that have port from both 9300-EX and 9300-FX switches, the lower common denominator limit of the 9300-EX and 9300-FX switches is applied.

Table 19. Unicast Routing Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)

Feature

Supported Platforms

Verified Limits

Unicast Routing

BFD sessions (echo mode)

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2, and 9300-GX switches

128

Note

Cisco Nexus 9300 (EX, FX, FX2, and 9364C) platform switches support up to 512 BFD sessions, when the BFD intervals are relaxed to 300 ms.

Nexus 9300-FX3 and 9500 switches

512

Nexus 9700-EX /FX line cards

512²¹

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

288

BGP neighbors

Nexus 9200 switches

512 (IPv4), 512 (IPv6), or 256 (IPv4 + IPv6)

Nexus 92348GC-X switches

141

Nexus 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9300-GX switches

1024

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX /FX line cards

2000

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

960

EIGRP routes

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX /FX line cards

20,000

EIGRP neighbors

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9300-GX switches

256

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX /FX line cards

512

HSRP groups

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX, and 9700-EX/FX line cards

490

Nexus 9300-EX and FX2 switches

1000 ²²

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

16 (Maximum 16 groups because 16 is the unique virtual MAC address limit)

IPv4 ARP

Nexus 9200 and 9364C switches

32,000

Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX, and 9700-EX/FX line cards

48,000

Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX2 switches

48,000 (without URPF)

32,000 (with URPF enabled)

Nexus 9300-FX and 9300-GX switches

98,000 (Hash Table: Shared between IPv6 ND, IPv4 ARP))

Nexus 9300-FX3 switches

98,000

IPv4 host routes ²³

Nexus 9200 switches

96,000 (hash table and there will be more collisions after 80%)

Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches

Default System Routing Mode: 208,000 (hash table and there will be more collisions after 80%)

Nexus 9364C switches

96,000 (default system routing mode without system routing layer 3 scale)

128,000 (default system routing mode with system routing layer 3 scale)

Nexus 9300-EX switches

458,000 (default); 786,000 / 720,000 (with system routing template - lpm - heavy mode)

Nexus 9300-FX2 switches

524,000 / 471,000 (without / with urpf enabled) (default); 786,000 / 734,000 (without / with urpf enabled) (with system routing template - lpm -heavy mode)

Nexus 9300-FX and 9300-GX switches

1,153,000(default); 786,000 / 734,000 (with out / with urpf enabled) (with system routing template - lpm -heavy mode)

Nexus 9300-FX3 switches

1,119,000

Nexus 9700-EX line card

1,000,000 (default); 786,000 (with system routing template - lpm -heavy mode)

589,000 (default); 786,000 (with system routing template - lpm -heavy mode)

Nexus 9600-R line cards

750,000 (default routing template)

Nexus 9600-RX line cards

1,000,000 (default routing template)

IPv6 host routes ²⁴

Nexus 9200 switches

48,000 (hash table and there will be more collisions after 80%)

Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches

Default System Routing Mode: 104,000 (hash table and there will be more collisions after 80%); ALPM Routing Mode: 16,000 with host Routes Programmed in the LPM Table.

Nexus 9364C switches

48,000 (default system routing mode without system routing layer 3 scale)

64,000 (default system routing mode with system routing layer 3 scale)

Nexus 9300-EX switches

24,000 / 16,000 (with out/with urpf enabled)

Nexus 9300-FX2 switches

265,000 (default), 442,000 / 412,000 (without / with urpf enabled) (with system routing template -lpm - heavy mode)

Nexus 9300-FX and 9300-GX switches

628,000 (default), 442,000 / 412,000 (without / with urpf enabled) (with system routing template -lpm - heavy mode)

Nexus 9300-FX3 switches

600,000

442,000 (LPM heavy mode)

Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

32,000 (FM-E), 235,000 (FM-E2)

Nexus 9600-RX line cards

256,000 (default routing template)

IPv6 ND

Nexus 9200, 9364C, 9300-EX and 9300-FX2 switches

32,000 (default), 16,000 (lpm heavy)

Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches

48,000

Nexus 9300-FX and 9300-GX switches

98,000 (in default routing mode, Hash Table: Shared between IPv6 ND, IPv4 ARP)

Nexus 9300-FX3 switches

98,000 (default), 16,000 (lpm heavy) (Hash Table: Shared between IPv6 ND, IPv4 ARP)

Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX, and 9700-EX/FX line cards

32,000

IPv4 unicast routes (LPM)*

Nexus 9200 switches

Default values: 6000 (IPv4), 1900 (IPv6), and 2000 (multicast)
With hardware profile multicast max-limit lpm-entries 0 configured: 8000 (IPv4), 1900 (IPv6), and 0 (multicast)
With hardware profile ipv6 lpm-entries maximum 0 configured: 14,000 (IPv4), 0 (IPv6), and 2000 (multicast)
With hardware profile ipv6 lpm-entries maximum 4096 and hardware profile multicast max - limit lpm - entries 0 configured: 0 (IPv4), 4096 (IPv6), and 0 (multicast)
When you allocate the entire table for IPv4 or IPv6 LPM unicast routes, the other address family cannot be used

Nexus 9300 switches

12,000 (default system routing mode); 128,000 (ALPM routing mode)

Nexus 9364C switches

Default system routing mode without system routing layer 3 scale:

Default values: 8000 (IPv4), 1900 (IPv6), and 2000 (multicast)
With hardware profile multicast max-limit lpm-entries 0 configured: 10,000 (IPv4), 1900 (IPv6), and 0 (multicast)
With hardware profile ipv6 lpm-entries maximum 0 configured: 14,000 (IPv4), 0 (IPv6), and 2000 (multicast)
With hardware profile ipv6 lpm-entries maximum 4096 and hardware profile multicast max - limit lpm - entries 0 configured: 4000 (IPv4), 4096 (IPv6), and 0 (multicast)
When you allocate the entire table for IPv4 or IPv6 LPM unicast routes, the other address family cannot be used.

128,000 (default system routing mode with system routing layer 3 scale)

Nexus 9300-EX switches

458,000 (default)

Nexus 9300-FX switches

1,153,000 / 996,000 (without / with urpf enabled) (default), 786,000 / 734,000 (without / with urpf enabled) (with system routing template - lpm - heavy - mode)

Nexus 9300-FX2 switches

524,000 / 471,000 (default); 786,000 / 734,000 (without / with urpf enabled) (with system routing template - lpm -heavy mode)

Nexus 9300-GX switches

1,153,000 (default), 786,000 / 734,000 (without / with urpf enabled) (with system routing template - lpm - heavy mode)

Nexus 9300-FX3 switches

1,119,000

Nexus 9300 switches

128,000 (default system routing mode); 16,000 (max-host routing mode)

Nexus 9500 switches

128,000 with no IPv6 routes (64-bit ALPM routing mode)

Nexus 9700-EX /FX line cards

589,000 (default)

Nexus 9600-R line cards

192,000 (Default system routing template)

Nexus 9600-RX line cards

1,000,000 (Default system routing template)

IPv6 unicast routes (LPM)*

Nexus 9200 switches

Default values: 6000 (IPv4), 1900 (IPv6), and 2000 (multicast)
With hardware profile multicast max-limit lpm-entries 0 configured: 8000 (IPv4), 1900 (IPv6), and 0 (multicast)
With hardware profile ipv6 lpm-entries maximum 0 configured: 14,000 (IPv4), 0 (IPv6), and 2000 (multicast)
With hardware profile ipv6 lpm-entries maximum 4096 and hardware profile multicast max - limit lpm - entries 0 configured: 0 (IPv4), 4096 (IPv6), and 0 (multicast)
When you allocate the entire table for IPv4 or IPv6 LPM unicast routes, the other address family cannot be used.

