Learn · NVIDIA Hardware & DGX · DGX Spark Clustering & MikroTik Switches
MikroTik 100G & 400G Switches (CRS504, CRS804, CRS812)
In plain English
If you connect two or four DGX Sparks together, they need an ultra-fast private highway to share their thoughts. MikroTik makes quiet, affordable desktop switches like the CRS504 (100G) and CRS804 (400G) that give your AI cluster datacenter speed without datacenter noise! 🔌
What is actually going on
Clustering DGX Spark GB10 units requires sub-microsecond RDMA switching. The MikroTik CRS504-4XQ-IN offers 4x 100G QSFP28 ports with ~25W power draw for ~$799, making it the ideal quiet desktop backbone for 2-4 Spark clusters. For ultra-dense bandwidth, the CRS804-4C-IN provides 4x 400G QSFP-DD ports (3.2 Tbps aggregate), and the CRS812-8C-4XQ-IN provides 8x 400G + 4x 100G for multi-node labs running RoCEv2 priority flow control (PFC).
Why it matters
Without high-speed 100G/400G interconnects, multi-node tensor parallelism collapses under communication latency. MikroTik switches make desk-side 100G/400G networking affordable for local AI builders.
Another way to think about it
A dedicated high-speed fiber tunnel between twin supercomputers so they can finish each other's sentences at 100 Gbps. 🏎️💨
Check yourself
Which compact 100G switch is popular for 2–4 DGX Spark clusters?
- MikroTik CRS504-4XQ-IN
- Netgear 1G 5-port
- Cisco 6500 chassis
- USB-C Hub
Show answer
MikroTik CRS504-4XQ-IN — The CRS504 provides 4x 100G QSFP28 ports in a quiet, low-power (~25W) desktop form factor for ~$799.
What port speed does the MikroTik CRS804-4C-IN deliver?
- 10 Gbps
- 40 Gbps
- 100 Gbps
- 400 Gbps
Show answer
400 Gbps — The CRS804 provides 4x 400G QSFP-DD ports for ultra-high-density inter-node bandwidth.
RoCEv2 enables direct GPU-to-GPU memory transfer over Ethernet without CPU overhead.
- True
- False
Show answer
True — RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCEv2) bypasses the CPU and host OS stack for sub-2µs latency.