Information here is by rumor, innuendo and extrapolation. Manufacturers rarely put info on packet buffers in their data sheets. There are some summary thoughts

The buffer size question discussed in 2012 on the nanog list and is reproduced.

Shared memory means that the hardware permits buffers to be used by any port that needs them. In a shared memory design it is not possible to let ALL the memory go to queued packets. There would be no room for new arrivals which would lead to head of line blocking.

Some switches have multiple switch ICs that each manage their own memory pool. Examples are the Brocade FCX648S and the Cisco 3750-48. Memory from one IC can be shared among the ports in that IC's group but cannot be loaned out to ports controlled by other switch chips. Here we are interested in queue resources that can be claimed by a single flow -- not the total RAM in the system.

Tolly (tolly.com) occasionally reports on the ability of switches to sustain microbursts in his reports on data center switches. These measurements relate directly to output port buffering. See esp the IBM G8264 below.

Max buffer queue depth requires that all packet memory can be put into a single queue. QoS schemes divide buffer resources among defined queues. As such, I am not interested in the QoS descriptions and these are even less reliable than the rest of this doc.

Model

Port Type

RX Queue

TX Queue

Total Buffer

RX Buffer

TX Buffer

Trident+ Shared Memory

Accton 5652

48 SFP+ and 4 QSFP

8Q

9 MB

5? MB

Edge-corE 5600-52X

48 SFP+ and 4 QSFP

8Q

9 MB

5? MB

Juniper QFX3500

48 SFP+ and 4 QSFP

12Q

9 MB

5? MB

Arista 7050S-64

48 SFP+ and 4 QSFP

8Q

9 MB/switch

5 MB

Dell 8132F & 4032F

24 SFP+ and 2 x QSFP

8Q

9 MB

Dell 8164F & 4064F

48 SFP+ and 4 x QSFP

8Q

9 MB

Pica8 P-3920

48 SFP+ and 4 x QSFP

9 MB

Penguin 4804x

48 SFP+ and 4 x QSFP

9 MB

Cisco Nexus 3064X

48 SFP+ and 4 QSFP

12Q

9 MB

5 MB

IBM G8264

48 SFP+ and 4 QSFP

8Q

9 MB/switch

not on data sheet

Force10 S4810

48 SFP+ and 4 QSFP

4Q

9 MB

Allied Telesis DC2552

48 SFP+ and 4 QSFP

8Q

9 MB

5 MB

NEC PF5820

48 SFP+ and 4 QSFP

Trident II

Arista 7050X

32 QSFP

8Q

12 MB

Dynamic up to 8 MB

Arista 7250X

64 QSFP

8Q

12 MB/ASIC, 48 MB total

Dynamic up to 8 MB

Brocade 7750-26Q

26 QSFP + slot

8Q

12.2 MB

Dynamic up to 8 MB

Brocade 7750-48F

48 SFP+ and 6 QSFP and expansion

8Q

12.2 MB

Dynamic up to 8 MB

Extreme Summit 770

32 QSFP

8Q

No info

No info

Cisco Nexus 3100

32 QSFP or 31 QSFP and 4 SFP+

8Q

12.2 MB

Dynamic up to 8 MB

Dell S6000

32 QSFP

8Q

12 MB

Dynamic up to 8 MB

Juniper QFX5100-24Q

24 QSFP + expansion slots

8Q

12 MB

Dynamic up to 8 MB

HP 5930

32 QSFP

8Q

12.2 MB

Dynamic up to 8 MB

Mellanox

Mellanox SX1024

48 SFP+ and 12 QSFP

??

4.6 MB

64 KB to 1 port

Mellanox SX1036

36 QSFP

??

