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Answer first: CloudEngine 9800 is a changing 100/400/800GE family; use Huawei's current model table rather than applying CE9855 or CE9865 specifications across the series. See the Huawei CloudEngine 9800 page. Continue with leaf-spine versus three-tier comparison, Cisco Nexus 9000 selection guide, enterprise versus data-center switch comparison, Cisco Nexus 3000 overview, 400G/800G data-center switching outlook, VXLAN/BGP-EVPN deployment guide, 24-port 10GbE selection guide. Evidence boundary: specifications, rankings, vendor claims, preserved scenarios, and seller-supplied data are inputs, not an independent benchmark, verified customer result, or guaranteed outcome. Support boundary: verify exact PIDs, software, licenses, features, optics, cabling, scale, lifecycle, entitlement, service scope, credentials, stock, delivery, warranty, and commercial terms with written evidence.
With top models like the CE9855 (32×400GE) and CE9865 (128×100GE or 32×400GE), this family is designed to serve as the backbone of modern data centers, providing scalable performance, robust security, and intelligent automation across cloud-era infrastructures.
Models Overview and Specifications
| Model | Access Ports | Fabric Ports | Capacity / Forwarding | Onboard Buffer |
| CE9855‑32DQ | 32×400 GE QSFP‑DD (split to 4×100/2×200) + 2×10 GE SFP+ | — | 25.6 Tbps / 4,800 Mpps | — |
| CE9865‑4C | Up to 128×100GE QSFP28 or 32×400GE QSFP‑DD | — | 25.6 Tbps / 4,800 Mpps | 128 MB |
Key insights:
- CE9855 delivers pure 400GE density—each QSFP-DD port can be split for flexibility.
- CE9865 supports multi-rate connectivity, offering massive 100GE or 400GE access capacity.
- Both models give line-rate forwarding in a compact (4 U chassis) footprint.
- Availability boundary: hot-swappable and redundant components can reduce maintenance impact, but outcome depends on exact model, redundancy mode, load, software, procedure, failure, and validation; non-disruptive operation is not guaranteed.
Features & Innovation
🔁 Port Density & Flexibility
CE9855 provides 32 QSFP-DD ports—each backward-compatible to 200/100/40GE—offering up to 128×100GE split configurations. CE9865 supports up to 128×100GE or 32×400GE, making both ideal DC Switches for scaling modern data centers.
🌐 VXLAN–BGP EVPN & Overlay Gateway
Both switches house hardware gateways for VXLAN with BGP-EVPN. Supporting 16M+ VXLAN tunnels, they simplify multi-tenant fabrics and overlay segmentation.
🔒 MACsec at Line-Rate
Line-rate MACsec encryption protects uplinks and inter-device links at physical layer. The CE9855 supports MACsec on select 400GE ports (1–2, 5–8) unlocking enhanced security across high-speed fabrics.
🧠 iLossless & AI-ECN
These models support advanced congestion-management including PFC, AI-ECN, and iLossless—essential for RDMA (RoCE v2), storage, AI, and HPC applications.
🚀 High Performance & Low Latency
Performance boundary: switching capacity and packet rate are model-specific. Latency requires exact hardware, software, packet profile, load, features, topology, congestion, and measurement conditions.
⚡ Intelligent O&M & Telemetry
Features include IFIT, packet-event tracking, NetStream, sFlow, ERSPAN+, and gRPC-based FabricInsight dashboards—vital for observability.
🛠 DC-Oriented Design
Fan trays, fabric modules, and redundant PSUs support hot-swap. Compact 4 U design fits well in dense racks .
Deployment Scenarios
A. Hyperscale Spine & Fabric Aggregation
CE9855-32DQ excels in spine or leaf roles in hyperscale fabrics. It scales to 400GE uplinks, enabling non-blocking high-capacity interconnections across massive server pods and AI clusters.
B. VXLAN-Based Multi-Tenant DCN
CE9865‑4C supports hardware VXLAN gateways, ideal for cloud providers or multi-tenant environments. It simplifies network overlays and drastically reduces CPU load on hypervisors.
C. 400GE Campus Core
CE9855 also fits high-end campus backbones needing multi-100GE or 400GE core ports, with line-rate forwarding and security features enabling campus fabric consolidation.
D. Storage / AI Edge
RDMA boundary: PFC, ECN, and vendor optimization do not guarantee lossless or jitter-free application behavior. Validate endpoints, transport, queues, buffers, congestion, telemetry, failures, and workload results.
