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.
"As far as technology is concerned, Cisco improves the client-to-client business."
"Easy to manage, with a long lifespan."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco equipment is reliability."
"The PoE capability of Catalyst Switches is great for using WAPs and other PoE equipment, such as security cameras."
"The operating system is great."
"The ability to configure throughput is very flexible and improved the performance of our systems."
"One of the most valuable features is the MatchBox Switch."
"I've had no problems with the stability of this solution."
"The integrations are valuable."
"They are very high-performance switches and they are made for lossless data, so they're a good play in the customer environment."
"The scalability of Cisco Nexus is good. We've had them for the entire lifetime. We've never had to upgrade them yet."
"Cisco Nexus has improved the way our organization functions through the troubleshooting. We had issues where we've seen our links saturated. We were able to determine what was being processed on the link."
"The most valuable features of this solution are scalability and throughput."
"You can scale the product."
"The most valuable feature is performance."
"The most valuable features are the solution is robust, you are able to use it for fabric architecture as well as SPAN on exit with the controller."
"The vendor must provide mid-level switches."
"The solution’s licensing could be improved."
"The licensing process could be a bit less complex."
"It would be good if Cisco Catalyst Switches could align maintenance with one version."
"Cisco should provide customers with a more advantageous licensing model included with the purchase of the equipment."
"In terms of additional features or improvements, I would like to see more fiber ports, more security features, and perhaps the integration of wireless features into the switch."
"One feature that I would like to add is for the following: At times, when I add an access-list for a hostname, it doesn't actually add the hostname, it adds the IP address. So in the back-end, if my server changes the IP address I have to go in manually and change the IP address. If the capability was there in Cisco to add a hostname instead of the IP address that would be really good."
"These switches should have better compatibility with software-defined technology."
"Cisco Nexus needs to add the SDN capability and lower the price."
"In terms of improvement, the stacking between the two switches in the higher availability model should be similar to Catalyst. It's better to have one interface for configuration."
"One of the biggest challenges, which I see is that there's a constant evolution in the product. For example, our configuration is based on what is known as traditional data center implementation. Today there is the ACI deployment and to implement, to migrate from one technology to another, that's challenging both from a configuration perspective and also from a cost perspective."
"The product's high price is an area of concern where improvements are required. Cisco Nexus should lower its current prices."
"Our only complaint is about the licensing because it can always be a little more cost-effective."
"There is some room for improvement when it comes to the frequency on the network."
"Cisco Nexus still needs more stability."
"With some of the products we had before, we had a little more downtime than we would like."
Cisco Catalyst Switches is ranked 1st in LAN Switching with 171 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 ExtremeSwitching. See our Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. Cisco Nexus report.
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