Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches vs Cisco FabricPath comparison

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise and Cisco are both solutions in the LAN Switching category. Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise is ranked #8 with an average rating of 8.0, while Cisco is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.2. Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise holds a 3.7% mindshare in LS, compared to Cisco’s 1.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch L...

Read 6 Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches reviews

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100% willing to recommend

Cisco FabricPath

Read 29 Cisco FabricPath reviews

359 Views
147 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch L...

Cisco FabricPath

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Cisco FabricPath and Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches present distinct network management solutions, competing in areas like scalability, security, and reliability. Cisco FabricPath holds an edge due to its integration-friendly setup and competitive pricing, while Alcatel-Lucent excels in security features, which are seen as worthwhile investments.

Features: Cisco FabricPath's scalability allows efficient load balancing across networks. It integrates seamlessly with existing Cisco environments and offers reliable network management tools. Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches feature high reliability and robust security, providing centralized management and seamless integration in various environments.

Room for Improvement: Cisco FabricPath could improve its adaptability to non-Cisco environments, offer enhanced security measures, and provide more detailed documentation. Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches could streamline the setup process, enhance user interface complexity, and provide more cost-effective solutions.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco FabricPath integrates smoothly into existing Cisco infrastructures, simplifying deployment, and is backed by responsive customer service. Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches, while requiring detailed configurations, provide comprehensive support to assist through deployment stages, which can be more involved.

Pricing and ROI: Cisco FabricPath is priced competitively with a focus on long-term ROI through scalable solutions. Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches have a higher initial cost but justify it with superior security features, offering a significant ROI, especially in environments focused on security.

To learn more, read our detailed Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches vs. Cisco FabricPath Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches vs. Cisco FabricPath

April 2025

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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

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch L...

Ranking in LAN Switching

8th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cisco FabricPath

Ranking in LAN Switching

6th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches is 3.7%, up from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco FabricPath is 1.9%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

LAN Switching

Featured Reviews

Kannan Venkatraman

Sales manager at Dyarco Technology W.L.L

Elements that are suited for the hospitality industry, easy to configure and has good technical support

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches have elements that are suited for the hospitality industry. For example, they want a phone, switches, routers, and WiFi, all from one vendor. As a result, they can provide all solutions. They don't want to approach different vendors, for support, maintenance, or any other activities. From a single vendor, or they can view the entire IT solution from any office, at any infrastructure setup. If you go with any other third-party, you would have to rely on different vendors and setups for each manufacturer. With Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches everything comes from one vendor. It operates very smoothly.

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OusaidAbaz

Security Network Architect at Inmac

Extendable and has beneficial spin and leaf architecture

Cisco FabricPath is very fast, stable, extendable, and scalable. It doesn't have issues with patches or problems because it's built on the stable NXOS operating system. In a scenario using FabricPath, the spin and leaf architecture is beneficial. For example, we can use two separate spine switches like 9980s and multiple leaf switches as access switches. These leaf switches are connected using VPC between them, with each switch separated and not directly connected to the spine. This setup improves data center architecture by allowing two ways to arrange destinations, connecting the first connection to the first spine and the second to the second spine. The spines are configured as a virtual chassis. In FabricPath, we can enhance VXLANs, VPNs, and integrate with Cisco ISE for user authentication. It can also be configured with WLC to manage wireless technology, depending on the client's architecture.

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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

"These OmniSwitches are very manageable and easy to configure."

"With Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches everything comes from one vendor. It operates very smoothly."

"I rate the technical support an eight or a nine out of ten. So far, they've been very professional and helpful, especially when we need to raise a case for any issue."

"The most valuable feature is the ease of configuration."

"One of the main advantages of the solution is that the configuration is straightforward, offering various configuration options through CLI or web interfaces. I'm satisfied with the customer service and support. The solution is good and people should know about it."

"OmniSwitch LAN Switches' performance is very good."

"The technical assistance is good."

"The product's most valuable feature is its ports."

"It's a reliable product and you know that it will work in the enterprise environment."

"The technical support we get from Cisco is excellent. It's the best in the industry. We're more than satisfied with the level of service they provide."

"The tool makes it easy to manage multi-layer networking and increases network efficiency. I haven't faced any challenges in integrating it into our existing infrastructure."

"One of the most valuable features of Cisco FabricPath is its protocol freedom, which allows me to use multiple protocols at a time, such as Spanning Tree to prevent loops in the network."

"Cisco FabricPath is highly beneficial for network performance and relatively easy to implement. It also offers straightforward monitoring capabilities."

"As I mentioned earlier, the durability, flexibility, and security of Cisco devices are notable. Particularly with switches, the capability to implement multiple VLANs and easily aggregate the network has been advantageous. The ability to have different VLANs and aggregate the network without complications is a key feature of Cisco FabricPath."

More Cisco FabricPath pros

Cons

"A customer expressed dissatisfaction with the color of the switches, preferring black over the current color, which is close to white. While the color is not a personal concern, my earlier preference was for all products to be extendable in one large stack since some equipment limits stacking to four elements instead of eight."

