Choosing the Right Arista DCS Switch for Your Business: A Quick Guide

Arista's DCS switches are sold by port speed first and by size second. The four families here are all one rack unit tall in their data sheets, so the question that settles the choice is what speed the servers and the uplinks run at. This guide takes the four Arista families Townsend lists most, gives one listed part number for each, and puts the figures from Arista's own data sheets side by side. It ends with the lifecycle dates that matter before buying, because several of these families have end-of-sale notices. The full range is on the Arista switch page.

Start with the port speed

The four families in figures

Sources: the Arista data sheets for the 7010T-48, the 7050X3, the 7060X and 7260X and the 7280R3.

Before choosing, settle four things: the speed of the server or device ports, how many uplinks you need and at what speed, which airflow direction the rack uses, and whether the model is still on sale. The rest of this guide answers the first three from the data sheets and the last from Arista's notices.

7010T: copper access at 1G

The 7010T-48 is Arista's entry copper switch: 48 ports at 10, 100 or 1000 Mbps and four SFP+ uplinks, with 176 Gbps of switching capacity and 132 Mpps of forwarding, per its data sheet. At 52 W typical it is the lowest-power switch in this guide. It suits wiring closets and small sites where the devices are 1G copper. The data sheet says the product is subject to an end-of-sale notice, so read that notice before ordering more.

7050X3: 25G servers, 100G uplinks

The 7050X3 series comes in two shapes. The 7050CX3-32S has 32 QSFP100 ports for dense 100G, and the 7050SX3-48YC8 has 48 ports of 25G SFP with eight 100G uplinks. Arista calls the SX3 models a seamless migration from 1/10G to 25G. Both forward at 800 ns. The CX3 versus SX3 comparison goes through them in detail.

7060X: 100G with the lowest latency

The 7060CX-32S has the same 32 QSFP100 and two SFP+ port layout as the 7050CX3-32S, with 450 ns latency against the 7050CX3's 800 ns, and a 16 MB buffer against 32 MB. Arista's data sheet gives it 6.4 Tbps of switching capacity. It is the choice when latency matters more than buffer.

7280R3: routing at 100G and 400G

The 7280R3 is a switch router. The 7280CR3-32P4 has 32 ports of 100G and four ports of 400G OSFP in 1RU, with an 8 GB packet buffer and a latency from 3.8 microseconds. Its typical draw is 535 W, about three times the 7050CX3-32S, and its 8 GB buffer is the largest in this guide. It is the model here built for routed roles such as an edge or a data center interconnect. The 7050X3 and 7280R3 families page explains the difference.

Dates to check before you buy

An end-of-sale date does not stop a switch working. It sets when Arista stops taking orders and, later, stops supporting the model.

Common questions

Which airflow letter do I order? Arista's -F is front to rear and -R is rear to front. Choose the one that matches the rack's hot and cold aisles, and keep a spare with the same letter. The airflow suffix guide covers it.

Is there a switch here for a small office? The 7010T-48 is the only one in this guide with 1G copper ports. The others are data center switches with SFP, QSFP or OSFP ports, so they need optics or cables.

Do these switches all run the same software? Yes. Arista's data sheets describe EOS as a single binary image for all its products, so the operating system does not change when the model does.

Where to look next

The listings are on the Arista 7010T page, the 7050X3 page, the 7060X page and the 7280R3 page. Every unit we ship is tested in-house first and carries our warranty. If the part number you need is not listed, request a quote.