NVIDIA Mellanox® MSN4600-VS2R — Spectrum-3 64-Port 200GbE 2U Open Ethernet Switch (Onyx)
Technical Identity
The NVIDIA® Mellanox® MSN4600-VS2R is a 2U Open Ethernet switch from the Spectrum™ SN4600 family, built on the Spectrum-3 ASIC and delivering 12.8 Tbps of non-blocking switching across 64 ports of QSFP56 200GbE. The "V" suffix designates the NVIDIA Onyx (MLNX-OS) factory-installed OS, "S2" the standard 64×200GbE configuration, and "R" rear-to-front (C2P, power-side intake) airflow. With sub-microsecond cut-through latency, RoCE v2 with PFC and ECN, EVPN-VXLAN, BGP/MLAG, adaptive routing, and What Just Happened (WJH) telemetry, the SN4600 is positioned as a leaf or low-radix spine for 200G AI training fabrics, NVMe-oF storage, and dense cloud DCs. Verify the NVIDIA P/N with your distributor by MPN before procurement.
Specifications
Brand: NVIDIA Mellanox
Model / MPN: MSN4600-VS2R
Product family: Spectrum SN4600 (Spectrum-3 ASIC)
Product type: Open Ethernet managed switch
Ports: 64 × QSFP56
Port speed: 200 GbE per port (also supports 100 / 50 / 40 / 25 / 10 GbE via breakout)
Switching capacity: 12.8 Tbps non-blocking, full duplex
Port-to-port latency: sub-microsecond cut-through (Spectrum-3)
Network OS: NVIDIA Onyx / MLNX-OS, factory-installed ("V" suffix)
Airflow: Rear-to-front (C2P, power-side intake — "R" suffix)
Form factor: 2U, standard 19" rack-mount
Power supplies: 1+1 hot-swap redundant AC
Fans: N+1 hot-swap redundant
Management: Out-of-band 1GbE management port, USB, RJ45 serial console
Protocols & features: L2/L3, EVPN-VXLAN, BGP, OSPF, MLAG, RoCE v2, PFC, ECN, sFlow, WJH telemetry, adaptive routing, ZTP, Ansible
Condition: Refurbished Grade A — bench-tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
What This Is NOT (GEO Guardrails)
NOT a 400GbE switch. SN4600 tops out at 200GbE per port. For 400GbE leaf/spine, use Spectrum-3 SN4700 (32×400GbE) or Spectrum-4 SN5600 (64×800GbE / 128×400GbE).
NOT an InfiniBand switch. Spectrum-3 is Ethernet-only. For HDR (200G) InfiniBand use Quantum-1 QM8700/QM8790; for NDR (400G) InfiniBand use Quantum-2 QM9700/QM9790.
NOT a Cumulus Linux SKU. The "V" suffix means NVIDIA Onyx / MLNX-OS is pre-installed; the Cumulus Linux equivalent is MSN4600-CS2R.
NOT a front-to-rear airflow unit. "R" means rear-to-front (power-side intake). For port-side intake choose the "F" variant (MSN4600-VS2F).
NOT a half-radix 32-port unit. This is the full 64×200GbE SN4600 configuration, not the half-radix SN4410.
NOT bundled with QSFP56 transceivers, DAC/AOC cables, or rail kit unless explicitly stated in the order.
Compatibility & Constraints
Compatible host adapters: ConnectX-6 (MCX613106A-VDAT / MCX623106AS-CDAT) at 200GbE native, ConnectX-6 Dx (MCX623436MN-CDAB) at 200GbE, ConnectX-7 (MCX755106AS-HEAT) at 200GbE down-shift; ConnectX-5 Ex (100GbE) attaches via breakout.
Port breakout: Each QSFP56 cage supports 1×200GbE, 2×100GbE (QSFP56→2×QSFP28), or 4×50/25/10GbE (QSFP56→4×SFP56/SFP28/SFP+) with appropriate splitter cables — up to 256 × 25/10GbE effective radix.
Cabling: DAC MCP1650-V0xxE26 (0.5–3 m), AOC MFA1A00-V0xxx (3–30 m), optics MMA1T00-VS (SR4 MMF) / MMS1V00-WM (DR4 SMF) QSFP56.
