As AI, cloud computing, high-performance computing (HPC), and financial services push the boundaries of modern networks, selecting the right switch has become more critical than ever. It’s no longer just about bandwidth—today’s networks demand low latency, high scalability, deep visibility, and operational efficiency. Asterfusion offers two powerful 32×100G switch platforms built on Marvell Prestera CX 8500 （Marvell Falcon） and Marvell Teralynx 7 ASICs. Both are powered by our Asterfusion Enterprise SONiC NOS, providing a unified, open, and production-ready software experience. However, each platform is optimized for distinct deployment needs.
This guide will help you choose the best fit—whether you’re building an ultra-low-latency fabric for AI inference or scaling a multi-tenant cloud network.
Why Choose Teralynx 7?
Outperforms Broadcom 3.2T-Class Chips in Latency, Throughput & Buffering
Marvell’s Teralynx 7 ASIC leads the pack when it comes to performance. Compared to Broadcom’s 3.2T-class chips, it delivers clear advantages in three areas that matter most to high-performance networks:
1. Ultra-Low Latency for Delay-Critical Applications
With latency as low as 500 nanoseconds, Teralynx 7 is engineered for workloads where even microseconds matter:
- AI training & inference clusters
- High-Frequency Trading (HFT) systems
- Financial backbones requiring real-time synchronization
In contrast, competitor chip in this class operate between 800ns to 1μs, which may fall short in latency-sensitive scenarios.
2. Massive Packet Throughput
Teralynx 7 supports up to 6300 Mpps (million packets per second)—nearly double that of many competing 3.2T chips. This allows:
- Efficient handling of massive numbers of small packets
- Smoother operation in highly concurrent environments like inference farms, NVMe storage fabrics, or microservice architectures
3. Large Buffer Capacity for Congestion Tolerance
Armed with a 70MB packet buffer, nearly 2× that of equivalent chips, Teralynx 7 offers:
- Better burst absorption with fewer dropped packets
- Consistent performance under congestion, especially in lossless Ethernet (RoCEv2, ECN, PFC) scenarios
- Stable performance even during traffic spikes in HPC or distributed training clusters
In Summary:Teralynx 7 = Faster, Smoother, and Optimized for Next-Gen, Low Latency Networking
Ideal Use Cases for Teralynx 7:
- AI/ML training & inference clusters
- HPC environments using RDMA or RoCE
- Financial institutions and trading platforms
- Spine or core layers in latency-sensitive data center fabrics
| Metric | Teralynx 7 | Competitor’s 3.2T Class | Advantage |
| Latency | ~500ns | 800–1000ns | Best for AI, HFT, finance workloads |
| Forwarding Rate | ~6300 Mpps | ~3000 Mpps | Superior for small-packet processing |
| Buffer Size | ~70MB | ~32MB | Handles bursts with greater resilience |
Marvell Prestera CX 8500(Marvell Falcon): Built for Route Scale and Cloud-First Flexibility
While Teralynx 7 focuses on ultra-low latency and congestion handling, the Marvell Falcon-based 32×100G switch excels in scalability, control plane capacity, and cloud-ready features—making it an ideal fit for large-scale, multi-tenant, and virtualized data center environments.
Built for Scalable, Cloud-Driven Networks
With 288K IPv4 and 144K IPv6 routes, Falcon offers one of the highest routing table capacities in its class. This makes it a perfect match for:
- Large tenant networks
- VXLAN tunnel endpoints (VTEPs)
- East-west and north-south traffic routing at scale
It’s particularly well-suited for spine/leaf layers or edge routers in cloud-scale fabrics where route density and tenant isolation are critical.
128K MAC Address Entries-Powerful Support for Multi-Tenant & Overlay Networks
Modern data centers often host tens of thousands of VMs, containers, and tenant networks. Falcon’s high route and MAC table capacity makes it ready for:
- Multi-tenant cloud providers
- Container-heavy environments like Kubernetes clusters
- Overlay networks running VXLAN EVPN
With 128K MAC address entries, it can support a vast number of virtual endpoints—essential for large Layer 2 domains and VXLAN-based network virtualization.
