Every WhaleyComm unit is professionally tested, reset to factory defaults, and certified by our in-house engineers — the same standard trusted by 5,000+ organisations across 25 years. Not a refurb marketplace. A certified lifecycle partner.
Enterprise-grade 10GbE top-of-rack density. Professionally tested. Backed by 25 years of enterprise trust.
This refurbished Cisco N3K-C3172TQ-10GT is a 1RU Nexus 3172TQ top-of-rack switch delivering 48 10GBASE-T RJ-45 ports and 6 QSFP+ uplink ports, each capable of operating at 4 x 10 Gigabit Ethernet or 40 Gigabit Ethernet. Every unit is professionally tested, reset to factory defaults, and ships inspection-verified through WhaleyComm's ISO 9001-certified process. Dual AC power supplies are included for redundant operation.
Built on Cisco's Nexus 3100 platform, the N3K-C3172TQ-10GT delivers 1.4 Tbps of switching capacity and a forwarding rate of up to 1 billion packets per second with line-rate Layer 2 and Layer 3 throughput across all ports. Running Cisco NX-OS, the switch supports virtual port-channel (vPC), 64-way ECMP routing, jumbo frames up to 9216 bytes, up to 4096 VLANs, and a MAC address table of 288,000 entries. Both port-side exhaust and port-side intake airflow configurations are supported, making it straightforward to slot into hot-aisle or cold-aisle data center designs.
This unit represents substantial savings versus new list price while delivering the same line-rate performance trusted by enterprise data centers worldwide. WhaleyComm's 25+ years of experience and 5,000+ enterprise customers mean you receive not just hardware, but verified reliability and a Lifetime Warranty that new-channel vendors cannot match.
Technical Specifications
Platform
Cisco Nexus 3100 Series
Form Factor
1RU rack-mountable
10GbE Ports
48 x 10GBASE-T RJ-45 (supports 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, and 10 Gbps)
Uplink Ports
6 x QSFP+ (each supports 4 x 10 Gigabit Ethernet or 40 Gigabit Ethernet)
Management Ports
1 x management port, 1 x console port, 1 x USB flash-memory port
Switching Capacity
1.4 Tbps
Forwarding Rate
Up to 1 bpps (billion packets per second)
Layer Support
Layer 2 and Layer 3 line-rate switching
Max MTU
9216 bytes (jumbo frames)
MAC Address Table
288,000 entries
Spanning Tree Instances
RSTP 512 / MSTP 64
ACL Entries
4000 ingress / 1000 egress
Routing Table
16,000 prefixes and 16,000 host entries
EtherChannels
64 (with vPC)
Ports per EtherChannel
32
Fan Modules
4 (3+1 redundant)
Power Supplies
2 (redundant AC)
Typical Operating Power
360 W
Airflow
Port-side exhaust and port-side intake (both supported)
Dimensions (H x W x D)
4.4 x 43.9 x 50.5 cm
Operating System
Cisco NX-OS
Ideal Use Cases
Data Center Top-of-Rack (ToR) Deployment
The N3K-C3172TQ-10GT is purpose-built as a top-of-rack switch, delivering line-rate 10GbE to servers while aggregating traffic upstream over 40GbE QSFP+ uplinks — ideal for high-density compute rows.
Copper Cabling Infrastructure Reuse
The 48 10GBASE-T RJ-45 ports allow organizations to migrate servers from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps without replacing existing copper cabling, protecting prior infrastructure investment.
High-Performance Layer 2 and Layer 3 Switching
With 1.4 Tbps switching capacity and full Layer 2/3 line-rate performance, this switch handles demanding east-west and north-south traffic patterns common in modern virtualized and containerized data centers.
vPC and Redundant Fabric Designs
Native vPC support eliminates Spanning Tree Protocol dependencies, enabling Layer 2 multipathing and fully utilized bisectional bandwidth for resilient dual-homed server and fabric designs.
Budget-Conscious Enterprise Refresh
Organizations refreshing aging access or ToR infrastructure gain proven Cisco Nexus performance at a fraction of new-hardware cost, with WhaleyComm's Lifetime Warranty eliminating residual risk.
NX-OS Standardized Environments
Running Cisco NX-OS, the switch integrates directly into existing Nexus management workflows, automation toolchains, and monitoring stacks without retraining network operations teams.
What's Included
Cisco N3K-C3172TQ-10GT Switch
2 x AC Power Supply Units
4 x Fan Modules
Rack Mount Kit
Console Cable
Lifetime Warranty — No Time Limits. No Questions.
Every WhaleyComm unit ships with a Lifetime Warranty. If it fails under normal operating conditions at any point, we replace it. We have stood behind our hardware for 25 years and 5,000+ customers — that is not a marketing line, it is our operating standard.
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Compatibility Details
Review supported optics, cables, software, management protocols, and environment-specific compatibility guidance.
COMPATIBLE OPTICS & CABLES
✓
Each QSFP+ port is compatible with standard 40GbE QSFP+ transceivers and 4 x 10GbE breakout cables.
✓
The switch supports vPC interoperability with other Cisco Nexus platforms and operates with Cisco IOS Software and any networking OS conforming to applicable standards.
SOFTWARE COMPATIBILITY
✓
The Cisco N3K-C3172TQ-10GT runs Cisco NX-OS Software (Release 6.0(2)U2(1) and later) and is compatible with standard Cisco Nexus 3000 Series ecosystem components including NXA-PAC-500W AC power supplies and NXA-FAN-30CFM fan modules.
ADDITIONAL COMPATIBILITY
✓
The 48 RJ-45 ports accept standard Cat6a or Cat7 copper cabling for 10GBASE-T connectivity.
For compatibility verification specific to your environment, contact our engineering team: +1 214 607-4800 or sales@whaleycomm.com