Juniper QFX5100-96S-AFO 96-Port 10GbE SFP+ Layer 3 Data Center Switch

The Juniper QFX5100-96S-AFO is a 96-port 10GBASE-X SFP+ Layer 3 managed switch with 8 x 40GbE QSFP+ uplinks and front-to-back (AFO) airflow — a high-density 10G data center spine or leaf switch providing 960 Gbps of switching capacity for server access, aggregation, and IP fabric deployments requiring maximum 10G SFP+ port density in a 2U form factor.

Key Features

• 96 x 10GbE SFP+ ports for industry-leading 10G port density in 2U
• 8 x 40GbE QSFP+ uplinks for high-bandwidth spine connectivity or inter-switch links
• Front-to-back (AFO) airflow for standard hot-aisle/cold-aisle rack configurations
• Full EVPN/VXLAN for IP fabric leaf and spine deployments
• Junos OS with gRPC telemetry and OpenConfig for data center automation

Product Specifications

• Part Number: QFX5100-96S-AFO
• Manufacturer: Juniper Networks
• Access Ports: 96 x 10GbE SFP+
• Uplink Ports: 8 x 40GbE QSFP+
• Switching Capacity: 2.56 Tbps
• Forwarding Rate: 1,900 Mpps
• Form Factor: 2U Rack-mountable

Switch & Port Specifications

• MAC Address Table: 288,000 entries
• VLAN Support: 4,094 VLANs
• QSFP+ Breakout: 4x10GbE per QSFP+ port (32 additional 10G ports)
• Jumbo Frames: 9,216 bytes
• Redundancy: Dual redundant hot-swap PSUs
• Airflow: AFO (Front-to-Back)

Network & Protocol Specifications

• Routing: OSPFv2/v3, BGP, IS-IS, VRRP, ECMP
• EVPN/VXLAN: Full EVPN Type 2/3/5 with VXLAN for IP fabric
• Multicast: PIM SM/SSM, IGMP v1/v2/v3
• Security: ACLs, DHCP snooping, MACsec on uplink ports
• Management: Junos OS CLI, NETCONF, gRPC telemetry, OpenConfig

Use Cases

• High-density 96-port 10GbE server access in Juniper data center leaf deployments
• IP fabric leaf switch with 8 x 40G QSFP+ spine uplinks for maximum 10G density
• EVPN/VXLAN leaf for multi-tenant data center overlays with high server port count
• Consolidating multiple smaller 10G switches into a single high-density 2U platform

Compatibility

• Standard SFP+ 10G optics and DAC/AOC cables for all 96 access ports
• QSFP+ 40G optics and DAC/AOC for 8 uplink ports
• EVPN/VXLAN interoperable with QFX5200, QFX5120 spine switches
• AFO airflow — match with AFO PSUs and fan trays for thermal consistency

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the total effective 10GbE port count with QSFP+ breakout on QFX5100-96S-AFO?

With all 8 QSFP+ ports broken out to 4x10GbE, the QFX5100-96S-AFO provides up to 128 x 10GbE ports (96 native SFP+ + 32 from QSFP+ breakout), making it one of the highest-density 10G switches available in a 2U form factor.

What is the difference between QFX5100-96S-AFO and QFX5100-96S-DC-AFO?

Both are 96-port 10GbE SFP+ switches with AFO airflow, differing only in power input — the standard model uses AC power, while the DC-AFO variant uses DC power for telecom and carrier data center environments with DC power distribution infrastructure.

Does the QFX5100-96S-AFO support Juniper Apstra?

Yes — the QFX5100 series is supported by Juniper Apstra for intent-based data center fabric automation, enabling closed-loop validation and automated blueprint deployment in IP fabric architectures alongside newer QFX5110 and QFX5120 leaf switches.

The Juniper QFX5100-96S-AFO delivers maximum 10GbE port density with 96 SFP+ ports and 8 x 40G QSFP+ uplinks in a 2U AFO-airflow form factor — providing the high-density 10G leaf switching foundation for Juniper IP fabric data center deployments where server port count and switching capacity per rack unit are the primary design requirements.