E. Secure DC Backbone
MACsec across high-speed links, combined with ACL and encryption features, satisfies strict compliance requirements for private clouds and regulated industries.
Deployment Experience
Zero-Touch Provisioning (ZTP)
Automate deployments using iMaster NCE with template-based ZTP. Ideal for multi-device rollouts.
Advanced Telemetry & Analytics
Use FabricInsights with data transferred over gRPC, enabling real-time loss, latency, and path monitoring to accelerate issue detection and SLA verification.
In-Service Upgrades & Non-Disruptive Maintenance
With modular fans and PSUs, site techs can service switches without downtime—supporting 24/7 operations.
Programmability & Automation
Support for NETCONF, RESTCONF, Python, Ansible, and gRPC ensures S9800 integrates seamlessly into DevOps pipelines and network-as-code frameworks.
Energy-Efficient Operations
Compact 4U, intelligent fan control, and hot-swap redundancy reduce cooling and power OPEX in dense racks.
CLI Configuration Guides
A. VXLAN + BGP-EVPN (CE9865 & CE9855)
[HUAWEI] system-view
[HUAWEI] vlan 100
[HUAWEI] interface Vlanif100
ip address 10.100.0.1 255.255.255.0
[HUAWEI] vxlan enable
[HUAWEI] ip vpn-instance VNI100
[HUAWEI-ipvpn...] route-distinguisher 100:65500
[HUAWEI-ipvpn...] vpn-target 100:65500 export-extcommunity
[HUAWEI-ipvpn...] vpn‑target 100:65500 import-extcommunity
[HUAWEI] bgp 65500
[HUAWEI-bgp] ipv4-family l2vpn evpn
[HUAWEI-bgp-af-l2vpn-evpn] peer 10.0.0.2 as-number 65501
[HUAWEI] interface HundredGigE1/0/1
port link-type trunk
vxlan encapsulation VNI100
B. MACsec Enablement (CE9855)
[HUAWEI] system-view
[HUAWEI] interface FourHundredGigE1/0/1
authentication mode macsec
macsec cipher aes-128
macsec enable
[HUAWEI] macsec key-chain KEY1
[HUAWEI-macsec-key-chain] macsec default-key 1
C. iLossless & PFC Setup
[HUAWEI] system-view
[HUAWEI] queue-profile lossless1
pfc enable
ecn enable
[HUAWEI] system-view
Conclusion
The Huawei CloudEngine 9800 Series offers a future-ready foundation for Data Center Core Switch needs. With massive 100/400GE densities, VXLAN gateways, MACsec encryption, lossless fabric, and automation, CE9855 and CE9865 deliver unmatched performance, security, and scalability for cloud and enterprise core deployments.
FAQ (Enhanced & Practical)
Q1: Which CloudEngine 9800 models support VXLAN? A: Check Huawei's current model table, exact PID, software, license, VXLAN functions, EVPN route types, scale, gateways, and feature combinations.
Q2: Can CloudEngine 9800 encrypt 400GE links? A: MACsec support is model-, port-, software-, license-, and optics-specific. Verify the exact PID and link design in current Huawei documentation.
Q3: What is the maximum 100GE density? A: Huawei lists up to 128 × 100GE or 32 × 400GE for specific CE9865/CE9860 configurations; verify cards, licenses, software, power, cooling, optics, and current model documentation.
Q4: Does VXLAN require a license? A: Do not assume no license across the family. Verify the exact PID, software release, feature tier, controller, scale, and commercial entitlement.
Q5: How can microbursts be investigated? A: Validate supported telemetry, IFIT, packet-event, queue, drop, timestamp, collector, retention, and sampling behavior on the exact model and release.
Q6: How can multiple switches be provisioned? A: Use only supported iMaster NCE, ZTP, APIs, or automation for the exact release, with identity, templates, secrets, change control, validation, and rollback.
Q7: How noisy is a CloudEngine 9800? A: Acoustic output depends on exact chassis, cards, fans, airflow, power, optics, load, temperature, and test method. Use the model's official environmental specification.
Q8: How should CloudEngine 9800 be compared with CloudEngine 8800? A: Compare exact PIDs by role, ports, radix, buffers, scale, features, power, cooling, software, lifecycle, operations, support, and cost.
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