Cisco ACI vs Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL] comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Cisco ACI and Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL] are both solutions in the Network Virtualization category. Additionally, 85% of Cisco ACI users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL] users who would recommend it.

Cisco ACI

Read 106 Cisco ACI reviews

6,425 Views
1,349 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL]

Read 2 Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL] reviews

100% willing to recommend

Cisco ACI

Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL]

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco ACI and Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Broadcom, ZeroTier, Inc. and others in Network Virtualization.

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Network Virtualization

October 2026

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Cisco ACI

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.1

Number of Reviews

106

Ranking in other categories

Network Virtualization (1st), Software Defined Networking (SDN) (2nd), Cloud and Data Center Security (7th)

Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL]

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Sulaiman Olubiyi

Senior Network Automation Engineer at a outsourcing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Network automation has simplified secure multi-site connectivity and reduced daily operational effort

I believe Cisco ACI could improve by incorporating something related to agentic AI, where it can execute tasks based on particular evaluations or loop engineering, enhancing fault identification or suggestions based on each tenant's configuration. Additionally, I think they should ensure that the documentation is comprehensive. I appreciate that Cisco provides documentation, and their support engineers are helpful in case of any issues. In terms of governance and security regarding Cisco ACI's AI capabilities, I think what we call evals or evaluations is important, whereby the engineer can evaluate the functionalities of the AI in Cisco ACI, preventing it from making deletions or modifications on its own. Therefore, there should be evaluations or guardrails incorporated into the development capabilities. Regarding accuracy and reliability of output for Cisco ACI's AI capabilities, it hasn't met my expectations. What we need is something called RAG, or retrieval-augmented generation. If Cisco can implement that to utilize customer-specific data instead of general knowledge, while ensuring data privacy under GDPR laws, I think that will result in very good, reliable output.

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reviewer902526

Vice Chairman at a construction company with 11-50 employees

Good support, feature-rich, and works well from a technical perspective

We are a system integrator and we are currently working on a project with a client who is using this solution. It is used for private cloud or data center virtualization We make use of all of the features that are available. It would be helpful to have better information on how to implement this…

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"It's improved the static configuration of our data center switching environment. But it's added some challenges to our ability to operationalize it and make it easier for people to manage."

"It has reduced our day-to-day operations by at least half."

"Having a lot of racks and switches with a single point of configuration which can be done with automation on one platform using one API. This makes everything work faster."

"We get a full holistic view of the ecosystem."

"It is one of the better solutions in the market right now."

"The main features of Cisco ACI that I really appreciate are the application-centric and network-centric designs, allowing you to create your network according to your application."

"It is very stable, allowing us to update firmware on the go without any downtime, which we couldn't do before, with everything redundant so if you shut down one system then another one takes over."

"What's most valuable in Cisco ACI is that it isn't like the legacy infrastructure where you have a lot of complexity in a TTR architecture. What I like most about Cisco ACI is that you can control those devices from a single console, even if you have three hundred devices. You can manage the entire infrastructure from a single point of contact, so Cisco ACI is a time saver. Another exclusive feature of Cisco ACI is its API interface that lets you enhance automation within the environment. You can manage your entire data center from a single interface through Cisco ACI. If you want to upgrade three hundred devices in one click, you can do that, and within one hour, all three hundred devices will be upgraded. I also like that Cisco keeps enhancing the product by adding different features, so there have been five major releases of Cisco ACI. Another valuable feature of the solution is that it's more user-friendly than Aruba and Juniper."

More Cisco ACI pros

"Cisco has a good technical support team."

"Overall, from a technical perspective, this product is good, but it could be improved with respect to pricing."

"The management aspect of the solution is its most valuable feature; software-defined issues have been good for us, and it makes the management process easy."

Cons

"The initial setup was fairly complex and it looks terrifying when you first log in."

"The stability is not bad, but could be improved."

"The user interface should be made easier."

"There is quite a learning curve at the beginning."

"The GUI is not easy to use."

"Quality Assurance could be better, and there are a lot of bugs in each release. We discover these bugs when we upgrade the ACI environment, sometimes resulting in downtime. In the next release, I would like to be able to manage hybrid cloud networking. So currently, if you have an ACI environment running on-premise or Epic in the cloud, we can handle it with the NexSys dashboard. But if Cisco can integrate SD WAN-related features, through which we can do multi-cloud networking, that will be an awesome feature. It should be more flexible."

"I think that technical support tickets should be escalated sooner."

"Cisco ACI is difficult both technically to build it out and then operationally to manage."

More Cisco ACI cons

"It would be helpful to have better information on how to implement this product."

"The initial setup is not easy."

