Broadcom’s Trident 3 was a 2017 update to its StrataXGS Trident switch-silicon family, designed for programmable switching in software-defined, virtualized data-center networks. The launch report described a 200 Gbps to 3.2 Tbps range, support for 10GbE through 100GbE applications, programmable tunneling and service-chaining protocols, and improved congestion and ACL handling. Those are launch-era claims about ASICs—not proof of a switch you can buy or deploy today.
What Trident 3 actually was
Trident 3 was switch silicon: an application-specific chip that equipment manufacturers could place inside complete Ethernet switches. A network operator would purchase a vendor’s finished switch, with its ports, software, optics support, management tools, warranty and lifecycle—not a bare Trident 3 ASIC.
Data Center Knowledge’s June 14, 2017 report presented the family as the first major Trident update in roughly two years. Broadcom positioned it for “fast, fat, and flat” top-of-rack networks, software-defined network virtualization and service chaining. The report also said the new devices maintained backward compatibility with existing StrataXGS installations, although the practical meaning depended on the complete platform and software supplied by each equipment maker.
Reported throughput and named devices
The launch report described a broad silicon range rather than a single switch specification.
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| Reported item | Figure or description | What the evidence means |
|---|---|---|
| Trident 3 family range | 200 Gbps to 3.2 Tbps | Reported switching-silicon range in June 2017 |
| BCM56870 | 3.2 Tbps | Largest named part; reported as beginning sampling at launch |
| BCM56873 | 2.0 Tbps | Named part; reported as beginning sampling at launch |
| Target network interfaces | 10GbE to 100GbE applications | Application range cited by the 2017 report, not a port layout for a specific switch |
| Smaller models | Expected in the second half of 2017 | Launch expectation, not confirmation of general availability |
“Sampling” meant selected customers or partners could receive engineering devices. It did not mean that a generally supported retail switch was available to every buyer.
Why programmability mattered to virtual networks
Encapsulating virtual traffic
Virtual machines and software-defined networks often place an overlay tunnel around tenant traffic. The report said Trident 3 could be programmed for VXLAN, GPE, NSH, Geneve, MPLS, MPLS over GRE, MPLS over UDP and GUE, as well as Identifier Locator Addressing and PPPoE. This breadth could let a platform adapt packet parsing and forwarding to different overlay or service-provider designs.
The list is a description of reported silicon capability, not a guarantee that every Trident 3-based switch implemented every protocol. Support could depend on the switch vendor, network operating system, licensing and software release.
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- REGIONAL COMPATIBILITY: Made for use in U.S. & CA only
Service chaining
Network Service Header (NSH) support was relevant to service chaining, where traffic is steered through virtual or physical firewalls, load balancers and other network functions. Programmable parsing and forwarding can reduce the need to redesign hardware for each encapsulation, but the operational result still depends on the platform’s policy, automation and management software.
Telemetry inside the forwarding path
The article also reported programmable telemetry with both in-band and out-of-band packet monitoring. In-band methods add measurement information to traffic or its metadata; out-of-band methods export observations separately. Either approach can help operators investigate overlay behavior, but telemetry quality and usable fields are platform-specific.
Broadcom’s performance claims—and their limits
Broadcom, as reported by Data Center Knowledge, claimed eight times higher network burst absorption and congestion controls than earlier XGS generations, plus three times better access-control-list processing. The article did not provide an independent test method, traffic profile, baseline configuration or measured results.
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- FANLESS QUIET DESIGN: The fanless design ensures silent operation, making this switch suitable for noise-sensitive environments such as home offices, bedrooms, or conference rooms
- STURDY METAL CONSTRUCTION: Built with a durable metal housing and shielded ports that provide reliable performance, better heat dissipation, and protection against electromagnetic interference
- TRAFFIC OPTIMIZATION: Supports IEEE 802.3x flow control and advanced traffic optimization technology to reduce data bottlenecks and ensure smooth, efficient data transfer across your network
These ratios should therefore be read as vendor comparisons, not universal benchmarks. “Eight times” does not establish a fixed packet buffer size, and “three times” does not predict ACL throughput on a particular finished switch. Broadcom’s design was described as using a 16nm process and as power-efficient, but the report supplied no system-level power measurements.
