Cisco Ethernet Switches Reviews

We use these switches in our data center core to handle all of the converged networks. They handle our SAN servers as well as other components.

The outer perimeter is handled by the Cisco 2960s, for distribution of traffic to endpoint clients.

These switches help to build the best network, the way we want it. There is a guarantee that makes us feel better about having a secure network.

The most valuable feature is the performance and ability to handle the flow of traffic.

The redundancy that the switches provide is very good.

There is a focus on improving the UI for managing the higher-end switches and routers, but not the traditional ones. Putting in a more complete management infrastructure would help when it comes to handling lower-end switches.

These switches are pretty expensive to put into place, so if they could bring the price point down then it would be really good.

We have been using Cisco Ethernet switches for just over ten years.

This solution very well handles the capability for scaling. It is fairly simple and easy to do.

Sometimes we have issues with certain switches hanging.

I have only indirectly been in contact with technical support through our vendor. Our interactions mostly had to do with registering the product and downloading updates. We have not been in contact concerning a particular issue about a product.

Our initial setup was more than ten years ago, and it is something that has been modified over time. Whatever it was, originally, has been rebuilt. As we continue to add new components, it becomes simpler and easier for us to go forward. 

The deployment for the data center core took four days to get all of the services up and running. This included the interfacing, as well as cutting over to ensure that there was no outage. A lot of this had to do with the waiting time and change control, where the cut-over was done during hours that are less used by the employees.

Our other primary switches were pretty simple to change, as and when required. This was never much of a dealy.

Our vendor assisted us with the original deployment. Our project team consisted of four people and there was an additional person from the vendor.

These switches are expensive, but they are an excellent buy and definitely have value for the investment.

The switches that we have purchased handle our load pretty well. We do not have a high data plan network.

When our switches age beyond the life cycle then each will be replaced with whatever the current model is in the market at the time. In the future, we would like to integrate Cisco Aironet, although Wi-Fi is a bit down the line for us.

Overall, this is a good product but there is always room for improvement. My main complaint about Cisco is the price aspect.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We use it for the local area network.

It's for industry products, so it's easy to use. 

I have been using this solution for over ten years. 

The stability is quite good. 

We don't have much of a demand to significantly increase the workload on network switch so we don't experience any scalability issues. 

Their technical support is good. 

The initial setup was not complex. It took a few days. 

I would rate it an eight out of ten. I haven't heard from my engineers that they said it's excellent but of course, I didn't hear them say that there are too many problems. That's why I rated it an eight.

Cisco Ethernet Switches are being used as part of our new data centers.

This solution helps us simplify operations through minimal maintenance and ease of patching.

The most valuable feature is the performance.

The Cisco Feature Navigator is a web-based application that enables you to quickly match Cisco IOS, IOS XE, IOS XR, NX-OS, and CatOS software releases to features. This is available to all Cisco.com users, both registered and non-registered guests.

Cisco needs to include new features to attract new customers.

I have been using Cisco Ethernet solutions for the last 20 years.

This solution is stable enough that it will not create problems in everyday usage.

This system can accommodate expansion without hampering the existing workflow and ensure an increase in output or efficiency.

Customer service is good. They are responsive within the time frame and resolve our issues.

I haven't used a different solution. We did the upgrade as part of the lifecycle when the previous equipment became end-of-life. It was time for the investment. At the same time, we were building out new data centers.

The setup was straightforward and it is easy to deploy.

We have implemented with the help of a vendor and we have an in-house team that is taking care of maintenance.

ROI is doubled with the solution.

I did not evaluate other options before choosing Cisco.

I will advise others to buy without any hesitation, as the product quality and deliverables are far more than others without comparing cost. This solution is the best.

We use this solution for our university campus network.

The most valuable feature of this solution is the stability.

The solution is simple to configure.

The layer-2 switching is very fast.

We would like to have the option of two power supplies on these switches. It is important for us because these switches are installed in our data center and critical departments. These units have to be available all of the time.

I would like to see this solution automatically store multiple versions of the configuration file. For example, Juniper switches will save forty versions of the configuration, while Cisco will only store one. If you want to keep more than one then you need to make it manually. If you need to restore it then you will have to use the saved file to do that manually, as well. In the large switches, they do keep one primary image and the backup image, which is good, but it is not like Juniper. I can roll back to any version within the last forty that have been committed. It's a very, very nice feature that I would like to see in Cisco equipment.

This is a very stable solution. You install it and then you don't have to touch it for many years.

At this level, the edge, we are not concerned with scalability. We will be able to update the edge using the new uplink port module if we need to.

The core switches are scalable. You can add another slot of forty-eight ports with 10-gigabit each. 

On the university campus, we have approximately thirty thousand users. These are not concurrent connections. We have more than twenty thousand students, about six thousand employees, and there are guests. I can say that more than twenty thousand connections may be active at one time.

We have about one thousand switches, and we have four people in charge of maintenance. They do the installation, repairs, and all of the other tasks in the data center. Three are technicians and one is a manager.

We work with our vendor, who in turns works with the Cisco support. There are times, however, when we need to get support directly from Cisco as well.

We are satisfied with both the local vendor support and support from Cisco. When we have problems, they put the effort into it until the problem is solved.

