We compared Cisco Catalyst Switches and Cisco Nexus based on our user's reviews in several parameters.
Overall, the user reviews highlight that Cisco Catalyst Switches are valued for their stability, performance, scalability, ease of use, and flexibility, with emphasis on excellent customer support and significant ROI. On the other hand, Cisco Nexus is praised for its ease of use, scalability, redundancy capabilities, and technical support, with attention to its reliability and suitability for data center management. The key differences between the two products lie in their target markets, feature sets, and user experiences.
Features: The valuable features of Cisco Catalyst Switches include flexibility, ease of use, stability, performance, scalability, easy configuration, interconnectivity of devices, streaming audio and video management, and robust security features. On the other hand, Cisco Nexus is praised for its stability, user-friendly GUI, scalability, helpful technical support, and features like VDC and VPC that enhance flexibility and redundancy capabilities. It is especially suitable for data center management. ISSU feature allows for changes and testing before implementing them in the production environment.
Pricing and ROI: Cisco Catalyst Switches are known for their reasonable and competitive pricing in the market. The setup cost is straightforward and easy to integrate into existing networks. The licensing process is hassle-free and flexible. On the other hand, Cisco Nexus also offers competitive pricing, with a straightforward and hassle-free setup cost. Users appreciate the flexibility of licensing options provided by Cisco Nexus., Cisco Catalyst Switches offer a significant ROI with improved network performance, reliability, security features, and scalability. Users appreciate the ease of installation and management, leading to increased efficiency and cost savings. On the other hand, Cisco Nexus also provides a highly positive ROI with increased network performance, enhanced security measures, improved scalability, and simplified management. It offers cost savings through reduced downtime, improved productivity, and streamlined operations. Users praise its reliability, ease of implementation, and comprehensive feature set.
Room for Improvement: Cisco Catalyst Switches could benefit from enhanced firmware stability, better compatibility with third-party software and devices, improved user interface, faster response times, and enhanced troubleshooting capabilities. In contrast, Cisco Nexus could be improved in terms of reliability, performance speed, configuration simplicity, and compatibility limitations.
Deployment and customer support: The reviews for Cisco Catalyst Switches mention that deployment can take either three months or just a week, with some users using "deployment" and "setup" interchangeably. On the other hand, Cisco Nexus reviews indicate varying durations, with some users spending three months on deployment and an additional week on setup, while others only need a week for both., The customer service for Cisco Catalyst Switches has been praised for its prompt, reliable, and effective support. Users value the helpfulness and knowledge of the support staff. On the other hand, the customer service for Cisco Nexus is also highly regarded for its prompt, knowledgeable, and efficient support. Users appreciate the helpful and attentive support representatives and the availability of comprehensive documentation and online resources to assist them. Overall, users are satisfied with the assistance and support provided by Cisco Nexus.
The summary above is based on 87 interviews we conducted recently with Cisco Catalyst Switches and Cisco Nexus users. To access the review's full transcripts, download our report.
"We have to use the QoS (CBWFQ) function... and it is easy to use."
"Scalable, stable, and reliable product that's easy to install. Technical support is dependable and can be contacted in a variety of ways, e.g. through their ticketing system, hotline number, and community forum."
"The product offers very good routing and ranking capabilities."
"The benefit of the tool is that it is a stable product."
"Catalyst switches are easy to use and simple to work with."
"The most valuable features of Cisco Catalyst Switches are that they are very common. If you talk to someone most likely they will have a Cisco Catalyst Switch, they will not mention other names, such as Juniper, ProCurve, Dell, or anything else. The most common product in networking in my country is Cisco. Everywhere you go they talk about Cisco."
"The tool's administration is easy."
"They have a robust monitoring system."
"Cisco Nexus is very safe and stable. I've been here 8 months. We have some devices that have been out for 11 years."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is network visibility. It becomes the core switch. All of the devices connected route towards it."
"The most valuable features are extensions and recorded scalability."
"Its low latency is most valuable. Its performance is good, and it is also very stable."
"It's easy to use, and the performance is great."
"Cisco Nexus meets all of our requirements."
"Solid product, communications and support from a well-known dependable company."
"It speeds up the network data transfer time."
"The security of the solution could be improved, it is really important to us."
"I use the Cisco Catalyst Switches command-line interface(CLI) a lot out in the field, but there are some web interfaces features that are available that I haven't used very much. I'm more comfortable with the CLI, but the web interfaces are very lacking."
"Catalyst Switches could be more secure."
"Their price should be improved. They are a little bit expensive."
"The product could be cheaper."
"We need to rely on other devices to provide management features."
"Facilitating and adapting the security updates would be a good improvement, because usually it requires to reboot the router to get them"
"In a future upgrade, I would like to see integrated wireless in the solution."
"Some of the DHCP features need improvement."
"In the next release of the solution, I would like to see varying integration between VRF (Virtual Routing and Forwarding) instances so we can integrate BGB into different VRFs in a more organized way. We have some issues with tunnels and VRFs."
"The flexibility and configuration could be better."
"The cost of the support can be improved. We had critical operations, and we needed 24/7 support for 365 days, which was quite expensive. We had to go for a very costly support contract, which was really a concern. The availability of spare parts, especially in a remote location such as Egypt, can also be improved."
"In the next release of this solution, I would like to see a focus on backplane deployment, so you can stack more."
"The initial setup of the Cisco Nexus platform takes a long time. It's a complex system because we have a lot of security layers."
"I am looking for a GUI that goes alongside them and more SD-WAN built to their core switches."
"The solution has room for improvement in terms of the learning curve."
Cisco Catalyst Switches is ranked 1st in LAN Switching with 170 reviews while Cisco Nexus is ranked 6th in LAN Switching with 101 reviews. Cisco Catalyst Switches is rated 8.6, while Cisco Nexus is rated 8.4. The top reviewer of Cisco Catalyst Switches writes "Reliable and stable catalyst switch; can be easily installed". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Cisco Nexus writes " Offer high performance capabilities and enables efficient data transmission and processing". Cisco Catalyst Switches is most compared with Arista Networks Platform, Dell PowerConnect Switches, HPE ProCurve, ExtremeSwitching and Aruba Instant On Switches, whereas Cisco Nexus is most compared with Juniper QFX Series Switches, Arista Networks Platform, Dell PowerConnect Switches, VMware NSX and Juniper QFabric. See our Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. Cisco Nexus report.
See our list of best LAN Switching vendors and best Data Center Networking vendors.
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