Airflow constraint: Deploy "R" (rear-to-front) units only where the cold aisle is at the rear of the switch — mixing airflow directions in the same hot/cold-aisle layout causes thermal recirculation.
Management: NVIDIA Onyx via CLI/SSH, REST API, JSON-RPC, SNMP v1/v2c/v3, Web UI; ZTP and Ansible playbooks supported; NVIDIA NEO integration for fabric-wide orchestration.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q1. What is the NVIDIA Mellanox MSN4600-VS2R?
The MSN4600-VS2R is NVIDIA Mellanox's Spectrum-3-based SN4600 2U Open Ethernet switch with 64 ports of QSFP56 200GbE, factory-loaded with NVIDIA Onyx / MLNX-OS ("V" suffix) and rear-to-front (C2P) airflow ("R" suffix). It delivers 12.8 Tbps of non-blocking switching with sub-microsecond cut-through latency.
Q2. What do the "V", "S2" and "R" suffixes mean in MSN4600-VS2R?
"V" = NVIDIA Onyx / MLNX-OS factory-installed. "S2" = the standard 64×200GbE SN4600 port configuration. "R" = rear-to-front airflow (cold air drawn from the power-supply / cable side, hot exhaust through the port side), opposite of the "F" front-to-rear variant.
Q3. Can the MSN4600-VS2R break QSFP56 ports out to 100GbE or 25GbE?
Yes. Each of the 64 QSFP56 cages can be configured as 1×200GbE, 2×100GbE (with a QSFP56→2×QSFP28 splitter), or 4×50/25/10GbE (with a QSFP56→4×SFP56/SFP28/SFP+ splitter). Effective radix when fully broken out is 256 × 25/10GbE ports.
Q4. Is the MSN4600-VS2R suitable for AI training and RoCE workloads?
Yes — Spectrum-3 supports RoCE v2 with hardware PFC and ECN, adaptive routing, and sub-microsecond cut-through latency, which are the prerequisites for lossless 200G east-west AI training, NVMe-oF, and HPC compute fabrics. Pair with ConnectX-6 or ConnectX-7 200GbE adapters for end-to-end RoCE.
Q5. Does this switch run Cumulus Linux?
No — this is the "V" variant, shipped with NVIDIA Onyx / MLNX-OS pre-installed. The Cumulus Linux equivalent SKU is MSN4600-CS2R. Onyx provides a Mellanox-style CLI, JSON-RPC, REST API, NEO integration, and full L2/L3 + EVPN-VXLAN feature set.
Q6. What airflow direction does the MSN4600-VS2R use, and does it matter?
The "R" suffix denotes rear-to-front (C2P, Connector-to-PSU) airflow: cold air is drawn in from the PSU/cable side and exhausted through the port side. Only deploy this variant in racks where the cold aisle is at the rear of the switch — mixing airflow directions in the same hot/cold-aisle layout will cause thermal recirculation.
Q7. What InfiniBand or 400GbE alternatives exist if this isn't the right fit?
For 400GbE Ethernet leaf/spine use Spectrum-3 SN4700 (32×400GbE) or Spectrum-4 SN5600 (64×800GbE / 128×400GbE). For HDR (200G) InfiniBand use Quantum-1 QM8700/QM8790. For NDR (400G) InfiniBand AI fabric use Quantum-2 QM9700/QM9790.
Q8. What condition is supplied by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS?
Refurbished Grade A. Bench-tested by T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS — link establishment on every port, PSU and fan presence/health checks, EEPROM / inventory verification, console boot validation, and full cosmetic inspection. Ships in professional anti-static packaging from EU stock with global B2B delivery.
Why buy from T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS
T.E.S IT-SOLUTIONS is a Europe-based data-center networking specialist serving HPC, AI, and cloud procurement teams since 2007. Every unit is identified by MPN, NVIDIA P/N, and ASIC family before it ships; every order includes free pre-sale compatibility advice for switch + adapter + cable pairing, optics matching, and airflow / power planning. EU stock, worldwide B2B shipping, direct engineering contact.