"The stability of the solution isn't ideal. It could be vastly improved."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco ACI costs depend on how many sites you have. One simple site with a simple installation, including two leaves, two spines, and some fibers, would cost $200,000 to $300,000 for the licenses. The solution is a bit expensive, but it's a good investment if you want your data centers to work without interruption."

"The cost is fine."

"The thing that I like the most from Cisco is the support and all the documentation that they have. We do have to pay for it though."

"I don't believe there is any licensing required."

"Cisco ACI is more expensive than Juniper, however, ACI is not the most expensive option."

"It is quite expensive. It is not at all on the cheap or medium side."

"Pricing for Cisco ACI could be expensive if you're not a gold partner. If you're a gold partner, you'll get reasonable pricing, but to become a gold partner, you must cross several layers. For example, at least twenty engineers within your organization have to be certified, with each certification priced at £2,000 minimum, so this would make some companies think twice about the product. If you're going for Aruba and Juniper products, on the other hand, you can quickly get the partner status, and you can start selling the product. As a gold partner, you can get up to seventy percent discount on Cisco ACI, for example, while an ordinary partner gets ten percent off. Cisco ACI is expensive for both customers and partners, but I'm rating pricing for the product as four out of five because even if the price is costly, you get a lot of benefits from the product. Cisco ACI isn't the best, price-wise, but it's still a good solution. If you're in a small organization, you may be unable to afford it. Cisco ACI is best for enterprises but not SMBs because Cisco ACI and its required resources are expensive."

"We have saved time on the provisioning and configuration."

More Cisco ACI pricing and cost advice

"Cisco products are not cheap."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Outsourcing Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	22
Midsize Enterprise	19
Large Enterprise	89

No data available

Questions from the Community

What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?

There are some very major differences between both the Products and to name a few. -Cisco ACI have physical network gear (9K Switches) where the Code runs in ACI Policy Mode & the UCS server wh...

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What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?

Once you know your way around the Cisco ecosystem, using Cisco ACI is not so difficult. It is a global product, so when you change one interface, changes are automatically reflected on every switch...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco ACI?

Cost is one thing that could be improved, as it is heavy for an emerging market like ours.

See all answers

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Comparisons

VMware NSX vs Cisco ACI

Compared 14% of the time

Juniper Contrail Networking vs Cisco ACI

Compared 8% of the time

TrendAI Deep Security vs Cisco ACI

Compared 7% of the time

Cisco Secure Workload vs Cisco ACI

Compared 7% of the time

Nuage Networks vs Cisco ACI

Compared 6% of the time

More Cisco ACI Competitors

Cisco Enterprise Network Functions Virtualization vs Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL]

Compared 68% of the time

VMware NSX vs Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL]

Compared 32% of the time

More Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco ACI

October 2026

Download Cisco ACI product report

Buyer's Guide

Network Virtualization

October 2026

Download Cisco DNA Virtualization [EOL] product report

Also Known As

No data available

Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA) Virtualization

Overview

Cisco ACI provides advanced capabilities with features like seamless integration with VMware and APIs for programmability. It offers centralized management for streamlined operations, efficient micro-segmentation, and robust security, addressing modern data center needs.

Cisco ACI brings automation to data center infrastructure, enabling transitions from legacy to modern environments with centralized management. Organizations benefit from optimized server farms, seamless integration with VMware, and support for Kubernetes, making it suitable for large-scale environments. Offering support for healthcare, finance, and public sectors, Cisco ACI facilitates tasks such as virtual networking and multi-site connectivity with application-centric and network-centric designs.

What are the key features of Cisco ACI?

Seamless Integration with VMware: Ensures smooth operation with existing virtualized environments.
Programmability via APIs: Offers flexibility in network configuration and management through APIs.
Centralized Management: Provides a unified view of the network, simplifying oversight.
Automation: Reduces manual configuration workload, speeding up deployment.
Scalability: Adapts to growing network demands with ease.
Robust Security: Enhances protection against threats with comprehensive security measures.
Efficient Micro-Segmentation: Improves network segmentation for security and efficiency.

What benefits or ROI should users look for when evaluating Cisco ACI?

Streamlined Operation: Reduced complexity in network management.
Enhanced Performance: Improved network and application efficiency.
Cost Efficiency: Better resource allocation reduces operational costs.
Improved Security: Advanced features for increased protection.
Scalability: Allows growth without significant redesigns.

In the healthcare industry, Cisco ACI supports secure and efficient data management, accommodating regulatory needs and enhancing patient data handling. Financial institutions benefit from robust security and seamless integration with existing infrastructures, facilitating smooth transaction processing. In the public sector, it's utilized for reliable network management and servicing a diverse range of applications.

Cisco

Connect users to applications with one seamless network using Cisco Digital Network Architecture (DNA) Virtualization

Cisco

Sample Customers

Bowling Green State University, du, Qatar University

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

Network Virtualization

October 2026

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