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Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Dell PowerEdge R-Series comparison

Why PeerSpot?
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 1, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
4.9
Cisco Catalyst Switches enhance network reliability, reduce downtime, and offer cost-effective, long-term benefits with modern technology support.
Sentiment score
6.1
Dell PowerEdge R-Series boosts ROI with enhanced performance, stability, cost-effectiveness, and reduced operational costs and staffing needs.
Peace of mind and quality of support and, of course, trouble-free and issue-free workings matter, and I am even willing to pay more for that.
CISO at ADNIC
With Catalyst Switches, I can quickly check interface status, VLANs, MAC addresses, errors, and logs to identify the root cause.
Desktop support Engineer at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
I can say in terms of money saved because up until now, in the previous places where I have worked and also now, we still use the older model, the 2960 model Cisco Catalyst Switches, which has been in existence for almost 20 years and up until now it still functions very well.
Electrical control system engineer at Dangote petroleum refinery and petrol chemicals
By not having to worry about it, I would estimate we save two to four hours a week, depending on what's happening, such as if we need to spin up a new server, which would contribute to more time if done the old way.
Manager, Systems & Desktop Support at Tilson Home Corporation
In my immediate case for antenna analysis, Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers offer a reduction from days of computing to half a day or hours.
Senior Radio Frequncy Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
The value of uptime to us is critical.
VP IT Operations at a computer software company with 1,001-5,000 employees
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Cisco Catalyst Switches generally receive positive support reviews, but response time and resolution can vary based on case complexity.
Sentiment score
7.5
Dell PowerEdge R-Series customer service is quick and efficient, despite some users finding repetitive questions annoying.
When requesting an RMA, they replace defective items in just one day.
Network Engineer at General Authority OF ZAKAT & TAX
Even if it is slightly more expensive, the main basic thing is how soon or how easily a company can support you if something goes wrong on the switch, which can happen to any brand.
Consultant at Staunch On Demand
On a scale from one to 10, I would rate the technical support of Cisco at 10 out of 10.
student at St. Joseph's College of Engineering
I would give Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers a ten because they're always able to answer all the questions we have; they reach a solution no matter how long it takes, and they don't give up.
Manager, Systems Security at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
It has always been scheduled maintenance, which says a lot for a production environment, as we haven't had to call in a trouble ticket for the actual hardware during its entire run.
Manager, Systems & Desktop Support at Tilson Home Corporation
Typically, the contacts we have on-site are very knowledgeable, they come in within a day and usually have it fixed and taken care of if there are issues.
Senior Systems Engineer at Federal Data Systems
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
Cisco Catalyst Switches enable scalable network expansion with stacking and modular options, though configuration complexity may challenge some users.
Sentiment score
6.6
Dell PowerEdge R-Series offers scalable solutions with flexible expansion, efficient performance, and seamless integration for diverse business needs.
We can add more switches, VLANs, users, and network segments without having to redesign the entire environment.
Desktop support Engineer at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
The scalability of Cisco Catalyst Switches is very much scalable, as it supports the stacking feature and growth; for instance, with 94K modular switches, based on the requirement, we can even increase modules for more bandwidth.
Unit Nos at Orange
Unlike Meraki, where I can bring a switch online, join it to the portal, and it becomes operational immediately.
Software Developer/ IT Analyst Individual Contributor at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
The scalability of Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers is excellent.
Software Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
Any outages or blackouts are limited to particular servers, not affecting the whole chassis or enclosures.
Senior Systems Engineer at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
We bought our product with scaling involved, and we've been scaling it up anytime we've needed more storage.
Director, Information Technology at TEXAS PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE GUARANTY ASSOCIATION
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Cisco Catalyst Switches are highly reliable, with users praising their stability, uptime, durability, and advanced features like StackWise.
Sentiment score
7.9
The Dell PowerEdge R-Series is lauded for its reliability, performance, and efficiency, ensuring stable and uninterrupted operations.
The available monitoring and troubleshooting tools also make it easier to identify and resolve those issues quickly, which helps maintain overall network stability.
Desktop support Engineer at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
The stability of Cisco Catalyst Switches in my environment is somewhat problematic: legacy Cisco Catalyst Switches, even though they have licenses and support, present many hardware-related issues, such as interfaces going down very repeatedly, SFP modules failing in most cases, and hardware ports becoming faulty.
