Cisco Catalyst Switches and NVIDIA Mellanox are key players in the networking infrastructure market. While Cisco Catalyst has advantages in pricing and support, NVIDIA Mellanox offers superior performance, justifying its higher cost for many customers.
Features: Cisco Catalyst Switches provide strong security features, integrated network management, and scalability, making them dependable for various network environments. NVIDIA Mellanox offers high-speed data transfer, low latency, and broad data center applications, focusing on performance and speed.
Room for Improvement: Cisco Catalyst may enhance its high-speed data capabilities and latency management to match competing products. Additionally, greater focus on specialized technical requirements could improve the product. For NVIDIA Mellanox, simplifying deployment processes and expanding support documentation could enhance its offering. Improvements in cost efficiency would also help to reduce the high initial investment.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Catalyst ensures a structured deployment with extensive documentation and responsive support, facilitating seamless integration. In contrast, NVIDIA Mellanox's deployment is more complex but compensated by tailored customer service targeting specific needs.
Pricing and ROI: Cisco Catalyst generally provides a more cost-effective setup with strong ROI via comprehensive features and extensive support. NVIDIA Mellanox commands a higher upfront cost but offers substantial ROI through its performance in high-demand scenarios.
From an investment standpoint, deploying Cisco Catalyst Switches offers tangible benefits, including cost reductions.
On a scale from one to 10, I would rate the technical support of Cisco at 10 out of 10.
Cisco support is very good and responsive.
Cisco's support is good, one of the best supports that you will get.
I would assess their technical support as good—not the best, but it is good.
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.
Cisco Catalyst Switches are scalable, and I would rate them eight to nine out of ten for scalability.
Cisco Catalyst Switches are stable.
I would rate it a seven because the old versions were not stable, but it is becoming stable over time.
Currently, I don't see much AI integration with Cisco Catalyst Switches; though they've started, it still needs improvement.
Cisco Catalyst Switches could be a little bit cheaper as they are very costly.
The configuration options on the Cisco Commerce website could be more efficient.
I think it's okay; it's the best solution for now for AI data centers.
Cisco provides unique features that justify their pricing.
Cisco usually is costly compared to other vendors.
Cisco Catalyst Switches are quite pricey.
For its performance, it's cheaper.
Cisco Catalyst Switches are valuable for their reliability and performance.
The most beneficial features for our network management are their stability and good customer support.
Catalyst Switches are efficient and swift, which is valuable for my organization.
The biggest advantage is that the vendor is the only one providing no-drop traffic.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Cisco Catalyst Switches | 3.0% |
| NVIDIA Mellanox | 2.0% |
| Other | 95.0% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 78 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 29 |
| Large Enterprise | 78 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 5 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 1 |
| Large Enterprise | 2 |
Cisco Catalyst Switches are a reliable and scalable network switching and routing solution, focusing on VLANs and VLAN switching. They are used as access switches, distribution switches, and core switches in various environments, deployed on-premises, and used for long connections. The switches are easy to configure, install, and upgrade and offer good pricing.
The most valuable features include warranty and firmware support, stability, security, good performance, flexibility, etc. The Cisco Catalyst Switches have provided a stable solution for the organizations and are widely used, trusted, and well-known in the networking industry.
NVIDIA Mellanox empowers data centers with advanced networking capabilities, featuring RDMA, user-friendly interfaces, efficient design, and competitive performance. Designed for Linux-based environments, it ensures robust network automation and AI integration.
Known for its compact hardware, NVIDIA Mellanox delivers dependable networking through its innovative features like no-drop traffic handling and essential data center protocols BGP EVPN and VXLAN. It enhances efficiency with its integration into AI-driven environments and extensive configuration options on Linux. Though the installation and its command-line interface pose challenges for some, its automation capabilities complement complex infrastructures in data centers. Users highlight its scalability in networking, yet seek improvements in documentation, training, and OS transition aspects for smoother integration and enhanced accessibility. Ongoing advancements are anticipated, particularly regarding support response and platform compatibility like Elastic.
What are the key features of NVIDIA Mellanox?In industries operating networking infrastructures, NVIDIA Mellanox offers LAN and AI data center solutions, integral to high-performance computing. Users in sectors utilizing spine-and-leaf topology for top-of-rack and core devices leverage its infinite band speed and EVPN/VxLan capabilities. With support for edge, storage, and border gate switches, it optimizes networking automation beginning with Ethernet-based setups. Organizations gradually enhance complexity as their networking needs evolve.
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