We had a problem with the structure of the switches in the core. We weren't sure what the problem was, but we were helped at every step of the process. Cisco was in contact with us every day until the problem was solved. We are very satisfied with the support.

I have experience with Juniper LAN switches, but that was with a previous company.

The university campus had bought Juniper switches about six years ago, but they are moving completely to Cisco equipment. Cisco is more expensive than Juniper by perhaps double. The price is higher because they are more stable.

We still have about one hundred Juniper switches out of our one thousand in total.

The initial setup of this solution is very simple.

You can copy the image to the switch using FTP and run a command to install it. The process is very simple and we always upgrade our switches without any problems.

This is an expensive solution, but you are paying for stability.

We evaluated Meraki switches but they were not suitable for the university campus.

We are looking forward to the 10-gigabit uplink port, which is an improvement that we have waited for. We expect to have this new module in one or two months.

Cisco has a family of Small Business Switches called SG. For example, the SG300 model. This is a cheaper model, and although they are missing some protocols, they are very good. Out of our one thousand switches, we have about one hundred SG models. The price of these is lower than Juniper switches.

I surely recommend this product, and the new Cisco line seems to be even stronger. There are improvements in terms of new modules and power supplies, and the price is not increasing.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

The hardware is rugged. We use it for the basic configuration.

Cisco has a layer three rugged switch. I don't know if they have it. The one I use is layer 2 only. Cisco should provide field switches, outdoor switches that have the capability for layer 3.

We've had hardware problems like SSDS, ports, networking, things like that.

They should maximize the number of ports. For me, that's important because we have some sites that the industrial switches lack ports so we have to install two industrial switches.

Stability is okay. 

We have around 500 switches deployed in one network. 

We haven't needed to contact their technical support. 

It's easy to deploy, just copy and paste. Installing the switches and configuring it, it takes only less than an hour. Installing the fibers takes time.

My advice to someone considering this solution would be to have a  good plan and a good design. It will go smoothly if you have a good design and a good plan. It's important.

I would rate it a seven out of ten. Not a ten because Mellanox is better compared to Ethernet switches.

We primarily use the solution for infrastructure.

The solution itself is great for our organization's infrastructure. You can connect a WiFi product and an ethernet product at the same time.

The most valuable aspect of the solution is its routing features.

The solution is compatible with many brands, such as VMware.

It offers very good durability if your configuration is good.

The interface needs improvement. The solution could use more features and more functionality.

The price could be lower. It's quite expensive.

The stability of the solution is perfect, although sometimes we have firmware problems. If we have a bug or something similar, sometimes it's hard to get a quick response to the problem.

The scalability of the solution, from what I understand, is good. We haven't actually tested the solution for scalability ourselves, however.

Technical support is good. However, we need to pay if we want to have them analyze incidents. It's not in the standard package. 

The initial setup is complex. You always need to change the configuration to adapt it to your needs. On top of that, actually adapting it is quite difficult. Deployment can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days, depending on the functionality your organization requires.

We had the assistance of a distributor for implementing the solution.

The solution is very expensive.

We did evaluate other options. We evaluated for readability, stability, price, and end of life. Cisco ultimately won out.

We use various deployment models, including on-premises and cloud.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

We use this solution to connect our computers.

The most valuable features of this solution are guidance, cover sheets, and access control.

The command-line interface is easy to use.

The licensing needs to be improved. You have to know upfront what kind of license you require. If you want to check quality assurance then you need to use an IP-based license. You can get that done, but sometimes it's a nuisance. For example, if you want to run certain commands then they are not all available because it depends on your license.

On the new switches, it is a bit hard to do the SPANning. The SPAN ports on the 9K series should be improved.

The stability of this solution is good.

The scalability of this solution is fine.

We have just changed partners for technical support so we are not able to rate them yet.

We did not use another solution prior to this one. We have always used Cisco.

The initial setup of this solution is straightforward.

We do part of it manually and part of it automatically. The biggest part is the installation and the connecting and cabling. The actual deployment of the CD itself can be a couple of hours.

We use a partner for technical support.

The price of this solution is good.

In general, Cisco is ok. It's convenient and well-documented. If you have a big landscape then Cisco is a good way forward. It is well supported and a lot of engineering people know the Cisco switches. It's like the default environment, and I recommend it.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

We primarily use the solution on our equipment.

The VPC feature is the solution's most valuable aspect.

The quality, like all Cisco solutions, is very high. The fact that it's Cisco is one of the reasons we chose to use it.

Cisco has a licensing procedure that is very complicated and it changes every six months.

The solution is very stable.

Scaling and upgrading the solution is easy. Our group has about 500 employees and all of them use Cisco and its switches.

Technical support is okay, but they do need to respond quicker to tickets.

I have personally previously used Dell, which is very unstable in comparison to Cisco. You must review all documents and if you don't correctly do this, you must open a ticket. It takes  a few days for a simple question about the licenses to get answered. It can be a very frustrating process and should be simplified.

The initial setup is straightforward.

I handled the implementation myself.

The cost of licensing is very expensive, especially if you compare it to Fortigate.

We're using the on-premises deployment model.

I'd recommend the solution. It has all the features we need included within it.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.