Nexus 9300 switches

7000 (6000 routes < /64, 1000 routes > /64) (default system routing mode); 20,000 (ALPM routing mode)

Nexus 9364C switches

Default system routing mode without system routing layer 3 scale

Default values: 8000 (IPv4), 1900 (IPv6), and 2000 (multicast)
With hardware profile multicast max-limit lpm-entries 0 configured: 10,000 (IPv4), 1900 (IPv6), and 0 (multicast)
With hardware profile ipv6 lpm-entries maximum 0 configured: 14,000 (IPv4), 0 (IPv6), and 2000 (multicast)
With hardware profile ipv6 lpm-entries maximum 4096 and hardware profile multicast max - limit lpm - entries 0 configured: 4000 (IPv4), 4096 (IPv6), and 0 (multicast)
When you allocate the entire table for IPv4 or IPv6 LPM unicast routes, the other address family cannot be used

64,000 (default system routing mode with system routing layer 3 scale)

Nexus 9300-EX switches

206,000 (/64 prefix length); 1900 (non /64 prefix length)

Nexus 9300-FX switches

628,000 / 560,000 (without / with urpf enabled) (default) ; 442,000 / 412,000 (without / with urpf enabled) (with system routing template - lpm - heavy mode)

Nexus 9300-FX2 switches

294,000 / 265,000 (without / with urpf enabled) (default) ; 442,000 / 412,000 (with out / with urpf enabled) (with system routing template - lpm - heavy mode)

Nexus 9300-GX switches

628,000 / 628,000 (without/with urpf enabled) (default) ; 442,000 / 412,000 (without / with urpf enabled) (with system routing template - lpm - heavy mode)

Nexus 9300-FX3 switches

600,000

Nexus 9500 switches

20,000 (default system routing mode)

4000 (max-host routing mode)

80,000 with no IPv4 routes (64-bit ALPM routing mode)

Nexus 9700-EX /FX line cards

176,000 (/64 prefix length); 3900 (non /64 prefix length) (FM-E) and 235,000 (any prefix length) (FM-E2 )

Nexus 9600-R line cards

62,000 (Default system routing template)

Nexus 9600-RX line cards

256,000 (Default system routing template)

IPv4 and IPv6 unicast routes (LPM) in 64-bit ALPM routing mode

Nexus 9500 switches

128,000 (IPv4) and 80000 (IPv6)

IPv4 host routes (LPM heavy mode)

Nexus 9236C, 9272Q, and 92304QC switches

262,000

Nexus 92160YC-X switches

650,000

Nexus 9364C switches

262,000

Nexus 9300-EX switches

786,000 / 720,000 (with out/with urpf enabled)

Nexus 9300-FX switches

786,000 / 734,000 (with out/with urpf enabled)

Nexus 9300-FX2/FX3 and 9300-GX switches

786,000 / 734,000 (with out/with urpf enabled)

Nexus 9700-EX /FX line cards

786,000

IPv6 host routes (LPM heavy mode)

Nexus 9200 switches

16,000

Nexus 9364 switches

131,000

Nexus 9300-EX switches

24,000 / 16,000 (with out/with urpf enabled) (protocol learned host)

Nexus 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 and 9300-GX switches

442,000 / 412,000 (with out/with urpf enabled) (protocol learned host)

Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

32,000 (shared between IPv6 ND and protocol learned host) (FM-E ) and 235,000 (FM-E2)

IPv4 LPM routes (LPM heavy mode)

Nexus 9236C, 9272Q, and 92304QC switches

262,000

Nexus 92160YC-X switches

650,000

Nexus 9364C switches

262,000

Nexus 9300-EX switches

786,000 / 720,000 (with out/with urpf enabled)

Nexus 9300-FX switches

786,000 / 734,000 (with out/with urpf enabled)

Nexus 9300-FX2 and 9300-GX switches

786,000 / 734,000 (with out/with urpf enabled)

Nexus 9300-FX3 switches

786,000

Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

786,000

IPv6 LPM routes (LPM heavy mode)

Nexus 9236C, 9272Q, and 92304QC switches

131,000 (/64 prefix length); 1900 (non /64 LPM scale)

Nexus 92160YC-X switches

294,000 (/64 prefix length); 1900 (non /64 LPM scale)

Nexus 9364C switches

131,000

Nexus 9300-EX switches

353,000 / 324,000 (with out/with urpf enabled) (/64 prefix length); 1900 (non /64 prefix length)

Nexus 9300-FX/FX2 and 9300-GX switches

442,000 / 412,000 (with out/with urpf enabled)

Nexus 9300-FX3 switches

442,000 / 412,000 (without / with urpf enabled) (protocol learned host)

Nexus 9700-EX /FX line cards

235,000 (/64 prefix length); 3900 (non /64 prefix length) (FM-E) and 235,000 (any prefix len) (FM-E2)

IPv4 host routes (dual-host mode)

Nexus 9200 and 9364C switches

163,000

Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9300-GX switches

262,000

IPv6 host routes (dual-host mode)

Nexus 9200 and 9364C switches

81,000

Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9300-GX switches

131,000

IPv4 LPM routes (dual-host mode)

Nexus 9200 and 9300-EX switches

6000

Nexus 9300-FX and 9364C switches

8000

Nexus 9300-FX2 and 9300-GX switches

10,000

Nexus 9300-FX3 switches

7000

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

Not supported

IPv6 LPM routes (dual-host mode)

Nexus 9200, 9300-EX, 9364C, and 9300-FX/FX3 switches

1900

Nexus 9300-FX2 and 9300-GX switches

3900

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

Not supported

IPv4 LPM routes (l3-heavy mode)

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-RX line cards

1,800,000

IPv6 LPM routes (l3-heavy mode)

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-RX line cards

750,000

IPv4 ARP (dual-host mode)

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C and 9300-EX switches

64,000

Nexus 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9300-GX switches

98,000

IPv6 ND (dual-host mode)

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C and 9300-EX switches

64,000

Nexus 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 and 9300-GX switches

98,000

IPv4 host routes (internet-peering mode)

Note

The combined IPv4 and IPv6 route prefixes of internet-peer which was working in the internet-peering routing mode may not work forever because the global internet tables are growing. This occurs as hardware resource to accommodate IPv4 and IPv6 route prefixes do not change once the hardware/software is shipped.

Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX2 switches

1 Million (protocol learned host)

Nexus 9300-FX/FX3 and 9300-GX switches

1,256,000 (protocol learned host)

Nexus 9500 switches with the Nexus 9700-EX /FX line cards

1 Million (protocol learned host)

IPv6 host routes (internet-peering mode)

Note

Nexus 9300-EX switches

16,000 (Hash Table: Shared between IPv6 ND and protocol learned IPv6 host)

Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX2 switches

500,000 (protocol learned host)

Nexus 9300-FX/FX3 and Nexus 9300-GX switches

628,000 (Protocol learned host)

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards

16,000 (Hash Table: Shared between IPv6 ND and protocol learned IPv6 host)

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-FX line cards

500,000 (protocol learned)

IPv4 LPM routes (internet-peering mode)

Note

Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX2 switches

1 Million (protocol learned)

Nexus 9300-FX/FX3 and 9300-GX switches

1,256,000 (protocol learned)

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

1 Million (protocol learned )

IPv6 LPM routes (internet-peering mode)

Note

Nexus 9300-EX switches

500,000 (Prefix length 0-83) protocol learned

1900 (Prefix length /84-127)

Nexus 9300-FX2 switches

500,000 (protocol learned)

Nexus 9300-FX/FX3 and 9300-GX switches

628,224

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX line cards

500,000 (Prefix length 48-83) protocol learned

1900 (Prefix length /84-127)

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-FX line cards

500,000 (Prefix length 48-128) protocol learned

Nexus 9500 switches with the FM-E and FM-E2 fabric line cards

176,000 (Prefix length 0–47 ) protocol learned host

Routes (internet-peering mode)

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

1 Million²⁵

IPv4 routes (internet-peering mode)

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

852,000²⁶

IPv6 routes (internet-peering mode)

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R line cards

175,000²⁷

Routes (internet-peering mode)

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R line cards

852,000

IPv4 routes (internet-peering mode)

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R line cards

781,000

IPv6 routes (internet-peering mode)

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R line cards

71,000

IPv4 ARP (internet peering mode)

Nexus 9300-EX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

32,000 (Hash Table: Shared between IPv6 ND, IPv4 ARP, and protocol learned IPv6 host)

Nexus 9300-FX/FX2 and 9300-GX switches

32,000 (Hash Table: Shared between IPv6 ND, IPv4 ARP, and protocol learned IPv6 host) over L3 interface and 16,000 over a SVI/VLAN (as the upper limit of the dynamic learned MAC address in the "internet Peering" mode is 16,000

Nexus 9300-FX/FX3 sand 9300-GX switches

IPv6 ND (internet-peering mode)

Nexus 9300-EX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

16,000 (Hash Table: Shared between IPv6 ND, IPv4 ARP, and protocol learned IPv6 host)

Nexus 9300-FX2 switches

16,000 (Hash Table: Shared between IPv6 ND, IPv4 ARP)

Nexus 9300-FX3 switches

32,000 over an L3 interface and 16,384 over an SVI / VLAN (as the upper limit of the dynamically learned MAC address upper limit in "Internet Peering" mode is 16,384)

IS-ISv4 adjacencies (either L1, L2, or sum of L1 and L2 with default timers)

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX /FX line cards

255

IS-ISv4 BFD sessions (with default timers)

Nexus 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

255

IS-ISv4 routes

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX /FX line cards

10,000

IS-ISv4 network type

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

Point to point, broadcast

Groups with default timers (3s/10s) and multiple group optimizations. [There are 2 primary, one for IPv4 and the other for IPv6, and 7926 secondary]

X9636C-R/RX and X9636Q-R line cards

7928

Groups with aggressive timers (1s/3s) and multiple groups optimization. [There are 2 primary, one for IPv4 and the other for IPv6, and 7926 secondary]²⁸

X9636C-R/RX and X9636Q-R line cards

7928

Groups per interface or I/ module

X9636C-R/RX and X9636Q-R line cards

Maximum 16 (Because 16 is the unique virtual MAC address limit)

OSPF/OSPFv3 LSA/LSDB size

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

250,000

Nexus 9300-FX3 switches

100,000

OSPF/OSPFv3 areas

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

Nexus 9300-FX3 switches

100

OSPFv2 neighbors

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX, and 9700-EX /FX line cards

1000

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, and 9500 switches

256

OSPFv3 neighbors

Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX, and 9700-EX /FX line cards

1000

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, and 9500 switches

256

OSPF/OSPFv3 LSA/LSDB size

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

100,000

OSPF/OSPFv3 areas

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, 9300-FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, and 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

100

Static routes

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, 9300-FX2, 9300-FX3, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

8000

VRFs

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, and 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

1000

Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards

3967

VRRP groups per interface or I/O module

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and 9700-EX/FX line cards

250

Policy-based routing (PBR)

Configured sequences per policy

Nexus 9200, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

128

Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches

256

Next-hop addresses per policy

Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

IPv4 ACEs (unidimensional)

Nexus 9200, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches and Nexus 9700-EX /FX line cards

3582 (per network forwarding engine)

Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches

3072 (per network forwarding engine)

IPv6 ACEs (unidimensional)

Nexus 9200, 9300-EX, and 9300-FX/FX2 switches

1792 (per network forwarding engine)

Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches

1536 (per network forwarding engine)

IPv4 and IPv6 ACEs

Nexus 9200, 9300-EX, and 9300-FX/FX2 switches

1024 IPv4 + 128 IPv6

Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches

2048 IPv4 + 256 IPv6

Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

1024 IPv4

Interfaces with PBR policy

Nexus 9200, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

512

Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches

256

VRRPv3

VRRPv3 groups per interface

Nexus 9200, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9700-EX /FX line cards

255

VRRPv3 groups with default timers (1 s)

Nexus 9200, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

490

VRRPv3 groups with relaxed timers (3 s)

Nexus 9200, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9700-EX /FX line cards

490

Pathways with one VRRPv3 group with default timer (1 s)

Nexus 9200, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

489

VRRPv3 groups and pathways combined

Nexus 9200, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards

490

ECMP

ECMP Paths

Nexus 9200, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3/FXP, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9504/9508 switches with -R/ RX line cards

²¹ The limit of supported BFD sessions for each EoR line card is 75.

²² If you have more than 490 groups, then only one group per SVI. SVIs cannot have a user defined MAC or any VRRP group with it.

²³ The hash table is subject to collisions. Depending on the host route pattern, collisions might occur.

²⁴ The hash table is subject to collisions. Depending on the host route pattern, collisions might occur.

