Verified Scalability Limits

This document describes the Cisco NX-OS configuration limits for the Cisco Nexus 3232C and 3264Q switches.

Introduction

The values provided in this guide should not be interpreted as theoretical system limits for Cisco Nexus 3232C or 3264Q hardware or Cisco NX-OS software. These limits refer to values that have been validated by Cisco. They can increase over time as more testing and validation is done.

Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)

The tables in this section list the unidimensional verified scalability limits for Cisco NX-OS Release 7.0(3)IX1(2) on the Cisco Nexus 3232C and 3264Q switches. The values provided in these tables focus on the scalability of one particular feature at a time.

Each number is the absolute maximum currently supported by this Cisco NX-OS release for the corresponding feature. If the hardware is capable of a higher scale, future software releases might increase this verified maximum limit. Results might differ from the values listed here when trying to achieve maximum scalability with multiple features enabled.

Table 1. Interfaces Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)

Feature

3232C Verified Limit

3264Q Verified Limit

BFD sessions

256

256

Port channel links

32

32

SVIs

400

400

vPCs

100

60

Table 2. Layer 2 Switching Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)

Feature

3232C Verified Limit

3264Q Verified Limit

MST instances

64

64

MST virtual ports

48,000

48,000

RPVST virtual ports

12,000

12,000

VLANs

3900

3900

VLANs in RPVST mode

500

500


Note

The number of supported VLANs per vPC should be within the MST or RPVST virtual port count specified in this table, depending on the topology.

Table 3. Multicast Routing Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)

Feature

3232C Verified Limit

3264Q Verified Limit

IPv4 multicast routes

10,000

10,000

Outgoing interfaces (OIFs)

40

40

IGMP snooping groups

10,000

10,000

PIM neighbors

200

200


Note

These multicast scalability numbers are for Layer 2 and Layer 3.


Note

Graceful restart is not supported when unicast or multicast aggressive timers are configured at any scale.

Table 4. Security Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)

Feature

3232C Verified Limit

3264Q Verified Limit

IPv4 ingress ACLs (lite TCAM region)

2304 (per network forwarding engine)

2304 (per network forwarding engine)

IPv4 ingress ACLs (non-lite TCAM region)

768 (per network forwarding engine)

768 (per network forwarding engine)

IPv4 egress ACLs (non-lite TCAM region)

768 (per network forwarding engine)

768 (per network forwarding engine)

IPv6 ingress ACLs (non-lite TCAM region)

768 (per network forwarding engine)

768 (per network forwarding engine)

IPv6 egress ACLs (non-lite TCAM region)

256 (per network forwarding engine)

256 (per network forwarding engine)


Note

These ACL scalability numbers were verified with all TCAM regions freed up except the CoPP system and ingress system TCAM regions.

Table 5. System Management Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)

Feature

3232C Verified Limit

3264Q Verified Limit

SPAN and ERSPAN

Configurable SPAN and ERSPAN sessions

32

32

Active SPAN and ERSPAN sessions1 2

4

4

Active localized SPAN or ERSPAN sessions3

4

4

Source interfaces per SPAN or ERSPAN session (Rx and Tx, Rx, or Tx)

48

48

Destination interfaces per SPAN session

1 (physical interface)

1 (physical interface)

Source VLANs per SPAN or ERSPAN session

32

32

1 A single forwarding engine instance supports four SPAN or ERSPAN sessions. If the first three sessions have bidirectional sources, the fourth session might have hardware resources only for Rx sources, depending on the SPAN or ERSPAN source's forwarding engine instance mappings.
2 If the ERSPAN ACL contains access control entries (ACEs) with the set-erspan-gre-proto or set-erspan-dscp action, then only one ERSPAN session can be up.
3 The number of SPAN or ERSPAN sessions reduces to two if the same interface is configured as the bidirectional source in more than one session.
Table 6. Unicast Routing Verified Scalability Limits (Unidimensional)

Feature

3232C Verified Limit

3264Q Verified Limit

Unicast Routing

BGP neighbors

512 (IPv4 only)

512 (IPv6 only)

256 (IPv4) + 256 (IPv6)

512 (IPv4 only)

512 (IPv6 only)

256 (IPv4) + 256 (IPv6)

EIGRP neighbors

128 (IPv4)

128 (IPv6)

64 (IPv4) + 64 (IPv6)

128 (IPv4)

128 (IPv6)

64 (IPv4) + 64 (IPv6)

EIGRP routes

20,000

20,000

HSRP groups

400

400

IPv4 ARP

Default system routing mode: 32,000

ALPM routing mode: 8000

Default system routing mode: 32,000

ALPM routing mode: 8000

IPv4 host routes

Default system routing mode: 104,000

ALPM routing mode: 8000

Default system routing mode: 104,000

ALPM routing mode: 8000

IPv6 host routes

Default system routing mode: 52,000

ALPM routing mode: 4000

Default system routing mode: 52,000

ALPM routing mode: 4000

IPv6 ND

Default system routing mode: 32,000

ALPM routing mode: 4000

Default system routing mode: 32,000

ALPM routing mode: 4000

IPv4 unicast routes (LPM)

Default system routing mode: 12,000

ALPM routing mode: 128,000

Default system routing mode: 12,000

ALPM routing mode: 128,000

IPv6 unicast routes (LPM)

Default system routing mode: 6000 (<=64) + 1000 (65-127)

ALPM routing mode: 16,000 (20,000 with TCAM ALPM carving)

Default system routing mode: 6000 (<=64) + 1000 (65-127)

ALPM routing mode: 16,000 (20,000 with TCAM ALPM carving)

MAC addresses

30,000

30,000

OSPFv2 neighbors

256

256

OSPFv3 neighbors

256

256

VRFs

2000

2000

VRRP groups

250

250


Note

Graceful restart is not supported when unicast or multicast aggressive timers are configured at any scale.

Guidelines and Limitations for OSPF Verified Scalability Limits

  • To achieve the highest scale, we recommend that you use a single OSPF instance instead of multiple instances.
  • Each OSPFv2 and OSPFv3 scale value might vary when combined with other parameters.
  • The graceful restart timeout value might need to be increased in multidimensional scenarios.