DS-C9396T-96ITK9 – 96x32G FC Ports – 96x32G SW Optics – Intake SAN Switch

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DS-C9396T-96ITK9 Description

The DS-C9396T-96ITK9 is a Cisco MDS 9396T 2RU Fibre Channel switch for enterprise SAN fabrics that draw cooling air in through the port side. It provides 96 active ports at 4/8/16/32 Gbps autosensing, 32 Gbps of dedicated bandwidth per port, 3 Tbps of aggregate bandwidth, and 96 included 32G shortwave optics. The included shortwave optics reach 100 m (328 ft) on OM4 or OM5 fiber at 32G, and the switch runs Cisco MDS NX-OS 8.3(1) or later.

Quick Specs

Parameter

Specification

Product ID

DS-C9396T-96ITK9

Product type

32G Fibre Channel SAN switch bundle

Order configuration

96 active ports, 96 x 32G SW optics, 2 fans, 2 PSUs, port-side intake

Active ports at order

96 Fibre Channel ports

Included FC optics

96 x Cisco 32G Fibre Channel shortwave optics

Airflow

Port-side intake

Port speed

4/8/16/32 Gbps autosensing

Aggregate bandwidth

3 Tbps per switch

Port groups

Six 16-port groups

Power supplies

2 x 1200W AC/HVAC/HVDC bidirectional PSUs

Minimum NX-OS release

Cisco MDS NX-OS 8.3(1) or later

Form factor

2RU rack-mountable switch

Product Performance

Full Active Fibre Channel Count
Aggregate Switch Bandwidth
Extended Native FC Credit Option

Key Features

Full Port Count From Day One

All 96 SFP+ ports are active, organized as six 16-port groups. Port allocation for hosts, storage, and inter-switch links can be planned against those groups.

Port-Side Intake Cooling

Two hot-swappable fan modules draw air in through the port side and exhaust it at the rear. The power supplies are bidirectional, so the fan modules alone determine the direction.

3 Tbps Of Switching Bandwidth

Every port autosenses 4/8/16/32 Gbps and keeps 32 Gbps of dedicated bandwidth, for 3 Tbps across the chassis. PortChannels bundle up to 16 physical links.

Included 32G Shortwave Optics

The 96 optics use dual LC connectors on 850 nm multimode fiber, reaching 20 m on OM2, 70 m on OM3, and 100 m on OM4 or OM5. Fiber runs inside those distances need no extra optics.

1+1 Power Redundancy

Two hot-swappable 1200W supplies run as a 1+1 pair, and either one can carry the full switch load. They accept 90V to 305V AC or 192V to 400V DC, and a typical load with 96 optics is 555W.

Buffer Credits For Distance

Each port defaults to 500 buffer-to-buffer credits. Every 16-port group shares a pool of up to 8300 credits, and a single port can be set as high as 8270 for extended-distance links.

Application Scenarios

High-Density Fabric Edge

A storage network with many hosts and arrays can terminate them on one 2RU chassis, which provides 96 active 32G ports without a second switch or a staged port upgrade.

Cold Aisle On The Port Side

Where the cabling side of the rack faces the cold aisle, the fan modules draw air in through the port side and push it out the rear, matching the intake airflow the layout provides.

Inter-Site Storage Replication

For replication between two data centers, a port can be configured with up to 8270 buffer-to-buffer credits, drawn from the 8300-credit pool of its 16-port group, to carry native 32G Fibre Channel over longer runs.