²⁵ Contains internet peering profile with additional IPv4 and IPv6 routes.

²⁶ Internet profile with additional IPv4 routes (total of 914K routes consisting of IPv4 and 62K of IPv6)

²⁷ Internet profile with additional IPv6 routes (total of 871K routes consisting of IPv6 and 696K of IPv4)

²⁸ If the user has Multi-protocol configuration, user should configure appropriate CoPP policies to avoid any control plane traffic drops.

For the Cisco Nexus 9200 Platform switches, the default value for LPM unicast routes is 6000 (IPv4) or 1900 (IPv6). You can use the hardware profile multicast max-limit lpm-entries 0 command to increase the number of IPv4 LPM unicast routes to 8000. The hardware profile ipv6 lpm-entries maximum 0 command reserves the entire LPM table for IPv4. With this configuration, the IPv4 LPM scale is 14,000 (with 2000 reserved for multicast by default). This value can be increased to 16,000 with the hardware profile multicast max-limit lpm-entries 0 command. The hardware profile ipv6 lpm-entries maximum 4096 command reserves the entire LPM table for IPv6. With this configuration, the IPv6 LPM scale is 3900. When you allocate the entire table for IPv4 or IPv6 LPM unicast routes, the other address family cannot be used.

The maximum number of PBR next-hops based on 4 FM-E supported is 192 per slice of the forwarding engine

Note

The IPv4/IPv6 host routes and the IPv4 multicast routes share the same hardware table. Limits are provided for both the default line card mode and the max host line card mode.
The IPv4 and IPv6 unicast routes share the same hardware table. Limits are provided for both the default line card mode and the max host line card mode.
High availability (graceful restart and stateful switchover) is not supported when unicast or multicast aggressive timers are configured at any scale.

Guidelines and Limitations for OSPF Verified Scalability Limits

To achieve the highest scale, we recommend that you use a single OSPF instance instead of multiple instances.
Each OSPFv2 and OSPFv3 scale value might vary when combined with other parameters.
The graceful restart timeout value might be increased in multidimensional scenarios.

Table 20. PVLAN VXLAN Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)
Feature	Supported Platforms	Verified Limits
Primary VLANs	Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	16
Secondary VLANs	Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	20
Ports in community host mode	Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	40
Port in Isolated host mode	Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	40
Ports in isolated trunk mode	Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	40
Ports in promiscuous mode	Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	5
PVLANs allowed on a PVLAN port	Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	16

Table 21. VXLAN Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)
Feature	Supported Platforms	Verified Limits
IGMP snooping over VXLAN
VXLAN VLANs	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	1000
VTEP Peers²⁹	Nexus 9200 and 9300 switches	256
VTEP Peers²⁹	Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX, and 9700-EX/FX line cards	512
Underlay multicast groups	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2 /FX3, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	128
Multi-Site ³⁰
Asymmetric VNIs per peer	Nexus 9332C, 9364C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FXP, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	4000
Number of Tunnel Encryption sessions	Nexus 9300, N9336C-FX2, N93240YC-FX2, N93360YC-FX2, N93216TC-FX2	128³¹
Number of BGWs per site for Secure VXLAN EVPN Multi-Site using CloudSec	N9336C-FX2, N93240YC-FX2, N93360YC-FX2, N93216TC-FX2 switches	6 per 10 sites
Number of sites	Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9332C, 9364C, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	25
Number of sites for Secure VXLAN EVPN Multi-Site using CloudSec	Nexus 9300-FX2 switches	10
Number of sites for TRM	Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9332C, 9364C, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	15 sites
Number of BGWs per site³²	Nexus 9332C, 9364C, and 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	2 (Anycast), 2(vPC)
Number of BGWs per site³²	Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9300-GX switches	6 (Anycast), 2 (vPC)
Number of BGWs per site with TRM enabled³³	Nexus 9332C, 9364C, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	2 (Anycast), 2 (vPC)
Number of BGWs per site with TRM enabled³³	Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX and 9300-GX switches	6 (Anycast), 2 (vPC)
Number of BGWs for TRM	Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9332C, 9364C, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	06 BGW
Number of Secure VXLAN EVPN Multi-Site using CloudSec sessions	Nexus 9300-FX2 switches	128 ³⁴
Multisite-PIP ECMP	Nexus 9300-FX2 switches	1000³⁵
VTEPs per Site	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	256
Tenant Route Multicast Layer 3 Mode with VXLAN BGP eVPN
VXLAN Layer 2 VNI	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	1000
VXLAN Layer 3 VNI/VRFs	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	250
VTEP Peers	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	256
Underlay Multicast Group (PIM ASM Underlay)	Nexus 9200, 9300,9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	128³⁶
Overlay Multicast Group (PIM ASM & PIM SSM)	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	7200³⁷
VXLAN Flood and Learn
Virtual network identifiers (VNIs) or VXLAN-mapped VLANs	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX,and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	2000
Virtual network identifiers (VNIs) or VXLAN-mapped VLANs	Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	1000
Underlay multicast groups	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	128
Overlay MAC addresses	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches	64,000
	Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	90,000
	Nexus 9300-FX2/FX3 switches	60,000
Remote VXLAN tunnel endpoints (VTEPs Multicast)	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9364C-EX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	512
Ingress replication peers ³⁸	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	512
Ingress replication Layer 2 VNIs	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	1000
MAC addresses for ingress replication	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches	64,000
MAC addresses for ingress replication	Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	90,000
Port VLAN translations under an interface	Nexus 9300, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	100
Port VLAN translations under an interface	Nexus 9300-EX/FX/FX2/FX3 switches	3967
Port VLAN translations in a switch	Nexus 9300 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	2000
	Nexus 9300-EX/FX/FX2/FX3 switches	24,000
	Nexus 9500 switches	200
Static MAC addresses pointing to a remote VTEP	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	1000
VXLAN VLAN logical port VP count	Nexus 9300, and 9500 switches	7000
VXLAN VLANs per FEX port (host interface)	Nexus 9300, 9300-FX3, and 9500 switches	75
VXLAN VLANs per FEX port (host interface)	Nexus 93180YC-EX	75³⁹
Layer 2 routed VNIs for vPC-centralized gateway	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	450
IGMP groups	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	8192
VXLAN BGP eVPN
Layer 2 VNIs	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards	2000
	Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 switches	2000, 4000 (with no Layer 3 VNIs)
	Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	1000
Xconnect VLANs	Nexus 9300, 9332C, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9300-GX switches	40
SVI with Distributed Anycast Gateway; Layer 2 VNI extended	Nexus 9300-EX switches	2000⁴⁰
	Nexus 9300, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9300-GX switches	2000
	Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	1000
Layer 3 VNIs / VRFs⁴¹	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards	900
Layer 3 VNIs / VRFs⁴¹	Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	750
Underlay multicast groups	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	128
VTEPs	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9600-R, 9600-RX, and 9700-EX / FX, line cards	512
MAC addresses	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches	64,000
	Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9700-EX /FX line cards	90,000
	Nexus 9300-FX3 switches	90,000
	Nexus 92348GC-X switches	97,000
Port VLAN translations under an interface	Nexus 9300, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	100
Port VLAN translations under an interface	Nexus 9300-EX/FX/FX2/FX3/GX switches	3967
Port VLAN translations in a switch	Nexus 9300, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	2000
	Nexus 9300-EX/FX/FX2/FX3/GX switches	24,000
	Nexus 9500 switches	200
IPv4 host routes	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches	60,000
	Nexus 92348GC-X switches	16,000
	Nexus 9300-EX switches	458,000
	Nexus 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 and 9300-GX switches	471,000
	Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	656,000
	Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards	128,000
IPv6 host routes	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches	7000
	Nexus 9300-EX switches	24,000
	Nexus 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 and 9300-GX switches	265,000
	Nexus 9700-EX/FX line card	34,000
	Nexus 9600-R and 9600-RX line cards	32,000
Overlay IPv4 LPM routes	Nexus 9200 switches	8000
	Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches	12,000
	Nexus 9300-EX switches	458,000
	Nexus 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 and 9300-GX switches	471,000
	Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	656,000
Overlay IPv6 LPM routes	Nexus 9200 switches	2000
	Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches	7000
	Nexus 9300-EX switches	206,000⁴²
	Nexus 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 and 9300-GX switches	265,000⁴³
	Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	174,000⁴⁴
VXLAN VLAN logical port VP count	Nexus 9300 switches	10,000
VXLAN VLAN logical port VP count	Nexus 9500 switches	7000
VXLAN VLANs per FEX port (host interface)	Nexus 9300-FX3 and 9500 switches	75
IGMP groups	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	8192
VXLAN BGP eVPN Ingress Replication
Layer 2 VNIs	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9300-GX switches	2000
Layer 2 VNIs	Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	1000
Xconnect VLANs	Nexus 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9300-GX switches	40
Selective Qinvni with multiprovider tag	Nexus 93180YC-EX, 93180YC-FX, 9336C-FX2, and 9300-FX3 switches	4000 mappings, 10 provider VLANs; System wide: 48,000 mappings, 512 Provider VLANs
SVI with Distributed Anycast Gateway; Layer 2 VNI extended	Nexus 9200 and 9300-EX switches	2000⁴⁵
	Nexus 9300, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9300-GX switches	2000
	Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	1000
Layer 3 VNIs / VRFs⁴⁶	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9300-GX switches	900
Layer 3 VNIs / VRFs⁴⁶	Nexus 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	750
VTEPs	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	512
MAC addresses	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches	64,000
	Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2, 9300-GX switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	90,000
	Nexus 9300-FX3 switches	90,000
IPv4 host routes	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches	32,000
	Nexus 9300-EX switches	458,000
	Nexus 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 and 9300-GX switches	471,000
	Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	656,000
IPv6 host routes	Nexus 9200, 9300, and 9500 switches	7000
	Nexus 9300-EX switches	24,000
	Nexus 9300-FX/FX2 and 9300-GX switches	265,000
	Nexus 9300-FX3 switches	500,000
	Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	34,000
Overlay IPv4 LPM routes	Nexus 9200 switches	8000
	Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches	12,000
	Nexus 9300-EX switches	458,000
	Nexus 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 and 9300-GX switches	471,500
	Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	656,000
Overlay IPv6 LPM routes	Nexus 9200 switches	2000
	Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches	7000
	Nexus 9300-EX switches	206,000⁴⁷
	Nexus 9300-FX/FX2/FX3 and 9300-GX switches	265,000⁴⁸
	Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	174,000⁴⁹
VXLAN VLAN logical port VP count	Nexus 9300 and 9500 switches	7500
VXLAN VLANs per FEX port (host interface)	Nexus 9300, 9300-FX3, and 9500 switches	75
IGMP groups	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, 9500 switches and Nexus 9700-EX/FX line cards	8192
VXLAN and IP-in-IP Tunneling
IP-in-IP tunnels	Nexus 9300-FX2 switches	16
VXLAN Static Tunnels
VNIs	Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, and 9364C switches	100
VRFs	Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9364C switches	100
VTEP peers	Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, and 9364C switches	256
V4 routes	Nexus 9300-EX, 9300-FX/FX2/FX3, 9300-GX, and 9364C switches	10,000