4.6 MB

128 KB to 1 port

Other Shared Memory

Brocade FCX624S

24Gig-E w 4 SFP+

8Q

2 MB

1.04 MB to 1 port

Juniper Ex4500

40 SFP+ plus 8 SFP+

8Q

230 KBytes

Brocade ICX6610-24

24Gig-E w 8 SFP+

8Q

4 MB

1 MB to 1 port

HP 3800

24Gig-E w 4 10Gb/s

8Q or 4Q or 2 Q

0.23 MB

HP 2920-24

24 tw-pr Gig-E w 4 optional 10Gb/s

8Q

11.25 MB

4.5 MB shared

6.75 MB shared

HP A5800-24G

24Gig-E w 4 10Gb/s

8Q

4 MB

4 MB

HP E6600-24G-4XG

24Gig-E w 2 10Gb/s

8Q

18 MB for GE

18 MB

Arista 7124SX

24 x SFP+

8Q

2 MB/sw-chip

shared

1.238 + 0.02 MB

Arista 7148SX

48 SFP+

8Q

2 MB/sw-chip, 8 MB total

1.238 + 0.02 MB

Arista DCS-7150S-24

24 SFP+

8Q

9.5 MB

Arista DSC-7150S-52

52 SFP+

8Q

9.5 MB

Arista DCS-7150S-64

48 SFP+ and 4 QSFP

8Q

9.5 MB

Dell 8024

24 SFP+

2Q

2 MB

Dell 6248

48 Gig-E, 4 x SFP+

8Q

6.1 MByte

98 KB per port

Dell 7024

24 Gig-E, 4 x SFP+

8Q

32 MB

4 MB

IBM BNT G8052

48 GE + 4 SFP+

8Q

4 MB/switch

4 MB

Catalyst 3750G-48TS

6 ASICs w/ 8 GE ports ea

8Q

1P3Q3T

576KB per ASIC

192KB per ASIC

384KB per ASIC

Catalyst 3750E, 3560E, 3750X & 3560X

ASIC support 24 GE ports or 2 x 10G

2Q

1P3Q3T

2750KB per ASIC

750KB per ASIC

2MB per ASIC

Catalyst 4948E

48 GigE + 4 SFP+

4

17.5 MB

Max 16 MB to 1 port

Cisco Nexus 3548

48 SFP+

4

18 MB

5.8 MB

Large queue 1RU switches

Force10 S60

48 Gig-E + 4 SFP+

4Q

1250 MB

enough

Arista 7048

48 Gig-E + 4 SFP+

8Q

768 MB

16 MB/port?

GOBBS

Virtual Output Port queuing

Arista 7504E/7508E

48 port sfp+ line card

8Q

3 GB per packet processor

50 MB/port-queue

VoQ

Brocade MLX

2-port 100 Gb/s line card

8Q

3 GB

256 MB/port-queue

VoQ

Brocade MLX

8-port 10 Gb/s line card

8Q

3 GB

256 MB/port-queue

VoQ

Brocade MLX

24-port 1 Gb/s line card

8Q

1 GB

64 MB/port-queue

VoQ

Cisco Nexus 5010

26 SFP+

8

1 (I think)

480 KB per port

480 KB

VoQ

Cisco Nexus 5548P

32 fixed SFP+ and 16-port expansion module

8 Unicast 8 Multi

1 (I think)

640 KB per port

640 KB

VoQ

Cisco Nexus 6001

48 fixed SFP+ and 4 QSFP

8 Unicast 8 Multi

1 (I think)

25 MB per 12-port 10G ASIC

14 MB shared per ASIC

VoQ

Cisco Nexus 7000 (M1 series)

48-port Tw-Pr GE

2q4t

1p3q4t

7.56 MB per port

6.15 MB per port

Cisco Nexus 7000 (F3 Series)

6-port 100GE

4q

4q

144 MB shared

VoQ

Cisco Nexus 7000 (F2 series)

48 SFP+

4q1t

1p3q1t

72 MB shared

VoQ

Cisco Nexus 7000 (M1 series)

32-port 10GE shared 4-port groups

8q4t

1p7q4t

65 MB per group

80 MB per group

Cisco Catalyst 6500 gets its own table

Comments, suggestions, corrections to warner@ucsc.edu

Opinions herein are solely those of jim warner. The University has no opinions, and if they did, these would not be them.