Network Security Engineer at a healthcare company with 11-50 employees
What you tell it to do is exactly what it does.
Electrical control system engineer at Dangote petroleum refinery and petrol chemicals
Over four years, we've had less than 1 percent downtime.
It support lead at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
There is a feature to update the server while it is running, so there is no need to restart.
Manager, Regions Information Technology Security at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
We have truly not had any downtime on the infrastructure at all.
Director, Information Technology at TEXAS PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE GUARANTY ASSOCIATION
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Catalyst Switches should improve pricing, integration, management tools, automation, security, support, compatibility, and reduce complexity and lead times.
Dell PowerEdge R-Series needs better pricing, energy efficiency, modularity, AI features, security, NVMe options, and streamlined integration.
Cisco should provide some level of software that I can bring on-premise where I can add all my Catalyst switches for central management.
Software Developer/ IT Analyst Individual Contributor at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Support and vulnerabilities are the biggest issues regarding Cisco Catalyst Switches.
Network Architect at a retailer with 5,001-10,000 employees
I would also like better visibility into hardware capabilities and lifecycle status from a single dashboard so we can identify potential issues before they affect users.
Desktop support Engineer at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
We need to know about any upcoming updates so that we can plan accordingly.
End User Manager at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees
The beneficial aspect of that feature was that we could skip the PowerStore and just have the Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers alone, as they also served as storage, which helped us save money.
Director Of IT at Star Kay White
This forces you to go up to a larger server to get the desired processor, which increases the cost.
Team Lead Infrastructure at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Catalyst Switches are costly due to factors like features and licensing, despite reliability and potential volume discounts.
Dell PowerEdge R-Series offers competitive pricing with transparent licensing, despite rising costs due to supply chain issues and AI demand.
Cisco provides unique features that justify their pricing.
Product Manager at Uop Ipl
Cisco usually is costly compared to other vendors.
Unit Nos at Orange
For setup cost, we set up the network infrastructure by ourselves, so there was really no need for setup cost because one very good thing with Cisco is that they have everything available.
Electrical control system engineer at Dangote petroleum refinery and petrol chemicals
They have been stable and running for years without performance downtime or significant disc failures.
Product manager at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Some customers find it cheaper due to contractual agreements, while others find it expensive, especially when scaling up.
System Administrator at Tigs
The software associated with servers, like VMware subscription licenses, drives costs.
Software Engineer at a comms service provider with 51-200 employees
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Catalyst Switches are valued for reliability, scalability, security features, ease of use, performance, and long-term investment benefits.
Dell PowerEdge R-Series excels in reliability, expandability, seamless management, performance, and security, supporting demanding workloads with minimal downtime.
Cisco Catalyst Switches are valuable for their reliability and performance.
Product Manager at Uop Ipl
With Meraki access points, I do not have to have a wireless controller for them. I can configure the wireless device directly from the switch, making the setup cleaner, and that is a major reason for my preference.
Software Developer/ IT Analyst Individual Contributor at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Cisco Catalyst Switches provide high performance and security features that stand out in my daily work, where they handle a high volume of traffic with low latency, making them suitable for bandwidth-intensive applications, web applications, VoIP applications, video streaming, and major data center workloads.
Network Security Engineer at a healthcare company with 11-50 employees
They keep running for at least five to seven years without any issues.
IT Manger at Dubai precast LLc
With PowerEdge Servers, I don't need a one-to-one ratio redundancy, which leads to about eighty percent downtime reduction.
Product manager at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
One of the valuable features is Active Directory, which helps in managing the network.
IT Manager at Misrconsult
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Catalyst Switches
Ranking in Data Center Networking
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
196
Ranking in other categories
LAN Switching (1st), Ethernet Switches (2nd), AV Over IP Switching (1st)
Dell PowerEdge R-Series
Ranking in Data Center Networking
4th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
353
Ranking in other categories
Converged Infrastructure (1st), Blade Servers (2nd), Rack Servers (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Data Center Networking category, the mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Switches is 16.3%, down from 21.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerEdge R-Series is 4.3%, up from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Center Networking Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Catalyst Switches16.3%
Dell PowerEdge R-Series4.3%
Other79.4%
Data Center Networking
 