²⁹ In case of IR, each VNI can have a max of 64 peers.

³⁰ All the other BGW numbers (number of supported L2VNIs, L3VNIs, MAC addresses, IP addresses, and so on) match the values supported on a generic VXLAN EVPN VTEP node.

³¹ Total number of Cloudsec Security Associations in hardware = 128 (M *N*L) where (M = no. of Cloudsec peers, N = no. of uplinks on each Cloudsec endpoint, L is number of border gateway nodes)

³² Multi-Site enabled with TRM supported number of L2VNIs –1000 and L3VNIs –100. Maximum supported multicast underlay and overlay route is 8000.

³³ Multi-Site enabled with TRM supported number of L2VNIs –1000 and L3VNIs –100. Maximum supported multicast underlay and overlay route is 8000.

³⁴ Total number of Cloudsec Security Associations in hardware = 128 (M *N*L) where (M = no. of Cloudsec peers, N = no. of uplinks on each Cloudsec endpoint, L is number of border gateway nodes)

³⁵ Number of vrfs * number of sites = 1000

³⁶ VXLAN underlay and overlay multicast routes shares the same hardware table. Maximum Multicast routes is 8000 in the default mode. If you want more overlay route scale, reduce the underlay multicast control group.

³⁷ VXLAN underlay and overlay multicast routes shares the same hardware table. Maximum Multicast routes is 8000 in the default mode. If you want more overlay route scale, reduce the underlay multicast control group.

³⁸ In case of IR, each VNI can have a maximum number of 64 peers; 512 peers supported on 100 VNIs only.

³⁹ This is the limit for the Cisco Nexus 93180YC-EX and other fiber based switches. All copper based 9300-EX switches are not applicable.

⁴⁰ Only 1900 SVI are supported if dual stack is used/IPv6 is used.

⁴¹ ECMP objects are not shared across multiple VRFs.

⁴² All /64 routes + 4000 for non /64 routes.

⁴³ All /64 routes + 4000 for non /64 routes.

⁴⁴ All /64 routes + 4000 for non /64 routes.

⁴⁵ Only 1900 SVI are supported if dual stack is used/IPv6 is used.

⁴⁶ ECMP objects are not shared across multiple VRFs.

⁴⁷ All /64 routes + 4000 for non /64 routes.

⁴⁸ All /64 routes + 4000 for non /64 routes.

⁴⁹ All /64 routes + 4000 for non /64 routes.

