Cisco N9K-C9300-FAN1
Nexus 9300 Fan 1, Hot Air Out
Product Highlights
Maintaining proper thermal management is critical in high-density data center environments — a single overheating event can cascade into costly downtime. The Cisco N9K-C9300-FAN1 is a hot-swappable fan tray designed for the Cisco Nexus 9300 platform switches, providing reliable port-side intake airflow to keep your switching infrastructure running within optimal temperature ranges.
This Fan Tray 1 module draws cool air in from the port side of the switch and exhausts warm air out the opposite side, aligning with standard front-to-back (cold aisle / hot aisle) data center cooling designs. It supports N+1 redundant fan configurations, meaning your switch continues to operate normally even if one fan tray fails — giving you time to perform a hot-swap replacement without any service interruption.
At just 0.92 lb (0.4 kg), the N9K-C9300-FAN1 is engineered for quick, tool-less installation. It is essential that all fan trays and power supplies in the same chassis share the same airflow direction. For port-side intake deployments, pair this fan tray with compatible intake-direction power supplies such as the N9K-PAC-650W. Whether you are stocking spares for proactive maintenance or replacing a failed unit, the N9K-C9300-FAN1 is a critical component for Nexus 9300 infrastructure reliability.
Features & Benefits
Hot-Swappable Redundant Cooling
The N9K-C9300-FAN1 is fully hot-swappable, allowing you to replace a failed or degraded fan tray while the switch remains operational. Combined with N+1 fan redundancy supported by the Nexus 9300 platform, this ensures continuous cooling even during maintenance windows — eliminating unplanned downtime caused by thermal events.
Port-Side Intake Airflow
This fan tray provides port-side intake airflow, drawing cool air from the front (port side) of the switch and exhausting hot air from the rear. This aligns with standard cold-aisle/hot-aisle data center layouts where switches are front-mounted in the rack. Proper airflow direction is essential — Cisco requires that all fans and power supplies in a chassis use the same airflow orientation.
Lightweight Tool-Less Design
Weighing only 0.92 lb (0.4 kg), the fan tray is designed for quick, tool-less insertion and removal. This simplifies both planned maintenance and emergency replacements, reducing mean time to repair (MTTR) in busy data center environments.
Genuine Cisco Quality
As an authentic Cisco component, the N9K-C9300-FAN1 is engineered and tested to meet the exact thermal and mechanical specifications of the Nexus 9300 platform. Using genuine parts ensures TAC support eligibility and avoids compatibility issues that can arise with third-party alternatives.
Deployment Scenarios
Proactive Spare Inventory
Data center teams stock N9K-C9300-FAN1 fan trays as on-site spares to enable immediate hot-swap replacement when a fan failure is detected. This proactive approach minimizes the risk window between failure detection and resolution, keeping SLAs intact.
Top-of-Rack Deployment with Front-to-Back Cooling
In standard cold-aisle/hot-aisle data center designs where Nexus 9300 switches are front-mounted in the rack, the port-side intake fan tray draws cool air from the cold aisle and exhausts heat into the hot aisle. This ensures efficient, directionally consistent cooling across the entire rack.
Failed Fan Tray Replacement
When a fan tray degrades or fails in a production Nexus 9300 switch, the N9K-C9300-FAN1 can be hot-swapped in without powering down the switch. The N+1 redundancy model ensures the switch continues to cool adequately on the remaining fans while the replacement is performed.
General
Airflow & Cooling
Physical
Compatibility Notes
Airflow Direction: The N9K-C9300-FAN1 provides port-side intake airflow. All fan trays and power supplies installed in the same Nexus 9300 chassis must share the same airflow direction. Pair with port-side intake power supplies (e.g., N9K-PAC-650W, N9K-PAC-1200W). Do not mix with port-side exhaust ("-B" suffix) components.
Compatible Platforms: This is a Fan Tray 1 class module for select Cisco Nexus 9300 platform fixed switches. Consult the hardware installation guide for your specific Nexus 9300 model to confirm Fan Tray 1 compatibility.
Port-Side Exhaust Variant: If your deployment requires port-side exhaust airflow, use the N9K-C9300-FAN1-B instead.
Downloads & Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
| Part Number | Product | Key Difference |
|---|---|---|
| N9K-C9300-FAN1-B | Nexus 9300 Fan Tray 1, Port-Side Exhaust | Same form factor but with port-side exhaust (back-to-front) airflow — use when switch ports face the hot aisle. |
| N9K-C9300-FAN2 | Nexus 9300 Fan Tray 2, Port-Side Intake | Larger Fan Tray 2 class for Nexus 9300 models that require FAN2-type modules (e.g., N9K-C9396PX, N9K-C93128TX). |
| N9K-C9300-FAN2-B | Nexus 9300 Fan Tray 2, Port-Side Exhaust | Fan Tray 2 with port-side exhaust airflow for models like the Nexus 93128TX and 9396PX in hot-aisle-facing deployments. |
| N9K-C9300-FAN3 | Nexus 9300 Fan Tray 3, Port-Side Intake | Fan Tray 3 class for Nexus 9300 models requiring the larger FAN3-type module. Not interchangeable with FAN1. |