Cisco N6K-C6001-64P Nexus

Cisco N6K‑C6001‑64P Nexus Switch – High‑Density 10G & 40G Data Center Switch

The Cisco N6K‑C6001‑64P Nexus switch delivers carrier‑grade performance in a compact form factor. With 48 fixed 10 Gigabit SFP+ ports and 4 x 40 Gigabit QSFP+ uplinks, this 1 RU switch provides low‑latency, wire‑speed Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching in modern data center architectures. It is particularly well‑suited for high‑density top‑of‑rack (ToR) or aggregation deployments where performance, energy efficiency, and scalability matter.

High Port Density and Bandwidth – Nexus 6001 Features

Specifically, the Nexus 6001P supports up to 1.28 Tbps switching capacity, enabling fully line‑rate forwarding across all ports. Moreover, each 40G QSFP+ port can be broken out into four 10G SFP+ ports using breakout cables, supporting up to 64 simultaneous 10 GbE links per unit .

Ultra‑Low Latency Switching

Furthermore, Cisco’s cut‑through architecture ensures port‑to‑port latency of approximately 1 microsecond for any packet size, which is critical for latency‑sensitive environments such as high‑frequency trading and HPC clusters .

Modular Cooling and Power Redundancy

In addition, the chassis is designed with two hot‑swappable power supply slots and three front‑side hot‑swappable fan modules. These support either front‑to‑back or back‑to‑front airflow configurations, depending on your rack airflow design. As a result, the switch delivers both operational reliability and optimal cooling efficiency in dense data centers.

Software and Programmability – NX‑OS with Automation

The Nexus 6001 runs Cisco NX‑OS software, which provides a comprehensive feature set for virtualization, programmability, and unified fabric environments. Furthermore, this switch supports automation via Power‑on Auto Provisioning (PoAP), Python scripting, TCL scripting, and Cisco’s onePK platform .

Unified Fabric with FCoE and Virtualization

Notably, the N6K‑C6001‑64P supports both 10 and 40 GbE Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), enabling unified LAN/SAN convergence. Therefore, you can consolidate servers, storage, and network traffic over the same fabric with full line‑rate performance.

Key Technical Specifications

Built for Scalability with Fabric Extenders (FEX)

When paired with Cisco Nexus 2000 Series Fabric Extenders (FEX), the N6K‑C6001‑64P can aggregate up to 1,152 10/1 G ports into a single management domain . Consequently, it’s well-suited for leaf-spine architectures and large-scale virtualized deployments.

Enterprise‑Grade Layer 2 & Layer 3 Features

This switch supports advanced networking features including:
– Broadcast, multicast, and unicast storm control
– VLANs, ECMP, ACLs, MSTP, PVRST+, VRF, HSRP, and DHCP relay
These capabilities ensure robust network segmentation, high availability, and traffic optimization.

Why Choose Cisco Nexus N6K‑C6001‑64P?

As a result of its high port density, low latency, and unified fabric support, the N6K‑C6001‑64P is ideal for high-performance data centers, enterprise aggregation, and cloud‑native environments. Moreover, with support for automation and future expansion, it offers excellent total cost of ownership and operational flexibility.

Typical Use Cases

• Top-of-Rack (ToR) switching: Deploy as the primary switch in each rack for server connectivity.
• Leaf-spine Data Center design: Use as a leaf switch, with FEX aggregation further expanding capacity.
• FCoE-enabled SAN networks: Consolidate compute and storage traffic via Ethernet fabric.
• High‑density virtualization hosting: Ideal for cloud and multi‑tenant environments.

Comparison to Nexus 6004 and Other Platforms

Compared to the Nexus 6004 (a 4RU extensible chassis), the N6K‑C6001‑64P is optimized for low‑nois,e compact environments requiring non‑blocking wire‑speed switching in only 1 RU. Meanwhile, the Nexus 6004 supports much higher densities (up to 96x 40G ports or 384x 10G) plus expansion cards, making the 6001 ideal for scale‑out rather than modular growth.

Learn More – Documentation & Official Sources

For full technical details, configuration guides, and deployment examples, refer to the official Cisco Nexus 6001 Datasheet and the Cisco Hardware Installation Guide.

Related Switch Models

• Cisco N2K-C2348UPQ-10GE Nexus – Fabric Extender
• Cisco N5K-C5020P-BF Nexus – Core/aggregation switch
• More Cisco Nexus Switches