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CX306P-48Y-M-H, 48x 25Gb SFP28, 6x 100Gb QSFP28, Enterprise Core Switch
2.0 Tbps
Switching Capacity
24 MB
Packet Buffer
OCTEON DPU
Optional
504K
IPv4 Routes
252K
IPv6 Routes
The CX306P-48Y-M-H is a 1U enterprise core switch
that delivers 48× 25G SFP28 ports plus 6× 100G QSFP28 (40G QSFP+ compatible) uplinks for 2.0 Tbps of switching capacity, with a forwarding rate of 2.6 Bpps for non-blocking core-layer performance. Built on the Marvell Prestera Falcon ASIC and running Enterprise SONiC (AsterNOS), it is purpose-built for enterprise campus backbones and core deployments, routing and forwarding traffic across the network without becoming the bottleneck. With 504K IPv4 routes, 252K IPv6 routes, 32K MAC entries, and 4K VLANs, the CX306P-48Y-M-H anchors networks that scale from a handful of racks to large multi-tier deployments. Each 100G port further breaks out to 4×25G or 4×10G, so a single switch can fan out to a large number of downlink connections with flexible topology choices.
Enterprise SONiC, full L2/L3 and open management
The switch ships preloaded with AsterNOS, Enterprise SONiC distribution, with a single software image across the CX-M-H family. On top of it sits a complete Layer 2/Layer 3 feature set — VXLAN Centralized/Distributed Gateway, BGP-EVPN Type 2/3/5, GRE, static routing, VRF, OSPFv2/v3, BGP, MP-BGP, policy-based routing and MC-LAG — for multi-tenant overlays and dynamic route management at the network core. Automation interfaces include ZTP, RESTful APIs, NETCONF/YANG and gNMI, so the switch plugs into existing infrastructure-as-code pipelines without a separate management workflow.
High availability at the core
AsterNOS adds EVPN Multihoming for all-active redundancy to downstream switches without dedicated peer links, improving load balancing and simplifying multi-vendor deployments. An optional MPLS module extends the switch with label-switched path management and MPLS-based redundancy for complex topologies where active-active-like reliability is required.
Optional precision timing
The CX306P-48Y-M-H exposes hardware timing interfaces — 1PPS, ToD and 10MHz — and supports IEEE 1588v2 PTP and SyncE natively, with the hardware port operating as a Boundary Clock (BC) or Transparent Clock (TC). An optional extension card adds PTP Class C accuracy (≤10ns maximum time error), and an optional GNSS module — relevant where the core switch also needs to distribute a common clock reference across the network.
Operations and traffic visibility
The switch integrates sFlow and Telemetry for continuous KPI export, with ZTP cutting deployment time and manual intervention across the core layer. An optional Network Packet Broker container, built on SONiC's containerized architecture, adds traffic mirroring, filtering, aggregation, preprocessing, load balancing and output replication without a separate appliance — useful for monitoring traffic that converges at the core.
Centralized management with Asteria Network Controller
The CX306P-48Y-M-H is managed by the Asteria Network Controller, Asterfusion's unified platform for the CX-M switch family alongside APs, routers, and PON sticks. Zero-Touch Provisioning brings new switches online without manual CLI configuration. The controller provides topology discovery, device status monitoring, and scripted configuration or firmware updates across multiple switches from a single interface. On-premises deployment is available with no licensing fee.
Enterprise-grade reliability
The CX306P-48Y-M-H uses hot-swappable 1+1 redundant power supplies and 3+1 (N+1) redundant, hot-swappable fans to eliminate single points of failure. Front-to-rear / rear-to-front airflow and 100–240V AC / 36–72V DC input options suit rack-mount campus deployments — making the CX306P-48Y-M-H a dependable foundation for campus, enterprise and data center core networks.
