Microsoft puts Cisco Silicon One P200 systems to work in its network

Microsoft has started using systems powered by Cisco’s Silicon One P200, a routing chip built for one of the least glamorous and most important jobs in AI: moving huge volumes of data between data centers. The chip was only unveiled on October 8, 2025. Seeing it running inside one of the world’s largest cloud networks this soon suggests the hyperscalers were not waiting around. What the P200 actually does Cisco calls it a deep-buffer routing processor. A buffer is a holding area where data waits briefly when traffic spikes. A deeper buffer means fewer dropped packets when everything arrives at once. That matters because AI traffic is not polite. Training and inference jobs tend to send data in bursts, and networks built for steadier workloads can choke on them. Cisco launched the P200 alongside its 8223 routing system. The headline specs: 51.2 Tbps of full-duplex throughput A compact 3RU form factor, meaning it occupies three standard units of rack space 64 × 800G ports on the 8223 system Shared buffer technology, programmability and integrated security features Full-duplex means data flows in both directions at once. So the 51.2 Tbps figure covers traffic going out and coming back...