Cisco Nexus 9516 Series Replacement — What Cisco Recommends
Cisco support for the Cisco Nexus 9516 Series ended Nov 2025 — unsupported units need a plan. Cisco's own end-of-life bulletin names the successor below — quoted from the source, with the successor's live support status where EOSL.ai tracks it.
The Cisco-named replacement
named as the replacement part number in the Cisco EOL bulletin — named in the Cisco EOL bulletin ↗ as the migration path.
N9K-C9516-FM-E2 is not yet tracked on EOSL.ai — no vendor end-of-life notice has been captured for it, which is typical of current products.
Cisco Nexus 9516 Series lifecycle dates
| SKU group | End of sale | EOSL / last support | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switch hardware | Nov 2020 | Nov 2025 | bulletin ↗ |
Per-part-number replacement mapping (1)
As listed in the Cisco bulletin's migration table for each part number.
| End-of-life part | Description | Bulletin-listed replacement |
|---|---|---|
| N9K-C9516-FM | N9K-C9516-FM-E2 |
Migration questions
What is the replacement for the Cisco Nexus 9516 Series?
Cisco's end-of-life bulletin names N9K-C9516-FM-E2 as the recommended migration path for the Cisco Nexus 9516 Series. The exact wording and any per-part-number mapping are in the linked bulletin.
Is the Cisco Nexus 9516 Series end of life?
Cisco support for the Cisco Nexus 9516 Series ended Nov 2025 — unsupported units need a plan. Full lifecycle dates by part number: https://eosl.ai/system/cisco-nexus-9516/.
Is there a per-part-number replacement mapping for the 9516 Series?
Yes — the bulletin maps replacements at the part-number level for 1 SKU (for example N9K-C9516-FM → N9K-C9516-FM-E2). The full table is on this page.
Do I have to buy the Cisco-recommended replacement?
No. The bulletin's named successor is Cisco's suggested path, not an obligation. Teams also keep 9516 Series units running under third-party maintenance after the support cutoff, migrate to a different vendor, or run low-criticality units to failure with the risk documented. See the support-options guide for the trade-offs.