What Extreme Networks said in 2017
The report quoted Eric Broockmann, then Extreme Networks’ vice president and chief technology officer:
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- GIGABIT ETHERNET PORTS: Features 8 x 1.0Gbps Ethernet ports for high-speed connectivity. Auto-negotiating ports detect the optimal speed for connected devices and work with existing Cat5e or Cat6 Ethernet cables.
- PLUG-AND-PLAY UNMANAGED NETWORK SWITCH: Simple plug-and-play setup with no software to install or configuration required.
- FLEXIBLE MOUNTING OPTIONS: Compact metal design supports desktop or wall-mount placement for versatile installation.
- SILENT & ENERGY-EFFICIENT OPERATION: Fanless design ensures silent performance, while IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet reduces power consumption without compromising high-speed network performance.
- REGIONAL COMPATIBILITY: Made for use in U.S. & CA only
This was a forward-looking partner statement at the 2017 launch. It identifies Extreme as a named equipment-maker lead, but it does not establish which current Extreme models use Trident 3 or whether those systems remain sold or supported.
How Trident 3 fits Broadcom’s product history
Trident 3 should not be confused with Broadcom’s StrataDNX announcement from March 2015. StrataDNX was a different switch-SoC family; its announcement discussed VXLAN, NVGRE and Geneve alongside carrier and data-center applications.
It is also separate from Broadcom’s later Tomahawk and Jericho developments. Broadcom’s October 2025 portfolio announcement covered Tomahawk 6, Tomahawk Ultra, Jericho4 and TH6-Davisson co-packaged optics for AI scale-up and scale-out networks. Those products address later workloads and generations; their capacities or features cannot be used as a direct Trident 3 benchmark.
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- Reliable and Quiet-IEEE 802.3X flow control provides reliable data transfer and Fanless design ensures quiet operation
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- Advanced Software Features-Prioritize your traffic and guarantee high quality of video or voice data transmission with Port-based 802.1p/DSCP QoS and IGMP Snooping
What the launch meant for operators
More flexible top-of-rack designs
A programmable ASIC covering multiple overlay formats could let a hardware platform serve different virtualization architectures without a separate fixed-function chip for every tunnel type. That flexibility was especially valuable as data centers moved from isolated VLAN designs toward software-controlled overlays.
Higher-speed enterprise links
The reported 10GbE-to-100GbE application range and 3.2 Tbps top-end part targeted dense aggregation and top-of-rack use. Actual port count, breakout options, buffers, optics and uplink design were properties of the complete switch, not of the headline ASIC number alone.
Potentially better handling during bursts
Broadcom’s claimed congestion-control and burst-absorption gains addressed short traffic spikes, while the ACL claim addressed policy lookup processing. Neither claim by itself describes sustained application throughput, latency under load or behavior with a particular mix of packet sizes.
How to evaluate a Trident 3-based switch today
The 2017 report does not provide a current model list or lifecycle status. If you encounter a used, refurbished or legacy platform described as Trident 3-based, verify the complete system rather than relying on the ASIC name.
- Identify the exact chassis and SKU. Record the equipment maker, model, hardware revision and installed ASIC; do not treat “Trident 3” as a complete product name.
- Check the software release. Confirm which overlay protocols, ACL features, telemetry modes, EVPN integrations and automation interfaces are supported in the specific network operating system version.
- Match physical requirements. Verify port speeds, port density, breakout behavior, transceiver compatibility, total switching capacity and buffer architecture.
- Confirm lifecycle coverage. Check current security fixes, replacement policy, support dates, licenses and upgrade options with the equipment maker.
- Test the workload. Measure latency, loss, congestion behavior, ACL scale and telemetry overhead with traffic that resembles your virtualized environment.
Because no two complete Trident 3 systems are identified in the launch report, it cannot support a product ranking or a claim that one current vendor platform is the best choice.
Bottom line for the historical announcement
Trident 3 mattered because it brought a programmable, multi-terabit switching foundation to the virtualization-heavy data-center designs of 2017. The reported 200 Gbps–3.2 Tbps range, tunnel and service-chaining options, telemetry, and Broadcom’s claimed gains over earlier XGS generations explained the interest. They remain historical launch specifications and vendor claims; present-day buyers must validate the exact switch, software and support lifecycle independently.
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