Cisco 8201 Chassis 24x400GE QSFP56-D | Router Chassis, Enterprise — SD-AR3K-82011028

Built for networks that need serious port density, the Cisco 8201 chassis with 24 x 400GE QSFP56-D interfaces is designed to carry demanding traffic patterns without forcing a redesign later. It gives infrastructure teams a high-capacity platform for aggregation, backbone, and high-speed interconnect roles where 100GE-class designs are no longer enough. The value here is density and headroom. Twenty-four 400GE ports provide a strong foundation for large-scale uplinks, fabric connections, and bandwidth-heavy routing domains. For teams planning around growth, this chassis helps reduce the number of boxes, optics, and rack positions required to reach the next capacity tier. Because this is a chassis-only routing platform, it is suited to deployments where the operating system, line cards, and service architecture are selected separately. That makes it a fit for standardized Cisco environments that already have a defined software stack and want hardware built for scale, not bundled features that may never be used. For procurement teams, the premium is in the physical design: fewer bottlenecks, more port headroom, and a platform that can support high-speed network architecture decisions over a longer lifecycle. Ideal For Core routing for high-bandwidth enterprise campuses Aggregation of 400GE uplinks in data center networks Backbone transport for large routed environments High-density interconnect in standardized Cisco infrastructure Why This Product 1 24 x 400GE ports deliver far more density than typical edge routers 2 Chassis-only design fits environments with separate software and service planning 3 QSFP56-D connectivity supports high-speed optical deployment strategies 4 Built for core and aggregation roles where port count drives value