NVIDIA Mellanox Spectrum SN2201 48-Port 1GbE + 4-Port 100GbE QSFP28 Rack-Mountable Managed Switch with Rear-to-Front Airflow

Data center operators and enterprise network architects deploying high-density top-of-rack switching will find the NVIDIA Mellanox Spectrum SN2201 a robust foundation for modern leaf-spine fabrics. This 1U rack-mountable switch combines 48 ports of 1GbE RJ45 connectivity with 4 ports of 100GbE QSFP28 uplinks, delivering a total switching capacity of 896 Gbps and a forwarding rate of 667 Mpps. The rear-to-front airflow design aligns with common data center cooling architectures, ensuring efficient thermal management in dense rack environments. With support for open network operating systems including Mellanox Onyx, Cumulus Linux, and SONiC, the SN2201 offers flexibility for diverse network automation and orchestration strategies.

Key specifications

• 48 x 1GbE RJ45 ports for high-density server connectivity
• 4 x 100GbE QSFP28 ports for high-speed uplinks
• Switching capacity: 896 Gbps (full duplex)
• Forwarding rate: 667 Mpps
• Ultra-low latency: under 300 ns port-to-port
• Dual redundant, hot-swappable AC power supplies
• 1U rack-mountable form factor
• Rear-to-front airflow direction
• Managed Layer 2/3 feature set with support for OSPF, BGP, MLAG, VXLAN, EVPN
• 8 GB RAM and 16 GB SSD for robust control plane operations

Why choose it

The SN2201 excels in environments where predictable performance and open networking are paramount. Its hardware is optimized for low latency and high throughput, making it ideal for latency-sensitive applications such as financial trading, high-performance computing, and large-scale virtualization. The support for multiple network operating systems allows organizations to avoid vendor lock-in and adopt a disaggregated approach, reducing total cost of ownership. Redundant power supplies and an active fan tray ensure high availability and reliability for mission-critical deployments.

Ideal use cases

• Top-of-rack switch in enterprise data centers
• Leaf switch in leaf-spine network architectures
• High-performance computing clusters requiring low latency
• Open networking environments using Cumulus Linux or SONiC
• Virtualized data centers with VXLAN and EVPN overlay networks

Good to know

The switch supports jumbo frames up to 9 KB, 4K VLANs, and comprehensive management via RJ45 console, USB, and Ethernet management ports. It complies with RoHS, CE, and FCC standards. The rear-to-front airflow requires proper rack orientation to match the data center's hot-aisle/cold-aisle layout. For detailed configuration and compatibility, refer to NVIDIA's official documentation.