The CX306P-48Y-M-H carries two DPU slots for Marvell OCTEON CN103 processors, each running an independent operating system alongside AsterNOS on the switch ASIC. With AsterNOS-VPP installed, a DPU adds line-rate routing, NAT, VPN and stateful firewall — up to 100Gbps L2/L3 switching, 100Gbps routing and 80Gbps firewall/encryption throughput per DPU — removing the need for a separate router or security appliance at the core. Alternatively, a DPU can run FusionNOS for NetFlow/IPFIX export and packet-broker preprocessing at up to 100 Gbps, or Ubuntu with ntopng for on-device traffic analysis at up to 60 Gbps, while the ASIC continues to handle core L2/L3 forwarding independently. Each DPU carries 8 ARM64 cores, 16GB DDR5 memory expandable to 48GB, and an optional PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD, and supports Ubuntu, Debian, and other Arm64 Linux distributions for custom workload development.
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Optimized Software for Advanced Workloads-AsterNOS
AsterNOS is the pre-installed network operating system on Asteraix’s CX-M Series campus switches. Built on SONiC and enhanced beyond the open-source version, AsterNOS offers advanced Layer 2 and Layer 3 features, as well as sophisticated routing capabilities. Support VXLAN EVPN virtualization, it supports scalable campus networks. AsterNOS is smart, secure, and easy to manage, providing a reliable operating platform for always-on enterprise networks.
Layer 2 Features
Layer 3 Features
Virtualization Features
Mgmt & Monitoring
Quality of Service
Security Features
Marvell® Prestera® Falcon 2.0T–12.8T (Prestera 98CX85xx family)
The CX-N-V2 data center switch family is built on Marvell’s 9th-generation, 16nm Prestera Falcon packet processors, scaling from 2.0 Tbps leaf platforms through 3.2 Tbps spine/leaf designs to 12.8 Tbps high-radix spine switches within the same merchant-silicon architecture. Falcon pairs large shared L2/L3 forwarding and LPM tables with a globally shared, dynamic-threshold packet buffer for superior microburst absorption under heavy east-west load. Exposing the standard SAI and TAM APIs, it is what lets open SONiC-based AsterNOS run consistently across the entire CX-N-V2 line — with no proprietary forwarding stack and no feature licensing.
Architecture & performance
- 9th-generation, 16nm Marvell Prestera Falcon — 2.0 Tbps to 12.8 Tbps wire-speed switching across the 98CX85xx family
- Large shared tables: 128K MAC, 288K IPv4 / 144K IPv6 prefixes, high-scale multi-tenant L2/L3
- Globally shared packet buffer with dynamic thresholds for microburst (µBurst) absorption
- Cut-through switching and dynamic load balancing (DLB) across the fabric
Virtualization & overlays
- eBridge unified virtualization architecture with hardware-based interface/domain virtualization
- Programmable header editor: hardware-accelerated VXLAN, VXLAN-GPE, Geneve and NSH
- MPLS and IPv6 segment routing for flexible transport
RDMA, telemetry & openness
- RoCEv2-aware congestion management for lossless RDMA storage and AI/ML traffic
- In-band network telemetry built into the data path — sFlow, IPFIX, remote port analysis
- Open Switch Abstraction Interface (SAI) + Telemetry & Monitoring (TAM) APIs — merchant-silicon foundation for SONiC/AsterNOS
| Enterprise switch family datasheet | Enterprise Core and Aggregation Switches Datasheet (PDF) |
| Quick start guide for AsterNOS CLI | AsterNOS Documentation |
The dual 1+1 hot-swappable power supplies ensure continuous operation by allowing replacement without system shutdown.
Equipped with 3+1 hot-swappable fan modules, the system delivers reliable cooling performance to maintain stability and efficiency under demanding workloads.
| CERTIFICATE |  ISO 9001 |  ISO 14001 |  ISO 45001 |  ISO 27001 |  FCC |  CE |
| SCOPE | Quality management system | Environmental management | Occupational health and safety | Information security management | US radio frequency compliance | EU health, safety and environmental compliance |