Cisco NCS-57C3-MOD-SE-S NCS 5700 Scale Chassis Router

Cisco NCS-57C3-MOD-SE-S NCS 5700 Scale Chassis Router is an enterprise Cisco router.

This listing carries no specification text, which is why this page describes the family rather than the exact configuration. Routers of the same model were frequently sold in several configurations differing in memory, interface cards, power supply and licensing, and those differences matter more than the model name does. We can pull the exact specification for this part number from the vendor’s own database before you order.

Three questions worth answering before any router purchase, whatever the model. What the throughput requirement actually is with your feature set enabled, rather than the datasheet figure measured without it. Whether the features you need are licensed as well as present, since on most platforms security and performance are separate entitlements. And how many slots or ports you will need in three years, because adding capacity is cheap and replacing a chassis is not.

Tell us what the router has to do, the circuits it has to terminate, the throughput you are designing to and whether you need the security features licensed. We would rather size it from the requirement than from a part number, because the two commonest mistakes on a router purchase are buying throughput that turns out to need a licence and buying a chassis with no slots left.

Green Code Technologies is a supplier of Cisco, and we supply Huawei and Juniper networking alongside HPE, Dell, Samsung, Netgear, Ubiquiti and Asus. We would rather tell you a part is no longer supported, or that we need to check it, than take an order for something that will not do what you need.

The Cisco NCS-57C3-MOD-SE-S is a high-performance fixed chassis router from the Cisco NCS 5700 Series. It is engineered for carrier-grade networking, 5G backhaul, and high-density aggregation environments.

This model is the “Scale (SE)” variant, meaning it includes enhanced forwarding capabilities with external TCAM, making it ideal for large routing tables and complex service deployments.

The chassis provides:

• 48 × 1/10/25G SFP28 ports
• 4 × 40/100G QSFP28 uplink ports
• 3 × Modular Port Adapter (MPA) slots for expansion

Powered by a 2.4 Tbps forwarding ASIC, the router delivers ultra-high throughput and low latency (≈2–10 µs), making it suitable for core, aggregation, and edge roles.

Running on Cisco IOS XR, the platform supports advanced capabilities such as:

• Segment routing and MPLS
• IPv4 / IPv6 full routing tables
• Telemetry and automation APIs
• MACsec encryption

The system includes redundant power supplies, cooling, and control plane, ensuring high availability in mission-critical deployments.

Key Features:

• 48 × 25G SFP28 + 4 × 100G QSFP28 ports
• 3 × MPA slots for modular expansion
• 2.4 Tbps system bandwidth
• Scale (SE) model with external TCAM
• Runs Cisco IOS XR (carrier-grade OS)
• Supports 1G–400G interfaces (via MPA + optics)
• Low latency (≈2–10 microseconds)
• Redundant power, fans, and control plane