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incident respond jr at Telmex Mexico
Real User
High-performing solution that's easy to scale
Pros and Cons
  • "FabricPath's best features are routing, OSPS, ethernet, and performance."
  • "The prices for FabricPath are very high, and Cisco also takes a long time to deliver products (in Mexico, the delivery time is eight months)."

What is our primary use case?

I mainly use FabricPath to install equipment for core and LAN switching and for access for users to connect to the MPLS, internet, and SD-WAN.

What is most valuable?

FabricPath's best features are routing, OSPS, ethernet, and performance.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

FabricPath's stability is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

FabricPath is easy to scale.

Buyer's Guide
LAN Switching
November 2024
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Juniper, Arista and others in LAN Switching. Updated: November 2024.
816,636 professionals have used our research since 2012.

How are customer service and support?

Cisco's technical support is good because we have a network operation center.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The prices for FabricPath are very high, and Cisco also takes a long time to deliver products (in Mexico, the delivery time is eight months).

What other advice do I have?

I would rate FabricPath as ten out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Senior Network Engineer at Dejpaad
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Reliable with good security and the ability to expand
Pros and Cons
  • "It is stable and reliable."
  • "The solution is complex to set up."

What is our primary use case?

It's primarily used for secure wireless networking between Ubiquity and Cisco.

What is most valuable?

Its security features are great. That's the best part - just security. It's very simple.

The solution can scale. 

It is stable and reliable. 

What needs improvement?

The cost of the solution is very high. It was quite expensive. 

The solution is complex to set up. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used the solution for about 15 years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is great. It's a reliable product. I'd rate the stability nine out of ten as it does not crash or freeze, and there are no bugs or glitches. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Cisco's scalability is excellent. It's very easy to expand. 

We have between 100 and 200 users on the solution right now. 

How are customer service and support?

Due to the sanctions in Iran, I cannot reach out to technical support for assistance. 

How was the initial setup?

The implementation process is complex. Cisco has a central console for controlling wireless access points (named WL-3).

It takes two to three days to set up the solution on small projects. 

What about the implementation team?

I'm a consultant providing network solutions for customers. I can assist with the setup. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Cisco is an expensive solution. It was not cheap. We only use it sometimes for this reason. 

Licensing can be yearly or permanent, depending on what you decide. 

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend the solution; however, usually, based on how expensive it can be, it may not be ideal for clients. 

I'd rate it a nine out of ten as I appreciate its capabilities. 

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
LAN Switching
November 2024
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Juniper, Arista and others in LAN Switching. Updated: November 2024.
816,636 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Daniel Kivuthi - PeerSpot reviewer
Pre-Sales Engineer at Pluton ICT LTD
Real User
Top 5
They don't malfunction, and the switching capacity is good.
Pros and Cons
  • "I like the 10G ports and the modular uplink port."
  • "While Cisco products are excellent, the problem is the cost. Cisco products are product, Cisco products are very expensive. I rate Cisco FabricPath three out of 10 for affordability."

What is our primary use case?

They use them for LAN switching and connecting servers, access points, and edge devices like IP forms and CCTV cameras.

How has it helped my organization?

FabricPath switches are reliable and simple to maintain. Once you install one, it's generally good. They don't malfunction, and the switching capacity is good.

What is most valuable?

I like the 10G ports and the modular uplink port.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The switches require some maintenance, but generally, they are very reliable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

FabricPath is highly scalable.

How are customer service and support?

I rate Cisco support nine out of 10. The only problem is when your support contract has expired. If you have an active support contract, you are well sorted. 

How was the initial setup?

Setting up FabricPath isn't straightforward, but Cisco offers some excellent training. Once we had enough training, we had no problem with the setup and configuration. The deployment takes a week or two if you plan well. However, the deployment time depends on the complexity of the solution you're implementing. It is determined by the number of devices and the size of the project. 

A massive project may take you a couple of months, whereas a small project can typically be completed in one or two weeks once all the prerequisites are in place. I'm only talking about the time it takes to install the active devices and configure them.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

While Cisco products are excellent, the problem is the cost. Cisco products are product, Cisco products are very expensive. I rate Cisco FabricPath three out of 10 for affordability. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate Cisco FabricPath seven out of 10. Cisco switches and routers are the best. They work well, but you need technical training to set them up and administer them.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer
PeerSpot user
Ahmed Salah - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
Real User
Top 5
Highly stable and scalable switches that provide value for money to its users
Pros and Cons
  • "It is a stable solution...It is a scalable soltuion."
  • "The product lacks AI...The initial setup of Cisco FabricPath was a bit complex."

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the switches provided by Cisco FabricPath to users.

What needs improvement?

I don't see any weakness in the product.

The product lacks AI. AI technology should be involved in Cisco FabricPath's future releases.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have experience with Cisco FabricPath for about eight or nine years. I am an end user of the solution.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution.

My company has 100 users of the product. I am the administrator of Cisco FabricPath.

How are customer service and support?

I don't use the support. I am from Egypt.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I was previously using switches from 3COM.

Cisco FabricPath has many useful features over any other solution.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Cisco FabricPath was a bit complex. The configuration of the devices was not easy at all.

