This article describes how to verify if NetScaler MPX or SDX appliance has an N2 or N3 SSL Card installed.

Background

The N2 cards are second generation Cavium cards. Currently, NetScaler appliances use NITROX PX as N2 cards and NITROX III as N3 cards.Under NITROX PX (the N2 cards) you can see models as CN1620, which is a common model card used by the NetScaler.

Instructions

NetScaler MPX

Run the following command from NetScaler CLI to verify the SSL card installed:
show ns hardware

If the output of the command has "CVM N3" in it, then this indicate the presence of an N3 card:
NSMPX-11500 12*CPU+8*IX+4*E1K+2*E1K+2*CVM N3 1400210

If the output is anything else, like CVM 1620, then this indicate the presence of an N2 card:
NSMPX-17500 12*CPU+2*E1K+8*IX+16*CVM 1620 450030

NetScaler SDX

1. Log into the SVM nsroot account using an SSH client.
2. Run the following command:
   cat /var/nslog/dmesg.boot | grep platform
   platform: bios version 3.0a dated 04/11/2016 found at 0xffffff00000eb055
   platform: NSSDX-22000-10G 16*CPU 24*IX 2*E1K 16*CVM N3 450081 (2a), manufactured at 9/12/201

If the output of the command has "CVM N3" in it, then this indicate the presence of an N3 card and if the output is anything else, like CVM 1620, then this indicate the presence of an N2 card.