By Adhiraj Lahiri, Aysha Jabeen, Faraz Taifehesmatian
Publication Date: 2026-11-04 16:00:00
Data center networks are evolving in more than one direction. Spine and core links may move to 400G or 800G, while many server-facing connections remain at 10G, 25G, 50G, or 100G. That leaves a clear design challenge at the leaf: add more 100G capacity while making efficient use of rack space. AI, high-performance computing (HPC), and hyperscale cloud environments are increasing demand for high-throughput connections. For many deployments, 100G remains a cost-efficient workhorse, and the move to faster spine links can increase the need for dense 100G leaf capacity.
The Cisco N9348C8D-H2 addresses this need by combining dense, flexible 100G access with higher-speed uplinks in a compact 1RU design.
Dense 100G in a compact design
The Cisco N9348C8D-H2 is a fixed 1RU switch that brings together 48 100G SFP-DD ports and eight 400G QSFP-DD uplinks. SFP-DD ports support 10G, 25G, 50G, and 100G; QSFP-DD uplinks support 40G, 100G, 200G, and 400G. Together, these options let organizations…
