Official Cisco Product Clarification

N3K-M324P is an invalid, non-existent Cisco part numberwith no matching records in Cisco’s official hardware compatibility matrices, datasheets, NX-OS hardware support tables, and EOL archives.

Root Cause of Invalid Naming Error

Genuine fixed-form-factor Cisco Nexus 3000 switches follow the strict naming format:N3K-C3XXX[Suffix]Breakdown of your inputN3K-M324P:

1. N3K: Valid prefix for fixed Nexus 3000 data center switches
2. M: Invalid middle character; all official models use letterCas the platform identifier instead ofM
3. 324: Implies 24×SFP+ ports (the authentic matching model isN3K-C3524P-10G / N3K-C3524P-10GX, 24-port licensed ultra-low-latency HFT/HPC switch)
4. P: Valid suffix representing SFP/SFP+ fiber-only ports

Cisco N3K-C3524P-10GX Full Official Technical Specification Document

1. Product Overview

Official Full Designation

Cisco N3K-C3524P-10GX:Cisco Nexus 3524P-10GX 1RU Ultra-Low-Latency Data Center Switch, Licensed 24 Active SFP+ 1/10-Gigabit Ethernet Ports, PHY-Less SoC Architecture Optimized for HFT and HPC Workloads

N3K-C3524P-10GX belongs to the Cisco Nexus 3500 ultra-low-latency switch family, purpose-built for high-frequency trading (HFT), high-performance computing (HPC), latency-sensitive virtualized server aggregation, and compact storage networking deployments. The-GXsuffix denotes enhanced silicon architecture with optimized buffer allocation and further reduced forwarding latency compared to the base N3K-C3524P-10G model.

Core Definition1-rack-unit (1RU) rack-mount Layer 2/Layer 3 switch built on a unique PHY-less Switch-on-a-Chip (SoC) architecture to achieve sub-microsecond packet forwarding latencyCisco. The chassis physically contains 48 SFP+ slots, but a factory software license restricts operation to only 24 ports; an optional upgrade license unlocks all 48 ports. It runs modular fault-isolated Cisco NX-OS, delivering wire-speed low-latency forwarding, hardware-accelerated TCAM ACL security, multi-queue QoS scheduling, dedicated hardware multicast replication, IEEE 1588 precision timing synchronization, and complete Layer 2/Layer 3 routing protocol support.

SKU Naming Breakdown

1. N3K: Standard prefix for fixed-form-factor Cisco Nexus 3000 series data center switches
2. C3524: Platform identifier for Nexus 3500 low-latency 24-port licensed switch chassis
3. P: Port media suffix indicating SFP/SFP+ fiber-only downlink ports
4. 10GX: Enhanced low-latency silicon variant optimized for 10G SFP+ workloads

Product Lifecycle Notice

• Official Global Release Year: 2013
• End-of-Sale (EoS) Announcement Date: October 7, 2016
• End-of-Support (EoSS) Date: October 31, 2021
• Minimum Supported NX-OS Software Version: NX-OS Release 7.0(3)I2(1)
• Software Maintenance Status: Only critical security vulnerability patches were provided during the maintenance window; no new feature development
• Legacy Status: End-of-sale hardware; refurbished spare parts available through third-party vendors, Cisco TAC engineering support is no longer active for expired service contracts

Supported Deployment & Fabric Compatibility

Physical Deployment Scenarios

• Standard 19-inch EIA rack 1RU mounting
• High-Frequency Trading (HFT) ultra-low-latency server aggregation
• High-Performance Computing (HPC) cluster interconnect
• Small-scale data center ToR fiber storage aggregation
• Financial capital market trading network timing-critical deployments

Fabric Compatibility

• Standalone NX-OS Layer 2/Layer 3 operation
• Cisco DCNM Data Center Network Manager fabric orchestration and monitoring
• VXLAN EVPN leaf/spine data center fabrics
• vPC (virtual PortChannel) multi-chassis device redundancy
• External leaf integration with Cisco ACI fabric environments (external fabric mode)

Standard Factory Complete Bundle Contents

Each factory-sealed N3K-C3524P-10GX retail package contains all hardware required for rack installation and operation:

1. N3K-C3524P-10GX base switch chassis (48 physical SFP+ slots, pre-installed 24-port active software license)
2. Dual hot-swappable AC power supplies (reverse airflow port-side intake standard; forward airflow spare PSUs available separately)
3. Four independent redundant hot-swappable variable-speed fan tray assemblies
4. 19-inch rack mounting brackets and retention screws
5. RJ45-to-RS232 serial console cable
6. USB out-of-band management cable
7. Quick-start hardware installation guide
8. Global regulatory compliance, safety, and EMI certification documentation packet

