{"id":100425,"date":"2026-08-03T15:09:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T15:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/optics.carritech.com\/?p=100425"},"modified":"2026-08-03T15:09:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T15:09:46","slug":"nexus-9300-compatible-optics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/optics.carritech.com\/pt\/nexus-9300-compatible-optics\/","title":{"rendered":"Nexus 9300 compatible optics: which transceiver works in which model"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you run Nexus 9300s, you have asked it. Choosing Nexus 9300 compatible optics<\/strong> should be a two-minute job, and it never is \u2014 because Cisco splits the answer across a datasheet, a hardware installation guide, an interfaces configuration guide and a compatibility matrix that only works in a browser. Nobody has all four open at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here it is in one place: what each model takes, the Carritech Optics part against each Cisco part number, and the coding notes \u2014 because that is where most of the surprises actually live, and almost none of them are where people expect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[image: Nexus 9300 compatible optics \u2014 Cisco part numbers alongside Carritech Optics equivalents]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nexus 9300 compatible optics start with the cage, not the model<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Nexus<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Front-panel cages come in two families, and each family is backwards compatible downward only.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SFP family<\/strong> covers SFP (1G), SFP+ (10G) and SFP28 (25G). They are physically the same cage. A port labelled 1\/10\/25G takes any of the three; you set the speed per port.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The QSFP family<\/strong> covers QSFP+ (40G), QSFP28 (100G), QSFP56 (200G) and QSFP-DD (400G). The Ethernet standards these speeds implement are set by the IEEE 802.3 working group<\/a>, not by any switch vendor \\\u2014 which is why a compliant optic is a compliant optic whoever built it. A QSFP-DD port takes QSFP+, QSFP28 and QSFP56 modules \u2014 Cisco states this outright in the 400G QSFP-DD transceiver datasheet<\/a>, and repeats it in the GX2 switch datasheet<\/a>, which lists the QSFP-DD ports as supporting 400G, 200G, 100G and 40G. A port Cisco labels “40\/100G QSFP28” takes a 40G QSFP+ module for the same reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reverse never works. A QSFP28 module will not run in a QSFP+ port, and a 25G SFP28 module will not run at 25G in a 10G-only cage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[image: Nexus 9300 compatible optics cage compatibility chart showing which module fits which port]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crossing between the two families needs a QSA adapter<\/strong>. There are two:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adapter<\/strong><\/td>Converts<\/strong><\/td>Enables<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
CVR-QSFP-SFP10G<\/td>QSFP+ port to SFP\/SFP+<\/td>1G and 10G<\/td><\/tr>
CVR-QSFP28-SFP25G<\/td>QSFP28 port to SFP28\/SFP+\/SFP<\/td>1G, 10G and 25G<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Cisco documents these in the 40GBASE QSFP modules datasheet<\/a> and the 100GBASE QSFP modules datasheet<\/a> respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two things to know before you plan around a QSA. Since NX-OS 7.0(3)I7(2), manual breakout of a QSA port is not supported \u2014 you cannot have both on the same port. And on the 9336C-FX2, 1G over QSA is barred on ports 1\u20136 and 33\u201336 specifically. That exclusion is printed in the FX2 datasheet<\/a> and it catches people out, because those are exactly the ports at each end of the panel that get used for odd jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nexus 9300 compatible optics by model<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Model<\/strong><\/td>Downlinks<\/strong><\/td>Uplinks<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
93180YC-EX<\/td>48 \u00d7 1\/10\/25G SFP28<\/td>6 \u00d7 40\/100G QSFP28<\/td><\/tr>
93180YC-FX<\/td>48 \u00d7 1\/10\/25G SFP28<\/td>6 \u00d7 40\/100G QSFP28<\/td><\/tr>
93180YC-FX3<\/td>48 \u00d7 1\/10\/25G SFP28<\/td>6 \u00d7 40\/100G QSFP28<\/td><\/tr>
93108TC-EX \/ FX \/ FX3<\/td>48 \u00d7 copper RJ-45<\/td>6 \u00d7 40\/100G QSFP28<\/td><\/tr>
93240YC-FX2<\/td>48 \u00d7 1\/10\/25G SFP28<\/td>12 \u00d7 40\/100G QSFP28<\/td><\/tr>
93360YC-FX2<\/td>96 \u00d7 1\/10\/25G SFP28<\/td>12 \u00d7 40\/100G QSFP28<\/td><\/tr>
9336C-FX2<\/td>36 \u00d7 40\/100G QSFP28<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
9332C<\/td>32 \u00d7 40\/100G QSFP28<\/td>2 \u00d7 1\/10G SFP+<\/td><\/tr>
9364C<\/td>64 \u00d7 40\/100G QSFP28<\/td>2 \u00d7 1\/10G SFP+<\/td><\/tr>
9316D-GX<\/td>16 \u00d7 400\/100\/40G QSFP-DD<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
93600CD-GX<\/td>28 \u00d7 40\/100G QSFP28<\/td>8 \u00d7 400\/100G QSFP-DD<\/td><\/tr>
9364C-GX<\/td>64 \u00d7 100\/40G QSFP28<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
9332D-GX2B<\/td>32 \u00d7 400G QSFP-DD<\/td>2 \u00d7 1\/10G SFP+<\/td><\/tr>
9348D-GX2A<\/td>48 \u00d7 400G QSFP-DD<\/td>2 \u00d7 1\/10G SFP+<\/td><\/tr>
9364D-GX2A<\/td>64 \u00d7 400G QSFP-DD<\/td>2 \u00d7 1\/10G SFP+<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The per-model detail that changes what you order:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

