We primarily use the solution as a switch. We use it for our data center.
Co-Founder and CEO at PT Eugenea Kreasi Utama
Great GUI, user-friendly, and easy to scale
Pros and Cons
- "Technical support has been very, very helpful and they offer good SLAs."
- "The solution is more expensive than other options on the market."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Cisco Nexus is a very powerful switch.
We don't have any problems with Nexus, ever. It's very stable. We have been, for almost five years, using Nexus, and it has been virtually problem-free.
It's smooth to use and very, very user-friendly.
The GUI is very, very easy to maintain.
It's very easy to log in.
The reporting is quite good. It's easy to understand.
Technical support has been very, very helpful and they offer good SLAs.
The scalability of the product is very good.
What needs improvement?
The solution is more expensive than other options on the market. HPE, for example, is a more affordable option.
The renewal of support is quite expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
We've used the solution for about five years at this point. It's been a while.
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Cisco Nexus
December 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability is great. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze. It's 100% reliable. We've never had issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is very easy to scale out. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support from Cisco is more than enough. It's very, very good. They are very fast and responsive and also very easy to understand. The response is good. We don't have issues with after-sales support Cisco. The SLA, service license agreement, is very, very good.
That said, the renewal for full support is very expensive for us.
How was the initial setup?
I did not handle the initial setup myself as I am not an engineer. Someone else handled that part. Therefore, I can't speak to how easy or difficult it might be. My colleague is much more versed in installation protocols.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution, in general, is a bit pricey, and you need to pay extra for support, which can also be expensive.
What other advice do I have?
We're just a customer and an end-user.
I would recommend using Cisco Nexus for those who want good performance, premium support, and easy maintenance. Cisco Nexus is a stable product in Indonesia. If a company is in the banking, oil and gas, or telecom industries, they should look into this product.
I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Network Engineer at a university with 10,001+ employees
Scales well and supports a lot of servers
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of this solution is that it scales well. It supports a lot of servers. We don't have to come up with different designs for anything. That's the best part about it."
- "They need to understand that when we call them and have an issue, it's our production and sometimes they want us to do repairs that would cause other issues. That's the biggest problem."
What is our primary use case?
The primary use case for Nexus in our company is for the data center. Everybody that has access to our remote server rooms throughout the campus wants 10G data ports all the way across.
How has it helped my organization?
This product helps us by resolving the issue of not having to install fiber everywhere. If you use Nexus, it has the 10G copper ports. That way we can just use the current infrastructure. Cisco Nexus saves us money in the long run.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of this solution is that it scales well. It supports a lot of servers. We don't have to come up with different designs for anything. That's the best part about it.
What needs improvement?
I would like to have the feature where you can install something like operf on it so you can do troubleshooting without having to configure operf on servers.
We had issues with Cisco Nexus during upgrades. When we first got the system, we were having some issues. The whole system crashed.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of this product works great.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Cisco Nexus is wonderful. It supports the whole data centers. We have no issues with scalability.
How are customer service and technical support?
They need to understand that when we call them and have an issue, it's our production and sometimes they want us to do repairs that would cause other issues. That's the biggest problem.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We are a Cisco shop. We don't have to worry about learning different commands with Cisco Nexus. It still has different commands because of the platform, but it was a lot easier to understand than if you're going through a different company.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was straightforward on Cisco's part. Other customers that we work with didn't understand their equipment.
What about the implementation team?
We installed it ourselves. We just ordered our equipment through a reseller. They weren't involved in any on-site work.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
It was Cisco or Juniper.
What other advice do I have?
On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate Cisco Nexus an eight. When trying to do the upgrades sometimes there are issues. Sometimes you get a bug that Cisco doesn't know about. When you try to explain it to them, they always say it's impossible and can't be replicated.
You need to understand all the options, the servers and different applications you can run, and how Cisco Nexus supports the overall picture.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Buyer's Guide
Cisco Nexus
December 2024
Learn what your peers think about Cisco Nexus. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2024.
824,067 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Network Engineer at Table Mountain
A powerful solution with good technical support
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature of this solution is the power."
- "In the Nexus 3500, you can't do per-port Jumbo frames, so you have to enable it as a global configuration."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution as a core aggregated switch.
How has it helped my organization?
I can't say that it has improved our organization. We are moving away from this product because it is too much for what we have.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of this solution is the power.
What needs improvement?
In the Nexus 3500, you can't do per-port Jumbo frames, so you have to enable it as a global configuration. This is a feature that should be added.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is pretty stable, although I had the power supply go down twice in this past year. We replaced it the next day in both cases. We do have bad power where we are, so that could be a factor.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scaling this product is on the pricey side. If you're a top-end enterprise company then you can scale it. You can stack it, or build a solution with redundancy.
How are customer service and technical support?
I would rate their technical support a nine out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We are switching away from this solution because it is too much for what we have. We will likely be dealing with CDW because they give us the best pricing. However, we have not chosen a replacement solution yet.
How was the initial setup?