Core Integrated Functional Capabilities

• Non-blocking wire-speed packet forwarding for all licensed 24 SFP+ ports simultaneously, sub-800-nanosecond ultra-low forwarding latency via PHY-less SoC architecture
• Hardware-accelerated Layer 2 / Layer 3 forwarding: IPv4/IPv6 unicast/multicast, MPLS label switching, VXLAN tunnel termination
• Comprehensive Layer 2 feature suite: IEEE 802.1Q VLAN trunking (4096 VLAN IDs), vPC multi-chassis link aggregation, LACP/Static EtherChannel, RSTP/MSTP spanning tree, UDLD, private VLANs, PVLAN edge isolation
• Layer 3 dynamic routing protocols: Static routing, RIPv2, OSPFv2/v3, EIGRP, HSRP/VRRP first-hop redundancy, uRPF loose/strict anti-spoofing mode
• Hardware security pipeline: Ingress/egress TCAM ACLs, DHCP snooping, dynamic ARP inspection, broadcast/multicast/unicast storm control, control-plane policing (CoPP)
• Hardware QoS scheduling: DSCP/802.1p CoS traffic classification, traffic policing/marking, ingress buffer tuning, egress DWRR weighted queuing, WRED congestion avoidance
• Dedicated hardware multicast replication engine: PIM-SM, PIM-SSM, BiDir-PIM, MSDP, optimized for IPTV broadcast video workload acceleration
• Precision timing features: IEEE 1588v2 PTP boundary clock, external 1-PPS RF timing synchronization port for financial trading clock alignment
• Advanced data center automation features: PoAP zero-touch provisioning, NX-API REST API, NETCONF/YANG, Python scripting, EEM embedded event manager
• Full jumbo frame support up to 9216-byte MTU, SPAN/ERSPAN port mirroring, NTP time synchronization, SSHv2 encrypted management, AAA/RADIUS/TACACS+ access control

2. Hardware & Performance Specifications

Core Forwarding & Scalability Performance

• Switching Fabric Capacity: 480 Gbps full-duplex non-blocking crossbar
• Packet Forwarding Throughput: 360 Mpps wire-speed L2/L3 forwarding
• Forwarding Latency: Sub-800 nanoseconds (ultra-low latency PHY-less chip design)
• MAC Address Table Capacity: 128,000 unique MAC addresses
• VLAN Support: 4096 IEEE 802.1Q VLAN IDs
• Spanning Tree Instances: 512 RSTP instances; 64 MSTP instances
• TCAM ACL Capacity: 8,000 ingress ACL entries, 1,000 egress ACL entries
• FIB Routing Table Capacity: 16,000 IPv4 unicast prefixes, 8,000 multicast routes
• NetFlow Capacity: Hardware-accelerated NetFlow v5/v9 flow collection
• EtherChannel Limits: Maximum 64 PortChannels per switch, up to 24 physical ports per single PortChannel bundle
• System Memory: 8 GB high-speed system RAM, 8 GB eUSB persistent boot flash storage
• Shared Packet Buffer: Tunable dynamic shared buffer pool optimized for latency-sensitive 10G workloads

Port Hardware Specifications

SFP+ Ports (48 Physical Slots, 24 Active Licensed Ports)

• Supported Speeds: 1 Gbps SFP, 10 Gbps SFP+
• Supported Transceiver Types: Cisco 1G/10G SFP/SFP+ optical transceivers, SFP-10G-T copper RJ45 transceivers
• Maximum Cable Reach: Dependent on installed SFP/SFP+ optics (SR short-range multimode, LR long-range single-mode, ER extended reach single-mode)

Out-of-Band Management & Timing Interfaces

• 1 × 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet management port
• 1 × RS232 serial console port
• 2 × USB 2.0 ports for file transfer and external storage
• 1 × 1-PPS RF timing synchronization port for PTP clock alignment

Electrical & Thermal Specifications

Power Supply

• Dual redundant hot-swappable AC power supplies (load-sharing active/standby redundancy)
• Input Voltage Range: Universal AC 100–240 V, 50/60 Hz
• Typical System Power Consumption: 102 Watts
• Maximum Full-Load Power Consumption: 193 Watts
• Airflow Standard: Port-side intake, power supply/rear exhaust airflow (forward airflow PSUs available as spare parts for cold-aisle port exhaust deployments)

