The Cisco Nexus 3172PQ switch is a dense,high-performance Layer 2 and 3 10 and 40-Gbps switch that is a member of the Cisco Nexus 3100 switches. The Nexus 3100 switch is the Cisco Nexus 3000 series switches and offers improved port density,scalability,and features compared to the first-generation switches. It supports both forward and reverse airflow schemes with AC and DC power inputs. The Cisco Nexus 3172PQ is well suited for data centers that require a cost-effective,power-efficient line-rate Layer 2 and 3 top-of-rack (ToR) switch.

Cisco Nexus 3172PQ is a 10-Gbps enhanced Small Form-Factor Pluggable (SFP+)-based ToR switch with 48 SFP+ ports and 6 Quad SFP+ (QSFP+) ports. Each SFP+ port can operate in 100-Mbps,1-Gbps,or 10-Gbps mode,and each QSFP+ port can operate in native 40-Gbps or 4 x 10-Gbps mode. This switch is a true phy-less switch that is optimized for low latency and low power consumption.