Featured Reviews

Md Rafique - PeerSpot reviewer
Desktop support Engineer at a outsourcing company with 51-200 employees
Reliable switching has improved segmentation and reduces downtime with faster troubleshooting
One area I would like to see improvement is making configuration and troubleshooting more straightforward, especially for engineers managing a large number of switches. Some tasks can require multiple CLI commands and checking different outputs to identify an issue. Better centralized visibility, more intuitive automation tools, and clearer troubleshooting information would make day-to-day operations more efficient. That said, the CLI gives experienced network engineers a lot of control, so I would see these improvements as making the existing capabilities easier and faster to use rather than replacing them. For on-premises deployment, I would like to see easier centralized management and more automation for larger switch environments. Firmware upgrades, configuration changes, and troubleshooting can take significant time when they have to be handled across many physical devices. Better zero-touch provisioning, simplifying firmware management solutions, stronger integration with monitoring and IT management platforms, and more proactive hardware health alerts would make operations easier. I would also like better visibility into hardware capabilities and lifecycle status from a single dashboard so we can identify potential issues before they affect users.
Jose Oliveira - PeerSpot reviewer
Diretor at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Local servers have delivered long-term ERP and virtualization performance while reducing cloud costs
In terms of improving Dell PowerEdge R-Series, to be honest, the product has so many options that I find it very difficult to improve it in terms of product itself. Of course, there will always be some technological evolution and new components, but what the product offers in each generation, and I've already followed five or six generations of Dell PowerEdge from generation 11 up to generation 17, it has always kept pace with technological innovation. In terms of storage, it's always extremely in line with what the market is offering. In terms of memory, each new generation always follows the newest RAM trends. Processors also have both AMD and Intel options. I believe the product already has very high maturity. The availability of redundant power supplies and the availability of off-band management via iDRAC are excellent. The product is already extremely solid and reliable. The most I could perhaps say is that sometimes in some operations, I find iDRAC a bit slow, but that's a characteristic of off-band management because performance comes from a separate card that has its own processor and its own memory, so sometimes it's not as fast as I'd expect from the machine itself. Overall, there really isn't much to say because the product is extremely robust and efficient.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Construction Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business85
Midsize Enterprise30
Large Enterprise91
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business125
Midsize Enterprise70
Large Enterprise156
 

Questions from the Community

Would you recommend replacing a Cisco Catalyst Switch by a D-link one?
Hello Mesfin It depends on the real scenario, the cisco 2960 is a very good device and they usually have routing functions but there are many different models within the same 2960 line, and on the ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Catalyst Switches?
My experience is that Cisco Catalyst Switches can involve a relatively significant upfront investment, especially when you consider the hardware, support, and licensing requirements. The total cost...
What needs improvement with Cisco Catalyst Switches?
One area I would like to see improvement is making configuration and troubleshooting more straightforward, especially for engineers managing a large number of switches. Some tasks can require multi...
When shopping for a rack server, would you go with Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether the Dell EMC Poweredge or Lenovo Thinksystem rack servers were the better fit for us. We ultimately decided to go with Dell EMC Poweredge....
What needs improvement with Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
Dell PowerEdge R-Series could improve by addressing the issue of temperatures and problems with RAM memory, as those are generally where we have had issues. The modules, specifically the DIMMs, ten...
What is your primary use case for Dell EMC PowerEdge Rack Servers?
My main use case for Dell PowerEdge R-Series is for private cloud infrastructure. A specific example of how I use Dell PowerEdge R-Series in my environment is for private cloud provisioning for 5G....
 

Also Known As

Cisco Catalyst, Catalyst
Dell PowerEdge Rack Servers
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Afni, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Del Papa Distributing, Explorer Pipeline, Mindtree, Omaha World Herald, Radio 538, Sony Corporation, Telecom Italia, Telenor Arena
NxtGen Datacenter, Medien-Service Untermain (MSU), Exasol, IndigoVision, Dayco
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. Dell PowerEdge R-Series and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.
920,939 professionals have used our research since 2012.