93180YC-EX and 93180YC-FX.<\/strong> The 48 downlinks genuinely do 1G. Cisco’s hardware installation guides for the 93180YC-EX<\/a> and the 93180YC-FX<\/a> both say the ports “support 1-Gigabit, 10-Gigabit, and 25-Gigabit Ethernet”. You need a 1G SFP module and a per-port speed setting \u2014 no QSA, no adapter, because these are already SFP-family cages. The FX adds 8\/16\/32G Fibre Channel on the same ports, under a feature licence, and wire-rate MACsec on all ports. The EX went end-of-sale in August 2022 with support running to August 2027; Cisco’s stated replacement is the FX3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

93180YC-FX3.<\/strong> Cisco’s FX3 datasheet<\/a> and its hardware installation guide<\/a> disagree about the downlinks \u2014 the datasheet says 1\/10\/25G, the installation guide says 100M\/1\/10\/25G. If you are planning a 100M connection on this platform, verify on your own switch rather than on either document. The installation guide also carries a note worth reading twice before you order: auto-negotiation is not supported at 10G on ports 1\u201348, or on ports 49\u201352 with a QSA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

93108TC family.<\/strong> The 48 front ports are RJ-45 copper and take no pluggable optic at all. The six QSFP28 uplinks are the only ports you buy transceivers for. The FX3P variant adds 2.5G and 5G multigigabit plus PoE on the copper ports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

93240YC-FX2 and 93360YC-FX2.<\/strong> On the 93360YC-FX2 the 12 uplinks are numbered 97\u2013108 and they are the only ports that break out. The 93240YC-FX2 installation guide<\/a> notes that its 12 uplinks can be configured as downlinks, and carries a specific restriction: 10\/25G-LR-S with QSA was not supported in Release 14.0(1).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9332C and 9364C.<\/strong> These are the ones that catch people. The datasheet<\/a> says, in as many words, “Breakout cables are not supported” \u2014 and both models are absent from the NX-OS breakout support matrix entirely. If your design assumed 4 \u00d7 10G fan-out from a 9332C, it does not work. They are 40G and 100G only, and the range of Nexus 9300 compatible optics for them is correspondingly narrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9336C-FX2.<\/strong> All 36 ports break out, and all 36 do 1\/10\/25\/40\/100G \u2014 except for the 1G-over-QSA exclusion on ports 1\u20136 and 33\u201336 noted above. The FX2-E variant adds 16\/32G Fibre Channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GX generation.<\/strong> The 9316D-GX<\/a> breaks out on all 16 ports. The 93600CD-GX is the awkward one: ports 1\u201324 do 2 \u00d7 50G on any port but 4 \u00d7 10G and 4 \u00d7 25G on odd-numbered ports only<\/strong>, ports 25\u201328 do all modes, and the eight QSFP-DD ports 29\u201336 add 4 \u00d7 100G. Cisco’s quad-group rule applies across the platform \u2014 only one speed can be active in a quad group at a time, and breaking one port out to 4 \u00d7 25G or 4 \u00d7 10G automatically removes the even ports in that quad. The 9364C-GX follows the same odd-ports-only pattern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GX2 generation.<\/strong> All three \u2014 9332D-GX2B, 9348D-GX2A, 9364D-GX2A \u2014 take 400G QSFP-DD natively and accept QSFP56, QSFP28 and QSFP+ in the same cages. Every port supports 4 \u00d7 10G, 4 \u00d7 25G, 4 \u00d7 50G, 4 \u00d7 100G and 2 \u00d7 200G breakout. MACsec coverage differs by model: the last 8 ports on the 9332D-GX2B, all 48 on the 9348D-GX2A, the first 16 on the 9364D-GX2A.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nexus 9300 compatible optics by speed<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every Carritech part below is cross-referenced to the Cisco part number in our own catalogue<\/a>, and every one is coded to order for the platform it is going into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n