Introduction to the Technical White Paper

This technical whitepaper provides an architectural deep-dive into Access Control List (ACL) implementation using Ternary Content-Addressable Memory (TCAM) in Cisco’s Cloud Scale ASICs powering Nexus 9000 series switches. Designed for network architects and engineers, the document details how Cisco’s custom silicon achieves 400G line-rate ACL processing while maintaining sub-5μs latency.

The paper specifically focuses on Nexus 9300/9400/9500 platforms running NX-OS 10.2(x) or later, offering comparative analysis of TCAM resource allocation across different ASIC generations including Trident-3, Tomahawk-3, and Cisco’s proprietary Cloud Scale processors. It serves as an essential reference for optimizing security policy enforcement in hyperscale data center environments.

Key Technical Insights

  1. ​​TCAM Architecture Innovations​​

    • 48% increase in concurrent ACL rules per ASIC compared to previous generations
    • Hierarchical TCAM partitioning for simultaneous IPv4/IPv6/MACsec policy enforcement
    • Dynamic TCAM reallocation between security/forwarding tables without service interruption

  2. ​​Performance Enhancements​​

    • 400G wire-speed ACL evaluation at 14.4B packets/sec
    • 3-stage pipelined TCAM lookup reducing latency to 2.8ns per rule
    • Integrated counters for real-time ACL hit/miss statistics collection

  3. ​​Operational Improvements​​

    • Automated TCAM utilization monitoring through NX-API/Telemetry
    • Rule compression algorithms reducing TCAM consumption by 35%
    • Cross-stack visibility into ACL impacts on QoS/CoPP configurations

Supported Platforms & Requirements

​​Component​​ ​​Supported Models/Version​​
Switch Hardware Nexus 9300-EX/FX/GX, 9408, 9508
ASIC Generation Cloud Scale 2.0/3.0, Tomahawk-3
NX-OS Version 10.2(3)F / 10.2(5) or later
Management Protocol Cisco DCNM 11.5+, Ansible 2.12+

​​Critical Compatibility Notes​​:

  • Not compatible with first-gen Nexus 9200 switches
  • Requires minimum 64GB RAM for full TCAM profiling features
  • ACI mode requires APIC controller version 5.2(8e) or newer

Accessing the Technical Documentation

Authorized Cisco partners and customers can obtain the ​​acl-tcam-in-cisco-cloud-scale-asics-for-nexus-9000-series-switches-white-paper.pdf​​ through:

  1. ​​Cisco Technical Documents Portal​​ (CCO login required)
  2. ​​IOSHub.net Verified Mirror​​: Pre-scanned copy with original SHA-256 hash e3b0c44298...
  3. ​​Priority Support​​: Contact IOSHub.net agents for expedited delivery

Note: This document contains proprietary ASIC architecture details protected under Cisco’s EULA. Distribution requires written authorization.

This technical brief synthesizes implementation details from Cisco’s Nexus 9000 series hardware documentation, NX-OS configuration guides, and data center security best practices. For comprehensive configuration examples, refer to Cisco’s ACL Optimization Handbook for Cloud-Scale Networks.

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