Table 22. Tetration Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)
Feature	Supported Platforms	Verified Limit
TCAM size	Nexus 92160YC-X, 9300-EX, and 9300-FX switches	1024 entries
	Nexus 92160YC-X switches	IPv4 –4 entries per rule (TCP, UDP, ICMP, and IP)
	Nexus 9300-EX, and 9300-FX switches	IPv4 –2 entries per rule (ICMP and IP)
	Nexus 92160YC-X switches	IPv6 –8 entries per rule (4 entries per ICMP and IPv6 for a total of 8 entries)
	Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX switches	IPv6 –8 entries per rule (4 entries per ICMP and IPv6 for a total of 8 entries)
	Nexus 92160YC-X, 9300-EX, and 9300-FX switches	24 entries out of 1000 is consumed for default.
TCAM	Nexus 92160YC-X switches	250 (IPv4) or 62 (IPv6)
TCAM	Nexus 9300-EX and 9300-FX switches	500 (IPv4) or 125 (IPv6)

The entire Cisco Tetration Analytics documentation set is available at the following URL: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/data-center-analytics/tetration-analytics/tsd-products-support-series-home.html

Verified Scalability Limits - Multidimensional

The tables in this section list the verified scalability limits for the Cisco Nexus 9508 switch with an X9636C-R, X9636C-RX, or X9636Q-R line card or a C9508-FM-R fabric module and Cisco Nexus 9504 with -R line cards for Cisco NX-OS Release 9.3(8). These limits are validated with a multidimensional configuration. The values provided in these tables focus on the scalability of all listed features at the same time.

Each number is the absolute maximum currently supported by this Cisco NX-OS release for the corresponding feature. If the hardware is capable of a higher scale, future software releases might increase this verified maximum limit. Results might differ from the values listed here when trying to achieve maximum scalability with multiple features enabled.

Attention

These numbers are not the maximum verified values if each feature is viewed in isolation. For these numbers, see the "Verified Scalability Limits" section.

Table 23. eBGP/IS-IS Profile Verified Scalability Limits (Multidimensional)
Feature	Verified Limits
Number of 100G ports	288
ECMP	16-way (Upstream)
BGP neighbors	960
BGP IPv4 /32 unicast routes	30,000
BGP IPv4 VLSM unicast routes	18,000
BGP IPv6 /128 unicast routes	16,000
BGP IPv6 VLSM unicast routes	1000
IS-IS v2 neighbors	255
IS-IS v3 neighbors	255
IS-IS Layer 2 adjacency	16
IS-IS IPv4 /32 unicast routes	20,000
IS-IS IPv4 VLSM unicast routes	1000
IS-IS IPv6 /128 unicast routes	20,000
IS-IS IPv6 VLSM unicast routes	1000
BFD sessions	272
PIM neighbors	256
ACL ACEs	15,000 500
Sub-interfaces	712
SPAN sessions	1 local SPAN session
Multicast SSM	20,000

Table 24. iBGP/OSPF Profile Verified Scalability Limits (Multidimensional)
Feature	Verified Limits
Number of 100G ports	180
Number of 40G ports	108
ECMP	8-way (Upstream)
BGP neighbors	8
BGP IPv4 VLSM unicast routes	40,000
BGP IPv6 VLSM unicast routes	10,000
OSPFv2 neighbors	108
OSPFv3 neighbors	30
OSPF IPv4 /32 unicast routes	100,000
OSPF IPv4 VLSM unicast routes	155,000
OSPFv3 IPv6 /128 unicast routes	1000
OSPFv3 IPv6 VLSM unicast routes	9000
BFD sessions	108
VRF	250
PIM neighbors	108
IPv4 (*,G) multicast routes	2000
IPv4 (S,G) multicast routes	10,000
ACL ACEs	500 (IPv4) 500 (IPv6)
SPAN sessions	1 local SPAN session

Table 25. iBGP/EIGRP Profile Verified Scalability Limits (Multidimensional)
Feature	Verified Limits
Number of 100G ports	180
Number of 40G ports	108
ECMP	16-way (Upstream)
BGP neighbors	8
BGP IPv4 VLSM unicast routes	40,000
BGP IPv6 VLSM unicast routes	10,000
EIGRP v4 neighbors	276
EIGRP v6 neighbors	276
EIGRP IPv4 /32 unicast routes	30,000
EIGRP IPv4 VLSM unicast routes	1000
EIGRP IPv6 /128 unicast routes	30,000
EIGRP IPv6 VLSM unicast routes	1000
BFD sessions	276
VRF	250
PIM neighbors	276
IPv4 (*,G) multicast routes	6000
IPv4 (S,G) multicast routes	16,000
ACL ACEs	500 (IPv4) 500 (IPv6)
SPAN sessions	1 local SPAN session

Table 26. MPLS Verified Scalability Limits (Multidimensional)
Feature	Verified Limits
MPLS L3VPN	3967
VPE	3967
PE nodes	3
PE routes	20,000
X9636C-RX line card: ACL scale-IPv4	95,000
X9636C-RX line card: ACL scale-IPv6	20,000
HSRP, HSRP VIP	3967 each for v4 and v6
vPC uRPF	3967
Strict uRPF	Yes
VRF	3967
SVI	3967
Layer 3 VPN routes IP ECMP	2000
MPLS LSR ECMP	2000
VPNv4 routes	400,000
VPNv6 routes	90,000
EBGP neighbors	750

Table 27. Layer 2/Layer 3 Boundary Verified Scalability Limits (Multidimensional)
Feature	Verified Limits
MAC addresses	19,000
Number of sub-interfaces	500
vPC Port channels	46
ECMP	16-way (Upstream)
OSPFv2 neighbors	47
OSPFv3 neighbors	47
OSPF IPv4 /32 unicast routes	45,000
OSPF IPv4 VLSM unicast routes	1000
OSPF IPv6 /128 unicast routes	20,000
OSPF IPv6 VLSM unicast routes	1000
BFD sessions	49
VRF	250
VLAN	3750
SVI	3750
VRRP v4 groups	1996 VRRS / 4 VRRPv3
VRRP v6 groups	1996 VRRS / 4 VRRPv3
HSRP IPv4	1743 Secondary groups / 7 Primary groups
HSRP IPv6	1743 Secondary groups / 7 Primary groups
PIM neighbors	396
IPv4 (*,G) multicast routes	3080
IPv4 (S,G) multicast routes	26,600
IGMP snooping database entries	6400
sFlow enabled interfaces	83
UDLD enabled interfaces	93
SPAN sessions	1 local SPAN session

Table 28. Segment Routing Verified Scalability Limits (Multidimensional)
Feature	Verified Limits
VLAN	100
SVI	100
MAC entries	10,000
ARP entries	70
HSRPv4 VIPs	100
HSRpv6 VIPs	100
LACP	11
LACP members	4
eBGP IPv6 neighbors	9
eBGP IPv4 LU neighbors	9
IPv4 (LU) routes	6888
IPv4 (LU) paths	17,580
IPv6 routes	6663
IPv4 (LU) routes	17,338
SR ECMP	18 (dual-homed)
MPLS HW entries	11,957

Table 29. VXLAN Profile Verified Scalability Limits (Multidimensional)
Feature	Verified Limits
Ports	16
ECMP	8-way (Upstream)
BGP neighbors	200
BGP EVPN Layer 2 VPN host routes	64,000
BGP IPv4 VLSM unicast routes or OSPF	10,000
BGP IPv6 VLSM unicast routes or OSPF	6000
BFD sessions	20
PIM neighbors	20
IPv4 (*, G) multicast routes (co-existing)	4000
IPv4 (S,G) multicast routes (co-existing)	2000
Layer 3 VNI	900
Layer 2 VNI	2000
Local VTEP	1
Remote VTEPs	256
VLAN	3600
SVI	900
MAC	90,000

Deployment Case Studies

This section provides sample topologies for some common deployments. For each topology, the scalability numbers are the limits with all of the listed features enabled at the same time.

