Cisco N9K-X9732C-EX Full Official Technical Specification Document

1. Product Overview

Official Full Designation

Cisco N9K-X9732C-EX:Cisco Nexus 9500 Cloud-Scale Hot-Swappable I/O Line Card, 32-Port Multi-Rate QSFP28 40/50/100-Gigabit Ethernet Ports, LSE EX-Series ASIC Spine/Aggregation Module for Leaf-Spine Clos Fabrics and ACI Multi-Tenant Data CentersCisco

Core DefinitionN9K-X9732C-EX is a cloud-scale hot-pluggable line card exclusively designed for Cisco Nexus 9500 modular data center switch chassis (4-slot N9K-C9504, 8-slot N9K-C9508, 16-slot N9K-C9516). Powered by four Cisco LSE EX-generation ASICs, this high-density 100G line card provides 32 universal QSFP28 front-panel ports, optimized for data center spine-layer core interconnection, high-throughput leaf-spine fabric aggregation, and Cisco ACI policy-driven multi-tenant fabricsCisco.

Each QSFP28 port supports flexible multi-speed breakout configurations to seamlessly accommodate mixed 1G/10G/25G/40G/50G/100G workloads without hardware replacement. The card is equipped with a shared 160MB dynamic packet buffer, delivers full non-blocking wire-speed forwarding for all packet sizes, and provides complete hardware acceleration for modern data center features including VXLAN EVPN, Segment Routing, streaming telemetry, and robust security pipelines. The EX ASIC variant differs from FX models by omitting native MACsec encryption support while retaining all mainstream Layer 2/Layer 3 fabric features.

SKU Naming Breakdown

1. N9K: Standard prefix for Cisco Nexus 9000 series modular chassis switch hardware
2. X9732: Cloud-scale EX ASIC line card identifier; 32 represents the total count of front-panel QSFP28 ports
3. C: Multi-rate QSFP28 port suffix, supporting flexible breakout to lower-speed Ethernet lanes
4. EX: EX-generation LSE cloud-scale ASIC silicon variant for cost-effective high-density 100G spine line cards
5. =: Optional suffix for standalone spare-only line card kits (N9K-X9732C-EX=)

Product Lifecycle Notice

• Official Global Release Year: 2020
• End-of-Sale (EoS) Status: Active production hardware as of 2026, no official EoS announcement released
• Minimum Supported NX-OS Software Version: NX-OS Release 9.3(16) and later; fully compatible with ACI Spine OS releasesCisco
• Software Maintenance Status: Active Cisco TAC engineering support, regular feature updates and critical security patch releases available via Cisco DNA support contracts
• Legacy Status: Not end-of-life hardware; genuine spare parts, certified firmware upgrades, and 24×7 technical support are fully accessible through authorized Cisco distribution channels

Supported Chassis Compatibility

This line card is fully hot-swappable and interoperable with all three Nexus 9500 modular chassis models:

1. N9K-C9504 (4-slot chassis)
2. N9K-C9508 (8-slot chassis)
3. N9K-C9516 (16-slot chassis)

Mandatory Fabric Module Requirement

To unlock the full 6.4 Tbps per-slot bidirectional bandwidth, the chassis must be populated with a minimum of four matching 100G cloud-scale fabric modules (N9K-C95xx-FM-E / FM-E2). N+1 fabric module redundancy isnot supportedwhen mixing EX line cards with FX/FX3 line cards in the same chassisCisco.

Standard Factory Complete Bundle Contents

Each factory-sealed N9K-X9732C-EX retail/spare package includes all hardware for chassis installation:

1. N9K-X9732C-EX base hot-swappable cloud-scale line card with integrated passive aluminum heat sink assembly
2. Front panel dust blanking plugs for all unused QSFP28 ports
3. Chassis mounting retention screws and anti-static ESD handling bag
4. Quick-start hardware installation guide for line card insertion/removal
5. Global regulatory compliance, safety, and electromagnetic interference (EMI) certification documentation packet

Core Integrated Functional Capabilities

• Non-blocking wire-speed packet forwarding for all 32 QSFP28 ports simultaneously; full line-rate performance for all standard Ethernet packet sizes when deployed with four fabric modules
• Hardware-accelerated Layer 2 / Layer 3 forwarding: IPv4/IPv6 unicast/multicast, MPLS label switching, Segment Routing, VXLAN EVPN tunnel termination for large-scale leaf/spine Clos fabrics and ACI spine deployments
• 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, BGP, HSRP/VRRP first-hop redundancy, uRPF loose/strict anti-spoofing mode
• Hardware security pipeline: Ingress/egress TCAM ACL filtering, 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 and media fabric workloads
• Advanced data center automation & observability features: PoAP zero-touch provisioning, NX-API REST API, NETCONF/YANG, Python scripting, EEM embedded event manager, real-time streaming telemetry
• Full jumbo frame support up to 9216-byte MTU, SPAN/ERSPAN port mirroring, IEEE 1588 PTP boundary clock, NTP time synchronization, SSHv2 encrypted management, AAA/RADIUS/TACACS+ access control
• Dual operating mode support: Native NX-OS for traditional IP leaf/spine fabrics and ACI Spine OS for policy-driven Application Centric Infrastructure multi-tenant fabrics

2. Hardware & Performance Specifications

Core Forwarding & Buffer Performance

• Shared Packet Buffer: 160MB dynamic tunable buffer pool shared across all 36 QSFP28 ports
• Per-Slot Bidirectional Switching Throughput: Up to 6.4 Tbps full-duplex non-blocking crossbar
• Packet Forwarding Rate: Up to 9.52 Bpps (billion packets per second) wire-speed L2/L3 forwarding
• MAC Address Table Capacity: Up to 160,000 unique MAC addresses
• Maximum LPM IPv4/IPv6 Routes: 128,000 prefixes
• Multicast Route Scale: Up to 32,000 multicast routes
• NetFlow Capacity: Hardware-accelerated NetFlow v5/v9 flow collection, support for high-volume concurrent flow cache entries
• On-board Dual-Core x86 CPU: Offloads control-plane tasks including BFD processing, hardware table programming, and line-card statistics collection to reduce supervisor loadCisco