"There are some issues with the network firmware being deleted from the switches."

"I would like to see better third-party integration with third-party systems."

"There is no OEM support in India so RMAs need to be sent to France, which takes a long time if the hardware is faulty."

"n general, the way the product is put together is not well done."

"It's important to note that the graphical interface often relies on Java, and compatibility with different versions of Java can be a factor."

"The pricing could be adjusted to make it easier to sell to clients."

"Cisco FabricPath can be integrated into data centers and remote sites. For example, in a bank, we can extend the architecture to remote branches by implementing switches connected to the first and second spine for redundancy. This setup allows for VXLAN, VLAN, and SGT for user authentication. We can also use wireless technology through the data plane and route it on L3. This setup provides scalability and visibility. This technology is deployed in the USA, France, and Europe. For instance, BNP Paribas in France uses this technology."

"The product lacks AI...The initial setup of Cisco FabricPath was a bit complex."

"Lacks sufficient integration with SIEM."

"The management features are in need of improvement."

"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."

"Cisco FabricPath has room for improvement in areas like technical support and design."

More Cisco FabricPath cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution’s price is at a moderate level."

"The price is okay. It's comparable to similar switches."

"The license is purchased one time only, it is a perpetual license with no renewal."

"OmniSwitch LAN Switches are cheaper than Cisco's switches."

"It is very expensive."

"The pricing of Cisco FabricPath can be quite high depending on the architecture, but it's justified by the stability it offers."

"The price of Cisco FabricPath could be reduced, it is expensive in the market here in Sri Lanka. The solution is subscriptions based, if the customer wants any future integrations, or if there are any future enhancements they will have to pay. There are different license options available, such as one or three years purchases."

"Cisco is expensive but offers good-quality features, so I would rate it high on the pricing scale."

"The pricing for this product is good."

"I rate the product's pricing a ten out of ten. Cisco switches cost around 15,000 dollars, and DNS licenses cost around 25,000 dollars. The total amount is 45,000 dollars, which is too expensive."

"FabricPath is very reasonably priced."

"I rate it seven out of ten on pricing as it's a bit expensive. It would be better if the price were lower, but we prioritize quality over cost."

More Cisco FabricPath pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Government

17%

Retailer

13%

Manufacturing Company

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Computer Software Company

33%

Government

17%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches?

One of the main advantages of the solution is that the configuration is straightforward, offering various configuration options through CLI or web interfaces. I'm satisfied with the customer serv...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches?

A customer expressed dissatisfaction with the color of the switches, preferring black over the current color, which is close to white. While the color is not a personal concern, my earlier preferen...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches?

We work with LAN switches.

See all answers

What do you like most about Cisco FabricPath?

The tool makes it easy to manage multi-layer networking and increases network efficiency. I haven't faced any challenges in integrating it into our existing infrastructure.

See all answers

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

Cisco solutions are expensive, and because of that, moving to new upgrades is challenging due to cost considerations. For licensing, I budget approximately $100 per user annually and project future...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco FabricPath?

We are phasing off Cisco FabricPath due to outdated protocols. The fault isolation mechanism in FabricPath is not as effective as the newer technology, Cisco ACI ( /products/cisco-aci-reviews ). He...

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Comparisons

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Compared 80% of the time

Cisco Nexus vs Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches

Compared 20% of the time

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HPE ProCurve vs Cisco FabricPath

Compared 52% of the time

Juniper QFabric vs Cisco FabricPath

Compared 48% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

LAN Switching

March 2025

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches report

Download Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco FabricPath

April 2025

Download Cisco FabricPath product report

Also Known As

Alcatel Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches, OmniSwitch, OmniSwitch LAN Switches

FabricPath

Overview

Information not available

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise

Cisco FabricPath is a Cisco NX-OS software innovation combining the plug-and-play simplicity of Ethernet with the reliability and scalability of Layer 3 routing. Using FabricPath, you can build highly scalable Layer 2 multipath networks without the Spanning Tree Protocol. Such networks are particularly suitable for large virtualization deployments, private clouds, and high-performance computing (HPC) environments. The benefits of Cisco FabricPath include: Minimal commands per switch ease configuration and operation, Autodiscovery simplifies addition of new links and switches, Provision additional network bandwidth without impacting network, Supports one-, two-, or three-tier architectures, VLAN extensibility across the data center.

Cisco

Sample Customers

Advocate Health Care, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Azienda Ospedaliera della Provincia di Lodi, Centre Hospitalier Carcassonne, Certis Cisco Security, China Tianchen Engineering Corporation Co. LTD, City of Frankfurt, Dongseo University

Bellevue, Calligaris, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Management Science Associates, Multi-Customer, Oediv, Roper St. Francis, SNAM

Buyer's Guide

Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch LAN Switches vs. Cisco FabricPath

April 2025

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