I was not involved in the implementation of our current solution. However, I have set up Nexus switches before and it is is pretty straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing fees for this solution are approximately $800,000 USD annually.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to anybody researching this solution is to really look at what you have. See if it actually fits into your environment. In our case, a previous employee chose this solution because we had the money. It was the biggest, top-tiered product. When I came in and took over the network, we realized that it is too much for what we have. We're just wasting money.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Network Engineer at Halliburton Company
Stability is a major win for this solution, with zero data center outages in the past year
Pros and Cons
- "The consolidation of all of the layer two ports into one rack is very valuable."
- "I would like to see more on-device programmability, as it seems to be lacking in this platform."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution for our data center layer two, layer three, infrastructure.
How has it helped my organization?
Our main data center has been using this solution for the past twelve months and we have had zero outages. Before that, when we were using the Catalyst 6500 series, that was not the case. The stability of this solution is a major win.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is stability because in a data center you really need that.
The consolidation of all of the layer two ports into one rack is very valuable.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see more on-device programmability, as it seems to be lacking in this platform.
The EEM has limited capabilities compared to the Catalyst 9300 series, so this can be improved.
I would like to see better support for the newer front end tools, such as the DNS center.
For how long have I used the solution?
One year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability and availability is a definite plus on the Nexus platform. It seems to have better HA capabilities compared to the older platforms.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of this solution is better than that of the traditional models. You can always add more 2k switches to a 5k underlying chassis and increase the number of ports without any other configuration. There is no additional configuration required for FEX ports.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support for this solution has always been the same.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
The old solution was at end-of-life.
We were using the traditional Catalyst 6500 switches with the traditional iOS. It didn't provide us with 10-gigabit ports in the data center, which is why we switched to Nexus.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was a little bit more complex because it was a new technology that we were adopting. The learning curve was a little steeper. However, the actual deployment was pretty straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
We used a reseller, World Wide Technology, to help with our deployment. Our experience with them was very good.
What was our ROI?
We have seen ROI in terms of support and business continuity.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We are a Cisco shop, so we didn't look for an alternative platform. We knew that we were going to use Cisco.
What other advice do I have?
My advice for anybody implementing this solution is to train their support staff on the Nexus product before deployment, and not after the fact. Once you deploy, if the support staff has to learn while on the job then it may cause issues. It is good to invest in training prior to the implementation, especially on this platform because it is very different than the traditional iOS.
The software upgrades are also different from that of the traditional Catalyst switches, so if you are not used to doing them on this platform then you have to be careful.
The other thing that I can say is that the scalability and stability of this solution have improved when compared to previous products.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Service Validation Engineers at a tech consulting company with 1,001-5,000 employees
A scalable product with high throughput to connect our regional and local data centers
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable features of this solution are scalability and throughput."
- "One of the problems we have is that there is no confirmation for when you try to test a system command."
What is our primary use case?
We use this solution as an aggregate router in our data center environment so that we can have an extended VLAN port between different data centers, regional and local.
The company has multiple data centers and most of the connections between them are through the 9K switches. We also have a couple of them in our lab for testing. These are used to test throughput, the system reliability, accuracy, and scalability for how many VLAN extenders we can have in our infrastructure.
We are using Spine-and-Leaf architecture for our data centers.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable features of this solution are scalability and throughput. We are extending the VLAN to multiple data centers.
What needs improvement?
We would like to see this solution support routing.
One of the problems we have is that there is no confirmation for when you try to test a system command. It just accepts it and does not give you a response.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability is very good. We have been using it a lot and for a long time. It is being upgraded all the time.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Our environment is very large. We have multiple regional and national data centers, where data is sent between them.
How are customer service and technical support?
Technical support for this solution is very good. I have been working with them for a while. We have dedicated line support for HTTP.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup of this solution is not very complex. The problem is reliability. We get help from Cisco technical support and Cisco sales, and the deployment has to be coordinated with the Cisco architectural team to get it working on our network. There are a lot of people involved in the deployment, and before anything, it has to be tested.
We have advanced engineering, where they do the testing to make sure that the problems are being captured. If there are any issues then they are sent back to operations before they can deploy.
What about the implementation team?
We use a Cisco consultant for deployment. They are a reseller for the whole region. Everything is taken from the warehouse, prepped, and tested to make sure that everything is working. Their response is very good, and we have been working with them for a long time.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Our licensing fees are paid annually.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
The company is currently investing heavily in new technology from Cisco. This includes the SD-WAN, a network administration system, and NFV for the virtual firewall.
For this solution, we did not consider other vendors. However, we do use multiple vendors for our firewall and routing solutions.
What other advice do I have?
For anybody researching this solution, I would recommend looking at the 9K, but you have to look at all of the metrics and compare them between vendors. This is the way to come up with the best solution. Everything, including technical support, has to be considered because, for example, you can have the product but if you don't have support then you are going to have to deal with issues by yourself.
Overall, this product is good, but nothing is perfect. It is important to have competition.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT specialist at IGFEJ
It's an easy-to-use data center solution
Pros and Cons
- "The interface is easy to use. It is not much different from iOS, but you can use it on a larger scale in data centers."