Attention

These numbers are not the maximum verified values if each feature is viewed in isolation. For these numbers, see the "Verified Scalability Limits" section.

Layer 2/Layer 3 Aggregation Topology (Max-Host Routing Mode)

This Layer 2/Layer 3 aggregation topology consists of Cisco Nexus 9508 switches as virtual port channel (vPC) aggregation pairs. These aggregation nodes are fully loaded with N9K-X9564TX, N9K-X9564PX, and N9K-X9636PQ line cards. The N9K-X9636PQ line cards are used in normal mode and breakout mode. Cisco Nexus 9396PX and 93128TX switches are used as top-of-rack units with Cisco Nexus 3000 Series switches to achieve the desired vPC scale.

The Cisco Nexus 9508 switch is also used as a core Layer 3 node that connects to a pair of vPC aggregation nodes. The focus of the topology is to test IPv4 ARP, IPv6 neighbor discovery (ND), and Layer 2 scalability and other routing, switching, and Layer 4 through Layer 7 features for management and operations. All Layer 3 interfaces are configured for dual stack, and the traffic is dual stack for all VLANs.

In the following table, the Verified Limit column lists the verified scaling capabilities with all listed features enabled at the same time. The scale numbers listed here exceed those used by most customers in their topologies. These numbers are not the maximum verified values if each feature is viewed in isolation.

Table 30. Layer 2/Layer 3 Aggregation Topology (Max-Host Routing Mode)
Feature	9508 Verified Limit (Max-Host Routing Mode)
Fully loaded chassis	1 N9K-X9636PQ, 1 N9K-X9564TX, 2 N9K-X9564PX, 1 N9K-X9432PQ, 1 N9K-X9536PQ
Physical interfaces enabled	276
Multicast S,G routes	653
Multicast *,G routes	500
IPv4 unicast routes (LPM)	5000
IPv6 unicast routes (LPM)	850
IPv4 ARP	65,000
IPv6 ND	40,000
MAC addresses	90,000
VLANs	490
vPCs*	200
OSPFv2 neighbors	20
OSPFv3 neighbors	4
BGP (IPv4) neighbors	65
BGP (IPv6) neighbors	65
SVIs	490
STP logical ports	2800 (RPVST)
HSRP VLANs (IPv4/IPv6)	490
Virtual ports	700
Port channel links	8

* The number of VLANs per vPC supported should be within the MST or RPVST virtual port count specified in this table, depending on the topology.

Layer 2/Layer 3 Aggregation Topology (Default Routing Mode)

This Layer 2/Layer 3 aggregation topology consists of Cisco Nexus 9516 switches as virtual port channel (vPC) aggregation pairs. These aggregation nodes are fully loaded with N9K-X9564TX, N9K-X9564PX, and N9K-X9536PQ line cards. The chassis is fully loaded with five line cards configured for breakout mode. The Cisco Nexus 9396PX and 93128TX switches are used as top-of-rack units with Cisco Nexus 3000 Series switches to achieve the desired vPC scale. The Cisco Nexus 9516 nodes are running in default routing mode. The Cisco Nexus 3164Q switch is also used as a core Layer 3 node that connects to a pair of vPC aggregation nodes.

The focus of the topology is to test IPv4 ARP, IPv6 neighbor discovery (ND), Layer 2 scalability, IPv4 and IPv6 LPM routing, Layer 2 and Layer 3 multicast routing for IPv4, and Layer 4 through Layer 7 features for management and operations. All Layer 3 interfaces are configured for dual stack, and the traffic is dual stack for all VLANs.

In the following table, the Verified Limit column lists the verified scaling capabilities with all listed features enabled at the same time. These numbers are not the maximum verified values if each feature is viewed in isolation.

Table 31. Layer 2/Layer 3 Aggregation Topology (Default Routing Mode)
Feature	9516 Switch Verified Limit (Default Routing Mode)	9300 Platform Verified Limit (Default Routing Mode)
Chassis configuration	5 N9K-X9432PQ line cards 4 N9K-X9464PX line cards 3 N9K-X9536PQ line cards 3 N9K-X9464TX line cards 1 N9K-X9564TX line card	9372
Physical ports	1335	50
vPCs	303	24
SVIs	450	450
VRFs	100	100
IPv4 ARP	40,000	40,000
IPv6 ND	10,000	10,000
STP logical ports	10,000	6000
BGP neighbors (IPv4 + IPv6)	502 + 502	502 + 502
IPv4 LPM routes	50,000	6000
IPv6 LPM routes	10,000	1000
BFD (IPv4 + IPv6)	300	102
IGP OSPFv2 neighbors	502	502
IGP OSPFv3 neighbors	502	502
HSRP (IPv4 + IPv6)	450 + 450	450 + 450
IGMP groups	2000	2000
Multicast *,G routes	2000	2000
Multicast S,G routes	8000	6000
Tracking objects	450	450
VLANs	500	500
PIM neighbors	502	502
MAC addresses	60,000	60,000
Network address translation (NAT)	Not applicable	756
sFlow	256	32

FEX System Topology

The FEX 9500 multi-dimensional scale topology consists of Cisco Nexus 9508 switches as virtual port channel (vPC) pairs. Each switch has multiple X9564PX line cards. Each switch has 32 FEX uplinks connected to them. The FEX 9300 multi-dimensional scale topology consists of two Cisco Nexus 9396PX switches used in vPC mode along with 16 FEX uplinks connected to each switch. Multiple FEXs of type Nexus 2248TP-E, 2232PP, 2248PQ, and 2348UPQ are used.

The switches are used at the Layer 2 and Layer 3 boundary and are also configured as VXLAN VTEPs. The FEX host ports are operating as Layer 2 ports. The switches are configured as gateways with the use of SVI interfaces.

