FS N8560 Series Switches Make for Data Center Success
Updated at Mar 14th 20221 min read

With more high-performance servers supporting higher workload densities, the need for dense 25G/100G switches in the leaf-and-spine topologies is continuously increased in data centers and cloud services. FS N8560 series L3 switches are the next-generation, fixed-configuration spine-and-leaf switches that offer flexible, low-latency, zero packet loss, high density 25G and 40G/100G interfaces for data center connectivity, making them an optimal choice for spine-and-leaf deployments in large enterprise, service providers, and cloud provider data centers.
N8560 Series L3 Data Center Switches Models
The N8560 series L3 data center switches have two compact 1U models and one 2U model, each offers very low latency and a rich set of features for today's data centers. The following is the simple overview of them.
![]() | ![]() | ![]() | |
Ports | 48x 25G SFP28,8x 40G/100G QSFP28 | 32x 40G/100G QSFP28 | 64x 40G/100G QSFP28 |
Switch Chip | BCM56873 | BCM56870 | BCM56970 |
CPU | Cavium CN7130 (Quad-core, 1.2 GHz) | Intel® Xeon D-1527 (Quad-core, 2.2 GHz) | Cavium CN7230 (Quad-core, 1.5 GHz) |
Switching Capacity | 4 Tbps | 6.4 Tbps | 12.8 Tbps |
Forwarding Rate | 2.98 Bpps | 4.76 Bpps | 9.52 Bpps |
SDRAM | 4GB | 8GB | 4GB |
Flash Memory | 8GB | 24GB | 8GB |
Packet Buffer | 32MB | 32MB | 42MB |
Stackability | Up to 2 Units | Up to 2 Units | Up to 2 Units |
Fans | Hot-swappable 4 (3+1 redundancy) | Hot-swappable 5 (4+1 Redundancy) | Hot-swappable 3 (2+1 Redundancy) |
Power Supplies | Hot-swappable 2 (1+1 Redundancy), AC power | ||
Airflow | Front-to-Back | ||
Management | SNMP (SNMPv1,v2c,v3), RMON, gRPC, OAM, Syslog, Telnet, INT |
You can check out the video and images below to have a look at these three switches:
N8560-48BC Switch Port Types

N8560-64C Switch Port Types

Highlights of N8560 Series Data Center Switches
With a rich set of Layer 3 features and advanced data center functions, FS N8560 series spine-and-leaf switches are designed to help users to keep up with data-driven networking.
Powerful Performance

10/25/40/100GbE Interface Speeds for Flexible Deployment in Multiple Scenarios
The N8560 series data center switches offer high-density 10/25/40/100GbE multispeed interfaces, bringing up to 2.98/4.76/9.52 Bpps throughput. FS N8560 series data center switches support up to 12.8 Tbps switching capacity, which meets the sustainable development needs of cloud computing data centers and creates a stable network architecture for the next decade.
Microsecond Latency and Zero Packet Loss
FS N8560 series L3 switches support ECN and PFC that are the key technologies to realize low latency and lossless transport. In addition, FS N8560 series switches can realize efficient, lossless Ethernet low-latency forwarding based on RDMA (Remote Direct Memory Access), which is necessary for modern datacenter applications.
Powerful Caching Capacity
The N8560 series switches adopt an advanced-cache scheduling mechanism that can effectively absorb bursts to maximize the device's cache capability, ensuring non-blocking performance in large-volume data transmission applications.
Complete Virtualization Capability
EVPN-VXLAN Achieves Layer 2 Virtual Network Fabric Dynamically
FS N8560 series switches support EVPN (Ethernet Virtual Private Network) that allows the network to carry endpoint reachability information such as Layer 2 MAC addresses and Layer 3 IP addresses. EVPN can automatically discover and authenticate virtual tunnel endpoints to reduce unknown unicast and ARP flooding risks. EVPN-VXLAN expands the potential number of Layer 2 domains, achieving services such as multi-tenant hosting and migration of virtual machines, etc.

MLAG for Seamless Network Upgrade
The N8560 series switches support MLAG (Multi-chassis Link Aggregation Group) which can form a logical LAG port between two devices. This function can be used at various places in data center networks. With MLAG, FS N8560 switches can build redundant connections and increase network-level resiliency, bringing seamless network upgrades.

Stacking for Simple Management
The N8560 series data center switches use industry-leading stacking technology which virtualizes 2 units into one and to be managed and operated as a single device, realizing unified network management. And this technology ensures the link failure time within 50 to 200ms, guaranteeing uninterrupted operation for mission-critical applications.

Security and Reliability
Increased Operational Efficiency
FS N8560 series switches support Graceful Restart (GR) and Bidirectional Forwarding (BFD) mechanisms that ensure the network achieves millisecond-level fault detection and recovery even when the network bears heavy traffic.

Sound Security Protection Policies
FS N8560 series switches comply with various security protection policies, such as hardware-based IPv6 ACLs, hardware CPU protection mechanism, the Secure Shell (SSH), SNMPv3 and Network Foundation Protection Policy (NFPP). Therefore, FS N8560 switches can safeguard security for data center spine and leaf deployments.
Increased Operational Efficiency
Accelerate Provisioning from Days to Minutes
FS N8560 series switches can simplify duplicate network configuration by automation helpers like NETCONF, Python, Zero Configuration, Ansible, gRPC, OpenFlow, greatly saving daily operation costs and time.

Dual Redundant Power Supplies and Smart Fans
FS N8560 series data center switches employ 1+1 dual AC PSU and 3+1 hot-swap fans. PSUs can be removed/replaced without shutting down the system, and variable-speed fans can automatically achieve superior cooling, noise and power reduction. N8560 series switches automate workflow with dual power supplies and smart fans, effectively reducing deployment time, ongoing maintenance time, and costs.
Data Center Deployments
With a variety of Layer 3 features and advanced functions in both software and hardware, the N8560 series switches are built to deliver high-performance and stable connections for medium data centers and cloud computing services. The following topology is the typical spine-and-leaf application of the N8560 series switches.
In this application, the N8560-32C and N8560-64C L3 100G switches provide 100G QSFP28 ports and higher capacity than the N8560-48BC switch, so they can be used as spine switches and the N8560-48BC can be used as leaf switch. Besides, the N8560-48BC data center switch supports MLAG which can provide high reliability for the leaf links.

Final Thoughts
This article is being updated continuously. If you want to share any comments on FS switches, or if you are inclined to test and review our switches, please email us via media@fs.com or inform us on social media platforms. We cannot wait to hear more about your ideas on FS switches.