Thermal & Environmental Operating Parameters

• Certified Operating Temperature Range: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F) continuous data center operation
• Extended Validated Operating Temperature: 0°C to 55°C (32°F to 131°F) short-term non-continuous operation
• Storage & Transport Temperature: -40°C to 70°C (-40°F to 158°F)
• Operating Relative Humidity: 10% to 90% RH, non-condensing
• Operating Altitude: Certified range -150 m to 2,000 m (-500 ft to 6,500 ft); extended validated range up to 3,000 m (10,000 ft)
• Cooling System: Four individual redundant hot-swappable variable-speed fan trays, no single point of cooling failure

Physical Form Factor & Weight

• Form Factor: 1RU standard 19-inch EIA rack-mount chassis
• Overall Physical Dimensions (H × W × D): 4.36 cm × 43.9 cm × 46.7 cm (1.72 in × 17.3 in × 18.38 in)
• Bare Chassis Net Weight (without transceivers): 7.9 kg (17.4 lbs)

3. Regulatory & Compliance Certifications

Fully compliant with global international industry, safety, EMC, and carrier-grade standards:

1. Safety Standards: UL 62368-1, CSA C22.2 No. 62368-1, EN 60950-1, IEC 60950-1
2. EMC & EMI Standards: FCC CFR Title 47 Part 15 Class A, VCCI Class A, EN55022 Class A, CISPR 22 Class A
3. Carrier-Grade Compliance: NEBS Level 3 (GR-1089-CORE, GR-63-CORE), ETSI ETS 300 386-2, EN 50121-4 railway EMC compatibility
4. Environmental Directive: EU RoHS 2 hazardous substance restriction compliance

4. Core Deployment Advantages

1. Ultra-Low Latency PHY-Less Architecture: Unique SoC chip design eliminates intermediate PHY components, delivering sub-microsecond forwarding latency, the ideal platform for high-frequency trading and low-latency HPC workloadsCisco.
2. Cost-Optimized 24-Port Licensed Design: Shares identical physical hardware as the 48-port Nexus 3548 but restricts port activation via software license, reducing capital expenditure for low-density fiber aggregation deployments; a license upgrade unlocks all 48 ports without hardware replacement.
3. Precision Timing Synchronization: Native IEEE 1588v2 PTP boundary clock and external 1-PPS RF timing port satisfy strict clock synchronization requirements for financial market trading networks.
4. Full Redundancy of All Critical Components: Dual load-sharing AC power supplies, four redundant variable-speed fan trays, and hot-pluggable transceivers enable in-service component replacement without chassis power cycling or network outages, maximizing data center operational uptime.
5. Comprehensive Hardware Acceleration of All Critical Services: Forwarding, ACL security filtering, QoS scheduling, multicast replication, and NetFlow statistics collection all run on dedicated silicon ASICs, eliminating supervisor CPU bottlenecks and maintaining consistent wire-speed performance under full traffic load.
6. Open Programmability & SDDC Compatibility: Native REST API, NETCONF/YANG, Python scripting, and EEM embedded event manager enable seamless integration with third-party cloud orchestration, monitoring, and automation platforms, supporting fully software-defined data center deployments.

Supplementary Product Specification Notes

UNSPSC Classification Code

43222612 (1RU rack-mount ultra-low-latency data center ToR switch, Cisco Nexus 3524P-10GX NX-OS platform, 48 physical SFP+ slots with 24-port active software license, dual redundant AC power supplies, four redundant fan trays, sub-microsecond PHY-less low-latency forwarding, IEEE 1588 PTP timing synchronization, hardware-accelerated L2/L3 forwarding, VXLAN tunnel support, for high-frequency trading, HPC and low-density enterprise data center fiber aggregation deployments).

K9 Security Compliance Note

All N3K-C3524P-10GX supported NX-OS firmware releases implement AES 128-bit encrypted remote CLI, web portal, SNMP, and NETCONF management traffic, meeting Cisco K9 secure network hardware classification standards required for government, financial, healthcare, and military regulated low-latency network deployments.

Factory Hardware Warranty Terms

Standard 1-year limited hardware warranty coverage for brand-new factory-sealed N3K-C3524P-10GX switch chassis purchased through official Cisco authorized global distribution channel partners. Extended 3-year / 5-year hardware support contracts were available as optional add-ons via Cisco DNA Support Services during active sales periods, covering spare part replacement, 24x7 Cisco TAC engineering technical support, and certified NX-OS firmware upgrade releases.