Table 32. FEX System Topology
Feature	9500 Platform Verified Limit	9300 Platform Verified Limit
Fabric Extenders	32	16
Up interfaces	1100	560
Port channels	426	256
vPC members	390	360
VLANs	744	416
PVLAN VLANs	56	56
Secondary VLANs per primary VLAN	25	25
MAC addresses	45,000	25,000
HSRP	365	365
ARP	12,000	10,000
Neighbor discovery (ND)	5000	5000
Multicast (*,G)	4000	4000
Multicast (S,G)	4000	4000

Multicast System Topology

Two Cisco Nexus 9508 switches are configured as vPC peers in one domain, and two Cisco Nexus 9372PX switches are configured as vPC peers in the other domain. The chassis are fully loaded with N9K-X9432PQ, N9K-X9464PX, N9K-X9536PQ, N9K-X9564PX, N9K-X9564TX, and N9K-X9636PQ line cards. eBGP routing is used to connect these two PIM domains. OSPF is used as IGP in one domain, and EIGRP is configured in the other domain. This setup is configured with multiple rendezvous points (RPs) to serve different multicast group ranges. BSR is used to advertise RP information in both of these PIM domains. PIM anycast is used in one domain, and MSDP anycast is used in the other domain for redundancy and load balancing. Static RP configuration is also used for a range of multicast groups.

The Cisco Nexus 9516 and Cisco Nexus 7000 Series switches are used as Layer 3 core routers in one domain. The Cisco Nexus 3164Q switches are used as Layer 3 core routers in the other domain. This topology also includes the Cisco Nexus 9396PX, Cisco Nexus 9372PX, and Cisco Nexus 3016/3064T switches in the access layer.

In addition to including Layer 2/Layer 3 IPv4 multicast routing, this topology also covers IPv4 and IPv6 host and LPM routing and Layer 2 unicast forwarding. All interfaces are configured for dual stack.

Table 33. Multicast System Topology
Feature	9500 Platform Verified Limit	9300 Platform Verified Limit
Chassis configuration	N9K-X9636PQ, N9K-X9536PQ, N9K-X9564PX, N9K-X9564TX, N9K-X9432PQ, N9K-X9464PX, N9K-X9432PQ, C3164PQ	C9372PX, C9396PX, C3164PQ
Multicast S,G routes	17,500	5000
Multicast *,G routes	2500 (IGMP) 12500 (snooping)	500 (IGMP) 2500 (snooping)
Sources	2000, 200, 100, 40, 10, 3, 2, 1	2000, 200, 100, 40, 10, 3, 2, 1
Replications	40	20
ECMPs	16	8
SVIs	200	200
HSRP/VRRP	200 HSRP	100 VRRP
MAC addresses	40,000	10,000
ARP	20,000	4000
Unicast LPM IPv4 routes	20,000	4000
Unicast LPM IPv6 routes	10,000	1000
IPv4 ARP	18,000	4000
IPv6 ND	4000	2000
MSDP peers (fully mesh)	4	4
Anycast RPs (MSDP and PIM anycast) ⁵⁰	2 MSDP	2 PIM anycast
IPv4 multicast routes with PIM bidirectional groups	8000	8000

⁵⁰ This multicast system topology consists of two multicast PIM domains. The Multicast Source Discovery Protocol (MSDP) is used to exchange multicast source information between these two domains.

VXLAN BGP/eVPN iBGP Centric Topology

This VXLAN BGP/eVPN iBGP centric topology consists of Cisco Nexus 9300 and 9500 Platform switches acting as VXLAN vPC tunnel endpoints (VTEPs) and VXLAN non-vPC VTEPs. VXLAN VTEPs establish iBGP sessions to a Cisco Nexus 9508 switch (route reflector) acting as a spine node. VXLAN-distributed anycast gateway SVIs are configured for dual stack, and the traffic is dual stack.

The focus of this topology is to test VXLAN overlay network scale and underlay Layer 2 switching and other routing, multicast, and Layer 4 through Layer 7 features for management and operations. Underlay PIM neighbors and IS-IS adjacency were tested with the default timer and Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) enabled on all links.

Table 34. VXLAN BGP/eVPN iBGP Centric Topology
Feature	Supported Platform	Verified Limit
System Routing Template	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, and 9500 switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	default
System Routing Template	Nexus 9364C switches	Not applicable
VXLAN VTEPs	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, 9364C and 9500 switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	128
VXLAN Layer 2 VNIs	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, 9364C and 9500 switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	2000
VXLAN Layer 3 VNIs/VRFs	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, 9364C and 9500 switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	500
VXLAN multicast groups	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, 9364C and 9500 switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	128
VXLAN overlay MAC addresses	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, 9364C and 9500 switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	64,000
VXLAN overlay IPv4 host routes	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, 9364C and 9500 switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	60,000
VXLAN overlay IPv6 host routes	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, and 9500 switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	16,000
VXLAN overlay IPv6 host routes	Nexus 9364C switches	Not applicable
VXLAN overlay IGMP Snooping groups	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, 9364C and 9500 switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	1000
VXLAN IPv4 LPM routes	Nexus 9200, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, and 9364C switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	5120
VXLAN IPv6 LPM routes	Nexus 9200, 9300-EX, and 9300-FX switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	1500
VXLAN IPv6 LPM routes	Nexus 9364C switches	Not applicable
VXLAN VLAN logical port VP count	Nexus 9364C switches	Not applicable
VLANs on VTEP node	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, 9364C, and 9500 switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	1700 (total VLANs) 1500 (VXLAN VLANs) 200 (non-VXLAN VLANs)
MST instances	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, and 9500 switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	20
MST instances	Nexus 9364C switches	Not applicable
STP logical ports	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, and 9500 switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	3500
STP logical ports	Nexus 9364C switches	Not applicable
vPC port channels	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, and 9300-FX switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	40
vPC port channels	Nexus 9364C switches	Not applicable
Underlay IS-IS neighbors	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, and 9300-FX switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	32
Underlay IS-IS neighbors	Nexus 9364C switches	Not applicable
Underlay PIM neighbors	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, and 9500 switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	12
Underlay PIM neighbors	Nexus 9364C switches	Not applicable
Underlay HSRP groups for regular VLANs	Nexus 9364C switches	Not applicable
Underlay vPC SVIs	Nexus 9200, 9300, 9300-EX, 9300-FX, and 9500 switches and the X9700-EX/FX line cards	200
Underlay vPC SVIs	Nexus 9364C switches	Not applicable

Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS Verified Scalability Guide, Release 9.3(8)

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Introduction

Verified Scalability Limits - Unidimensional

Verified Scalability Limits - Multidimensional

Deployment Case Studies

Layer 2/Layer 3 Aggregation Topology (Max-Host Routing Mode)

Layer 2/Layer 3 Aggregation Topology (Default Routing Mode)

FEX System Topology

Multicast System Topology

VXLAN BGP/eVPN iBGP Centric Topology

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