Product Comparison

Parameter

DS-C9396T-96ITK9

DS-C9396T-96ETK9

DS-C9396T-48ITK9

DS-C9396T-48ETK9

Fibre Channel ports

96 SFP+ ports

96 SFP+ ports

96 SFP+ ports

96 SFP+ ports

Port speed

4/8/16/32 Gbps autosensing

4/8/16/32 Gbps autosensing

4/8/16/32 Gbps autosensing

4/8/16/32 Gbps autosensing

Aggregate bandwidth

3 Tbps per switch

3 Tbps per switch

3 Tbps per switch

3 Tbps per switch

Included FC optics

96 x 32G SW

96 x 32G SW

48 x 32G SW

48 x 32G SW

Airflow

Port-side intake

Port-side exhaust

Port-side intake

Port-side exhaust

Fan module

DS-C96S-FAN-I=

DS-C96S-FAN-E=

DS-C96S-FAN-I=

DS-C96S-FAN-E=

Port activation path

All 96 ports active at order

All 96 ports active at order

M9396T-PL16, 16 ports at a time up to 96

M9396T-PL16, 16 ports at a time up to 96

Minimum NX-OS release

MDS NX-OS 8.3(1) or later

MDS NX-OS 8.3(1) or later

MDS NX-OS 8.3(1) or later

MDS NX-OS 8.3(1) or later

DS-C9396T-96ITK9 and DS-C9396T-96ETK9 are the same 96-port bundle with 96 active ports and 96 x 32G SW optics, split only by airflow: DS-C9396T-96ITK9 uses port-side intake fans (DS-C96S-FAN-I=) and DS-C9396T-96ETK9 uses port-side exhaust fans (DS-C96S-FAN-E=), so the choice follows the airflow direction the rack requires. Fabrics that can start smaller move to DS-C9396T-48ITK9, which keeps intake airflow with 48 active ports and 48 x 32G SW optics, then adds 16 ports at a time with M9396T-PL16 up to 96. A 48-port start with exhaust airflow is DS-C9396T-48ETK9. All four bundles require Cisco MDS NX-OS 8.3(1) or later.

Ordering Checklist

  • Airflow direction: This PID is port-side intake; order spare fan module DS-C96S-FAN-I=. A fan module of the opposite direction reverses the airflow of the chassis.
  • Port activation: 96 ports are active at order, so no M9396T-PL16 activation license is needed. Adding M9396T-PL16 to a 96-port bundle order duplicates a license the bundle does not use.
  • Optics: 96 x DS-SFP-FC32G-SW are bundled; order 32G longwave or 16G and 8G optics such as DS-SFP-FC32G-LW= separately. The bundle cannot cover longwave or lower-speed links without extra optics.
  • Power cords: Order two cords per switch: the standard CAB-HVAC-C14-2M, or a regional cord such as CAB-9K10A-UK or CAB-9K12A-NA. The switch has two 1200W supplies, and each needs a cord that fits the site outlet.
  • Optional licenses: M9300ENT1K9= Enterprise Package and L-D-M93S-AXK9= SAN Insights are separate line items. Neither is included in the bundle PID.

Optional Add-ons

Model

Description

DS-C96S-FAN-I=

Cisco MDS 9396T fan module spare for port-side intake airflow

DS-CAC-1200W=

AC PSU bidirectional airflow spare listed for MDS 9396T

DS-SFP-FC32G-SW

Cisco 32G Fibre Channel shortwave SFP+ optic

DS-9396T-KIT-CSCO

MDS 9396T accessory kit for Cisco

Specifications

Parameter Specification Parameter Specification
Product ID DS-C9396T-96ITK9 Product type 32G Fibre Channel SAN switch bundle
Order configuration 96 active ports, 96 x 32G SW optics, 2 fans, 2 PSUs, and port-side intake airflow Form factor 2RU rack-mountable fixed switch
Dimensions 3.39 x 17.42 x 22.28 in. (8.61 x 44.25 x 56.59 cm) Weight 18.88 kg (41.62 lb)
Fibre Channel ports 96 SFP+ ports Active ports at order 96 active Fibre Channel ports
Included FC optics 96 x Cisco 32G Fibre Channel shortwave optics Supported FC optics listed by Cisco 32G SW, 32G LW, 16G SW, 16G LW, 8G SW, and 8G LW Fibre Channel optics
32G SW optic product ID DS-SFP-FC32G-SW 32G SW connector Dual LC connector
32G SW wavelength 850 nm 32G SW fiber type Multimode fiber
32G SW 32G cable distance 65 ft (20 m) on OM2, 230 ft (70 m) on OM3, and 328 ft (100 m) on OM4 or OM5 Port speed 4/8/16/32 Gbps autosensing with 32 Gbps dedicated bandwidth per port
Aggregate bandwidth 3 Tbps per switch Port group architecture Six 16-port port groups
Extended B2B credits Up to 8300 Buffer-to-Buffer credits per 16-port group, with up to 8270 on a single port Fibre Channel port types E, F, and B standard port types; SD, ST, NP, and TE enhanced port types
Port channel Up to 16 load-balanced physical links in one port channel Advanced functions VSAN, NPV, IVR, Port Channel with multipath load balancing, and flow-based and zone-based QoS
Fabric services Name server, RSCN, login services, Fabric Configuration Server, broadcast, and in-order delivery Management port mgmt0 10/100/1000BASE-T and mgmt1 1/10G SFP+
Programming interfaces Scriptable CLI, Cisco DCNM web services API, NX-API REST interfaces, onboard Python interpreter, Embedded Event Manager, and Cisco NX-OS scheduler Minimum NX-OS release Cisco MDS NX-OS 8.3(1) or later
Minimum Cisco DCNM release Cisco DCNM 11(0) or later Fan modules 2 hot-swappable fan modules
Fan direction for this PID Port-side intake airflow with DS-C96S-FAN-I fan modules Power supplies 2 hot-swappable 1200W AC/HVAC/HVDC bidirectional airflow power supplies
Power redundancy 1+1 power grid redundancy AC input voltage 90V to 305V
DC input voltage 192V to 400V Nominal input frequency 50 to 60 Hz
Typical power with 96 x 32G optics 555W under Cisco’s typical 96-optic condition Maximum switch power 585W maximum
Airflow Front to back inward from ports using port-side intake fans Operating temperature 32 to 104F (0 to 40C)
Storage temperature -40 to 158F (-40 to 70C) Operating humidity 10 to 90 percent noncondensing
Operating altitude -197 to 6500 ft (-60 to 2000 m) Minimum cable distance for listed SFP+ optics 6.5 ft (2 m)

