--- title: Data Center Switching ASICs Tradeoffs « ipSpace.net blog description: Data center switching ASIC design involves fundamental tradeoffs between performance, features, and cost. Using Broadcom's ASIC families as examples: Tomahawk... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/data-center-switching-asics-tradeoffs-ipspace-net-blog-uq897wmkh twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Data Center Switching ASICs Tradeoffs « ipSpace.net blog | daily.dev og:description: Data center switching ASIC design involves fundamental tradeoffs between performance, features, and cost. Using Broadcom's ASIC families as examples: Tomahawk... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/data-center-switching-asics-tradeoffs-ipspace-net-blog-uq897wmkh og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/uQ897wmKh.png og:image:alt: Data Center Switching ASICs Tradeoffs « ipSpace.net blog og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Data Center Switching ASICs Tradeoffs « ipSpace.net blog **[ipSpace.net Blog](https://daily.dev/sources/ipspace)** · 6 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary Data center switching ASIC design involves fundamental tradeoffs between performance, features, and cost. Using Broadcom's ASIC families as examples: Tomahawk 3 prioritizes raw performance (12.8 Tbps, 8 Bpps) with small buffers (64 MB) and limited features; Trident 3 trades performance (3.2 Tbps) for larger tables, more buffer space, and richer features like VXLAN routing; Jericho2 targets service provider use cases with large forwarding tables (1M IPv4/IPv6 routes), 8 GB HBM2 buffers, and complex packet processing at a significantly higher price. Concrete Arista switch pricing illustrates the cost implications: ~$30K for Trident 3, ~$55K for Tomahawk 3, and $75K–$209K for Jericho2-based systems. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### What are the key differences between Broadcom Tomahawk 3 and Trident 3 ASICs for data center switching? Tomahawk 3 is optimized for raw performance at 12.8 Tbps and 8 Bpps, but has small buffers (64 MB), a small MAC table (8K entries), and limited functionality (L2/L3 only). Trident 3 runs at a quarter of that throughput (3.2 Tbps, 2 Bpps) but offers twice the buffer space per terabit, larger forwarding tables (128K MAC), and complex features like routing out of VXLAN tunnels. _Network architects choosing between spine and leaf ASICs track these tradeoffs on daily.dev._ ### What specs does the Broadcom Jericho2 ASIC offer and what does it cost in a real switch? Jericho2 delivers 9.6 Tbps throughput and 2 Bpps with 8 GB HBM2 buffers, a 1M IPv4/IPv6 forwarding table, and complex packet processing. An Arista 7280R3 with two Jericho2 ASICs and 24 400GE ports costs between $129,000 and $209,000 depending on table size and buffer memory configuration. _Engineers evaluating service-provider-grade switching hardware find cost-vs-capability discussions like this on daily.dev._ ### Why does a programmable forwarding pipeline increase ASIC cost and complexity? A programmable forwarding pipeline requires additional silicon area to support flexible per-stage logic. A 2013 paper estimated this overhead at roughly 15% more chip area compared to a fixed pipeline. More silicon area means either slower operation or a more expensive manufacturing process, and programmable pipelines also face the same multi-lookup table bottlenecks as fixed designs. _Developers and architects evaluating P4-programmable vs fixed-pipeline switches can follow the debate on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Designing an Ethernet Switch ASIC](https://daily.dev/posts/designing-an-ethernet-switch-asic-rmi8a0xuo) · Hacker News · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [A $30 managed switch does what your $300 gaming router can't](https://daily.dev/posts/a-30-managed-switch-does-what-your-300-gaming-router-can-t-us6pjztwu) · XDA Developers · 2 upvotes · 0 comments --- [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/data-center-switching-asics-tradeoffs-ipspace-net-blog-uq897wmkh) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Data Center Switching ASICs Tradeoffs « ipSpace.net blog","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/data-center-switching-asics-tradeoffs-ipspace-net-blog-uq897wmkh","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/data-center-switching-asics-tradeoffs-ipspace-net-blog-uq897wmkh"},"datePublished":"2026-08-11T08:52:55.075Z","dateModified":"2026-08-11T08:58:48.886Z","description":"Data center switching ASIC design involves fundamental tradeoffs between performance, features, and cost. 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