Port Hardware Specifications

Universal QSFP28 Ports (32 × QSFP28 Multi-Rate Ports)

• Supported Native Speeds: 40 Gbps QSFP+, 50 Gbps, 100 Gbps QSFP28
• Breakout Mode Support: Each QSFP28 port can be split via breakout cables to multiple low-speed lanes:
  • 1 × 100G, 2 × 50G, 1 × 40G, 4 × 25G, 4 × 10G Ethernet, or 1 × 1G Ethernet per portCisco
• Supported Transceiver & Cable Types:
  • QSFP28 100G SR4/LR4/ER4/ZR4 optical transceivers
  • QSFP+ 40G SR4/LR4 optical transceivers
  • QSFP28/QSFP+ passive/active copper direct-attach cables
  • QSFP28 breakout cables for 4x10G / 4x25G lane splitting

Electrical & Thermal Specifications

Power Consumption

• Typical Line Card Operating Power Draw: 632 Watts
• Maximum Full-Load Power Consumption: 673 Watts
• Power Delivery: Powered via chassis backplane; no external power connectors on the line card

Thermal & Environmental Operating Parameters

• Certified Continuous Operating Temperature Range: 0°C to 40°C (32°F to 104°F) standard data center environment
• Extended Validated Short-Term Operating Temperature: 0°C to 55°C (32°F to 131°F)
• Storage & Transport Temperature Range: -40°C to 70°C (-40°F to 158°F)
• Operating Relative Humidity: 10% to 90% RH, non-condensing
• Operating Altitude: Certified operational 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 Design: Passive aluminum heat sink assembly on the line card PCB; cooling airflow supplied by the host Nexus 9500 chassis rear fan trays
• Airflow Direction: Port-side intake, rear exhaust standard airflow design

Physical Form Factor & Weight

• Form Factor: Standard Nexus 9500 hot-swappable vertical cloud-scale line card form factor
• Bare Line Card Net Weight (without transceivers/dust plugs): 5.08 kg (11.2 lb)

3. Regulatory & Compliance Certifications

Fully compliant with global international industry, safety, EMC, and carrier-grade standards when installed in certified Nexus 9500 chassis:

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, GB 4943 Chinese national safety standard
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. High-Density 32-Port 100G QSFP28 Spine Port Layout: 32 × multi-rate 100G ports per slot delivers high spine-layer fabric throughput, reducing the total number of chassis required for large-scale leaf/spine cloud and enterprise data center architectures.
2. Flexible Multi-Rate Breakout Port Design: Every QSFP28 port supports multiple native speeds and breakout lane configurations, enabling seamless coexistence of 1G/10G/25G/40G/50G/100G workloads without line card replacement, supporting gradual fabric bandwidth migration.
3. Massive 160MB Dynamic Shared Packet Buffer: The ultra-large shared buffer pool drastically reduces packet loss during extreme traffic bursts for high-throughput spine-layer cross-fabric interconnection workloads, outperforming legacy low-buffer line cards.
4. Dual NX-OS / ACI Operating Mode Compatibility: Natively supports both standard NX-OS for traditional IP leaf/spine fabrics and ACI Spine OS for Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure multi-tenant policy-driven data center deployments, delivering unified hardware for hybrid fabric environments.
5. Complete Chassis Redundancy Compatibility: Works seamlessly with all Nexus 9500 high-availability components, including redundant fabric modules, redundant AC power supplies, and redundant fan trays, enabling zero-downtime in-service line card replacement without chassis power cycling.
6. Cost-Effective EX ASIC Architecture: The EX-series LSE ASIC provides all mainstream data center fabric features at a lower hardware cost than FX variants, making it ideal for large-scale spine deployments that do not require MACsec port encryption capabilities.
7. Comprehensive Hardware Acceleration of All Advanced Data Center Services: Forwarding, ACL security filtering, QoS scheduling, multicast replication, Segment Routing, VXLAN EVPN tunnel termination, and streaming telemetry all run on dedicated LSE EX silicon ASICs, eliminating supervisor CPU bottlenecks and maintaining consistent wire-speed performance under full 100G port traffic load.

Supplementary Product Specification Notes

UNSPSC Classification Code

43222612 (Hot-swappable cloud-scale EX LSE ASIC I/O line card for Cisco Nexus 9500 modular data center switch chassis, N9K-X9732C-EX, 32-port multi-rate QSFP28 40/50/100G fiber ports with flexible breakout lane support, 160MB large dynamic shared packet buffer, hardware-accelerated L2/L3 forwarding, VXLAN EVPN and Segment Routing fabric support, dual NX-OS / ACI spine operating modes, for large-scale cloud, enterprise and carrier data center spine-layer core interconnection deployments).

K9 Security Compliance Note

All N9K-X9732C-EX supported NX-OS and ACI spine 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, military, healthcare, and financial regulated data center deployments.

Factory Hardware Warranty Terms

Standard 1-year limited hardware warranty coverage for brand-new factory-sealed N9K-X9732C-EX line card spare kits purchased through official Cisco authorized global distribution channel partners. Extended 3-year / 5-year hardware support contracts are available as optional add-ons via Cisco DNA Support Services, covering spare part replacement, 24x7 Cisco TAC engineering technical support, and certified NX-OS / ACI spine OS firmware upgrade releases.