Quality Certifications

Customer Reviews

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    Nicole Williams
    Posted on 06/03/2026
    Verified Buyer
    5.0

    Pre-sales engagement felt collaborative rather than pushy.

    Janice Ruiz
    Posted on 25/02/2026
    Verified Buyer
    4.0

    I’d buy from Layer23 over our previous suppliers any day. Would have liked a tracking update sooner, but the product is great.

    Angela Davis
    Posted on 03/12/2025
    Verified Buyer
    4.0

    Asked for a duplicate receipt for our records months later. Sent within minutes. Took a little longer to clear customs than expected, otherwise excellent.

    Qui-Gon Jinn
    Posted on 28/07/2024
    Verified Buyer
    5.0

    There’s always a bigger fish… but this is a very big switch. Works perfectly.

    Infrastructure Lead
    Posted on 22/02/2024
    Verified Buyer
    5.0

    96 ports of 32G FC. This is the heart of our storage network. Reliability is paramount.

Questions & Answers

  • Does DS-C9396T-96ITK9 need a port activation license?

    No. All 96 SFP+ Fibre Channel ports on DS-C9396T-96ITK9 are active at order, and 96 32G shortwave optics are included. Adding M9396T-PL16 to this bundle order duplicates a license the bundle does not use.
  • What Fibre Channel speeds does DS-C9396T-96ITK9 support?

    DS-C9396T-96ITK9 supports 4/8/16/32 Gbps autosensing on every port, with 32 Gbps of dedicated bandwidth per port. Older 8G and 16G devices attach without a separate speed tier, and the bundled optics are 32G shortwave.
  • Which port is the default management port on DS-C9396T-96ITK9?

    MGMT ETH0 is the default Ethernet management port, interface mgmt0, per the MDS 9396T hardware connection guide. Use it for the first management connection to DS-C9396T-96ITK9, and cable it before the first power-on.
  • What must match at both ends of a link on DS-C9396T-96ITK9?

    Each transceiver must match the transceiver on the other end of the cable, and the cable must not exceed the stipulated length, per the MDS 9396T hardware connection guide. DS-C9396T-96ITK9 includes 96 shortwave optics, so the far end needs a matching optic type.
  • What is the maximum power draw of DS-C9396T-96ITK9?

    The maximum switch power is 585W. The typical figure of 555W applies with 96 optics under Cisco's typical condition. Size the power circuits and the rack cooling for the 585W maximum, not the typical figure.
  • What airflow rate do the fans of DS-C9396T-96ITK9 reach?

    The fans reach a maximum of 255 CFM and a nominal 110 CFM at 25C, drawing air in from the port side. Check the cold aisle supply of the rack against the 255 CFM maximum.

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DataSheet Downloads

  • DS-C9396T-96ITK9 Datasheet