The setup process was not stable at all, so it took a day or two to deploy a switch, while multilayer switches are very complicated to handle.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution falls under the pricier category, but it provides value for the price charged. The exchange rates of USD and the currency of Egypt should be taken into consideration before buying any product.

Our company has to pay additionally for maintenance or support.

What other advice do I have?

It is a very useful device. One must learn about the solution carefully before choosing it. There is a need for individuals to practice and train before using it.

Overall, I rate the product an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
CEO at a integrator with 1-10 employees
Real User
Easy to set up, stable, and works well to provide switching redundancy
Pros and Cons
  • "Cisco is the market leader in this space and it is a product that I recommend."
  • "The management features are in need of improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We are a solution provider and Cisco FabricPath is one of the networking infrastructure products that we implement for our customers.

This product is well suited to the needs of telecom. We are currently working on a project involving multiple data centers that are spread across India. It is used by ISPs for switching servers to their internal connectivity at the branch level. Essentially, it is working as a layer of redundancy in terms of switching.

What is most valuable?

All of the features are really good.

What needs improvement?

The management features are in need of improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Cisco FabricPath for 26 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability-wise, we have not experienced any problems.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have had no issues with scalability.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I also have experience with a similar product from Aruba. I find it to be really good, but Aruba is lacking a little bit on the marketing side. From a functionality standpoint, both are more or less the same. Feature-wise, nothing is superior for Aruba or Cisco.

There is a specific market share for each of these vendors and I don't think that either one is able to take it over completely. If a customer prefers Cisco then it's more of a personal choice. On the other hand, if they're passionate about HP then they'll take a serious look at Aruba.

If you look at the Wi-Fi solutions being used on campuses then Aruba is gaining an advantage because it is easier to manage. Another good thing about Aruba is that they have a lifetime warranty.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is straightforward and we don't have any issues with it.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing for this product is good.

What other advice do I have?

Cisco is the market leader in this space and it is a product that I recommend.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
Kaushlendra Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager - IT Infrastructure and Network at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Performance and reliability with the best support in the business
Pros and Cons
  • "The best features of Cisco FabricPath is performance and reliability."
  • "Lack of security features for which we need to use another solution."

What is our primary use case?

We have around 3000 users. We've got to give them support about 300 points.

How has it helped my organization?

The best features of Cisco FabricPath is performance and reliability. Also, Cisco Support is better than other technical support.

What needs improvement?

We are using it to implement security sites. Currently, we are using Fortinet as a UTM, you can say an initial firewall. So we are repeating some issues in Fortinet. So we are looking at other products. If we get a better price then we can think about switching.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used Cisco FabricPath for ten years.

How are customer service and technical support?

Cisco support is better than other technical support.

How was the initial setup?

Initial setup with Cisco is easy.

What about the implementation team?

We have a team for the implementation. We have a full-time member team. We do all that with it.

What other advice do I have?

I would definately recommend Cisco FabricPath. I would rate it at an eight on a scale of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
MarioCeribelli - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Specialist & Project Manager at Elmec Informatica Spa
Real User
Top 5
A scalable solution for our complex infrastructure with no stability issues
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature is the ability to migrate VMs between data centers."
  • "I would like to see better interoperability with other IT solutions."

What is our primary use case?

We are a technical services company and this is one of the solutions that we use to support our clients. We provide a hybrid cloud for our customers, so we have four data centers and we have implemented Cisco FabricPath ourselves. We provide managed services for infrastructure, storage, Wi-Fi, etc.

FabricPath is used in the network infrastructure of our hybrid cloud.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature is the ability to migrate VMs between data centers.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see better interoperability with other IT solutions.

More support staff are required to support Cisco solutions in Italy.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for about five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have not had any issues with stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a scalable solution. We have approximately six hundred users who utilize the servers that are part of FabricPath in our company.

We have perhaps one hundred VMware servers, another hundred Hyper-V servers, and two hundred storage devices connected to FabricPath in our data centers.

How are customer service and technical support?

I am not very happy with the technical support in Italy because they do not have enough people supporting this channel. There are only three of them. Vendors of other products are better represented in the area.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Five or six years ago we had a solution with Blade server. This used to be shared with the customer. We kept the structure and expanded our data center using FabricPath.

How was the initial setup?

We have a complex network design, so our initial setup of FabricPath was complex.

It took approximately one year, starting with our first data center, to deploy this solution. We also enlarged our infrastructure about two years ago.

What about the implementation team?

We implemented this solution using our own in-house team. We have approximately one hundred Cisco certified technicians.

What other advice do I have?

Since 2019, I have been part of the pre-sales team. I have been certified by Cisco for twenty years. I am a CCNP Network Specialist for Routing and Switching, for Security, and I have certification for CCDP Design. I also have other minor certifications including Aruba ACSP.

FabricPath is a very good technology, but we can always do better.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
IT Specialist at Itel Telecomunicazioni srl
Real User
Has good security, web control, and traffic control
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features are the security, web control, and traffic control."
  • "I would like one management console to control the network."

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the:

  • Security
  • Web control
  • Traffic control. 

What needs improvement?

I would like one management console to control the network. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Cisco FabricPath for one year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It works well without any stops. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. We have around 100 to 200 users. 

How are customer service and technical support?

Their technical support is fundamental. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I haven't used a different solution previous to FabricPath. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is easy.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate it an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user