Feature Highlights
- Full BGP-EVPN Support Seamless integration into VXLAN-based spine-leaf topologies with L2/L3 gateway functionality.
- Efficient Power & Cooling Profile Optimized for power-conscious deployments, offering a better TCO for cloud builders.
- Line-Rate Forwarding Up to 2800 Mpps packet forwarding under real-world workloads—more than enough for east-west-heavy cloud traffic.
Recommended For:
- Hyperscale cloud and edge data centers
- Multi-tenant IaaS or hosting environments
- Overlay-heavy networks (VXLAN, EVPN)
- ToR or leaf switch roles in L3 spine-leaf architectures
Contrast of 32×100G Switch of Marvell Falcon vs. Teralynx Platforms
| Feature / Spec | Teralynx 7 Platform | Falcon Platform |
| Positioning | Ultra-low-latency / High-performance | Large-scale routing / Cloud flexibility |
| Latency | 500ns (best-in-class) | Higher |
| Forwarding Rate | 6300 Mpps | 2800 Mpps |
| Buffer Size | 70MB | Smaller |
| Routing Table Scale | Moderate | 288K / 144K |
| Use Case Fit | AI, HPC, Financial Trading, Spine/Core | Cloud DC, Multi-Tenant, Leaf/ToR |
| Price | expensive than falcon | cheaper than Teralynx 7 |
Unified Software Experience Across Platforms –Powered by Asterfusion Enterprise SONiC
Whether you choose the Falcon or Teralynx 7 platform, both switches are powered by Asterfusion Enterprise SONiC—a production-hardened evolution of the open-source SONiC operating system, built specifically for modern, large-scale deployments. This unified NOS ensures consistency across your network, simplifying deployment, scaling, and day-to-day operations.
Key Features Include:
- Virtualization：VXLAN，BGP EVPN，EVPN Multihoming
- Zero Packet Loss: RoCEv2 ,PFC/PFC Watchdog/ECN,QCN/DCQCN/DCTCP
- High Reliability:ECMP/Elastic Hash,MC-LAG,BFD for BGP & OSPF
- Modern APIs: gNMI, REST, OpenConfig for automation & telemetry
- Ops Automation:Python & Ansible, ZTP,In-band Network Telemetry,SPAN/ERSPAN Monitoring
Whether you’re operating in AI/HPC clusters or multi-tenant cloud environments, you get the same software experience—stable, streamlined, and scalable.
Open Observability & Automation Built In
Operational Excellence Through Visibility and DevOps-Friendly Management
Asterfusion’s 32×100G switches—regardless of chipset—go beyond speed and scale. They’re built with operations in mind, delivering comprehensive monitoring, visualization, and automation capabilities right out of the box.
Real-Time Monitoring & Visualization
AsterNOS integrates natively with Prometheus and Grafana, enabling powerful telemetry pipelines. Using Node Exporter, the switch continuously exports critical metrics such as:
- CPU and memory utilization
- Interface traffic and error rates
- Latency and packet drop statistics
- RoCEv2 congestion indicators (e.g., ECN, PFC)
- and more
Combined with Grafana dashboards, you gain real-time visibility and historical insights—helping teams spot anomalies early and optimize performance proactively.
Automation & DevOps Integration
AsterNOS embraces open automation frameworks to reduce complexity and operational overhead:
- Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP)
- Python scripting and Ansible playbooks
- SPAN / ERSPAN for packet visibility and auditing
- gNMI and OpenConfig for structured telemetry and control
Together, these tools support intent-based configuration, reduce human error, and accelerate rollout—empowering network teams to build highly automated, resilient, and scalable infrastructures.
🧩 Final Thoughts
If your business demands extreme performance, deterministic latency, and congestion control—for example, in AI/HPC or financial trading—Teralynx 7 is the clear choice.
If you’re building scalable cloud fabrics with massive overlay networks and rich route tables, the Falcon-based switch offers the perfect balance of scale and efficiency.
Both platforms share the same software DNA—Asterfusion Enterprise SONiC—ensuring seamless integration, automated operations, and production-grade reliability.
Need help deciding? Our solution engineers are ready to guide your selection or arrange a POC deployment.