- "Nexus is a costly solution."
What is our primary use case?
We use Cisco Nexus in our data center to aggregate all the systems in our enterprise. Everyone in the company uses it indirectly, so we have 72,000 users.
What is most valuable?
The interface is easy to use. It is not much different from iOS, but you can use it on a larger scale in data centers.
For how long have I used the solution?
We have used Cisco Nexus for several years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Nexus works well. It's highly reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Cisco Nexus is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
We've contacted Cisco support many times. They always help us fast.
How was the initial setup?
Nexus is straightforward. The time needed to deploy depends on what you're doing and your knowledge of Cisco systems.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Nexus is a costly solution. However, it's an excellent device, so you expect the price to be high. It has a three-year license.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Cisco Nexus nine out of 10. I recommend it.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Network Engineer at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Stable and scalable but needs to offer more integration capabilties
Pros and Cons
- "You can scale the product."
- "It would be ideal if there was better integration with various other platforms."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is our aggregation switch. We have all our data services, and users (not end-users) services going through our Nexus. It connects our firewalls and it connects other switches and makes our load balances work. Basically, we were given the switch and then we configured it and we will put it in the network and we maintain it.
What is most valuable?
The solution seems to be quite stable. We have had to upgrade recently as we were on an engineering release of code, and we don't tend to have problems with the Nexus.
You can scale the product.
Technical support seems to be okay.
What needs improvement?
The solution could be improved in general in all aspects.
When it comes to technical assistance, you cannot speed up things. You can try to escalate, however, there's a process. You have not got them on speed dial. You need to wait.
It would be ideal if there was better integration with various other platforms.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution since 2015. It's been six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of the solution is great. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. the performance is reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution can scale.
The product provides services for thousands of our customers. If we look at Nexus and the media portals, then we've got millions of customers that will use the end service. That all goes through the Nexus F5.
How are customer service and technical support?
In terms of technical support, we would go through the third party who would contact Cisco. It's fine. It works quite well at the moment. It would be nice if they could be quicker.
How was the initial setup?
I did not handle any of the initial setup. I can't speak to if it was complex or straightforward.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I can't speak to the pricing as I am not in procurement. Once it gets delivered, we'll put it in the network and then we'll configure it and then operate it. We are in operations. We don't directly handle licensing.
What other advice do I have?
We are a customer and an end-user.
It's my understanding that we are using version 9, however, I cannot speak to if what we are on is the latest version or not.
In our organization, there are hundreds of engineers. There are multiple teams. I work in a team that looks after the data center and we are on-premises, although there is also a cloud team.
From an operations perspective, when I look at service availability and the number of failures, I'd say the solution is probably about a seven out of ten.
I would recommend the solution to other users. It is tried and tested in our network, and it works well. It could work for other companies.
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.
Senior System Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Stable, with an easy initial setup and good storage
Pros and Cons
- "The initial setup is pretty easy."
- "The licensing is very complicated. They should work to simplify it."
What is our primary use case?
We primarily use the Nexus Series, that's the 7000 Series, as a core switch. We have other 10-gauge switches to work as a server switch.
What is most valuable?
The storage connection is very good. We use the bonding license. It is is extremely stable. We don't have any issues with it whatsoever.
The initial setup is pretty easy.
What needs improvement?
The licensing is very complicated. They should work to simplify it.
Every feature you want to use you have to pay for separately as an extra cost. The features should be bundled together. It sometimes causes us to have clashes with dealers.
We don't find that there's any difference between the Nexus and Catalyst solutions. It seems that just the marketing is somewhat different, even though they seem to be the same technology.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using this solution since about 2016.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is quite stable. It's one of the solution's selling points for us. It doesn't have bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It's good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is very scalable. All you have to do when you scale is to follow the right best practices and you can scale without any issue.
We use it for a bank in Sudan, so there can sometimes be sizeable transactions.
How are customer service and technical support?
Up until last month, our country was under embargo, and therefore it was often difficult to get the proper assistance if we needed it. We've often had to deal with setbacks in terms of technical support care.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We're currently also using VMware which is part of our infrastructure. We use vSphere and Horizon.
Both VMware and Cisco compete within the virtualization space. VMware claims that Nexus can work as a virtual appliance in its infrastructure. From my perspective, we've had little experience with VMware networking.
On the VMware side, I use NSX in my infrastructure. I use it as a load balancer. We are planning to use it as a firewall segmentation.
How was the initial setup?
We found that the initial setup isn't very complex at all. It's rather straightforward.
We only need one person to manage the solution. We technically have two workers, so that we can always have one for redundancy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licensing is all over the place and hard to figure out. They don't seem to bundle features. Everything is always an extra cost.
What other advice do I have?
We're just Cisco customers. We work with the 7000 series.
I'd advise users to always know their organization's business needs. If you figure out your business needs, it will help you invest economically. If you don't know your business needs, whether it's Cisco or VMware, they'll try to sell you all types of products - sometimes items you won't use or need.
Overall, we're quite happy with Cisco. I'd rate the solution ten out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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