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Arista Networks Platform vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Arista Networks Platform
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
31
Ranking in other categories
Ethernet Switches (13th), Data Center Networking (5th)
Dell PowerConnect Switches ...
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
8.2
Number of Reviews
34
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Nimit Puvar - PeerSpot reviewer
A VP Enterprise Sales at Ashtech Infotech (India) Pvt.Ltd.
Automation and visibility have simplified data center operations and improved network control
I see some areas for improvement, particularly with pricing. I think that not all features that are needed are already in Arista. AI power is required nowadays. AI would be needed for understanding data traffic flowing in my network. Sometimes I have a vision of what data traffic is flowing in my network and I want to capture that data. Using AI, I can understand how my entire organization operates and what kind of applications are being used, what the peak times are, where there is a bottleneck if any exists. This kind of report should automatically generate and provide clear-cut visibility.
LarsEvans - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer / Chief Information Security Officer at Lorton Data, Inc.
Reliable and useful for network segmentation
The solution's most valuable feature stands up well. The tool is reliable, and it stands up well. The solution works fine and lasts a long time. I think if you speak about the features that have a flow and you can measure, it is hard to say. I don't spend a lot of my time with the tool, but I know that Dell APEX is the solution's cloud. I would say the VLAN features are important. The VLAN features are really useful because network segmentation is important. I would say the tool is easy to program. I don't know if the tool has any security features that I am aware of other than the fact that the solution is for networking. The VLAN and the ability to segment your networks are easy, which is its security feature.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I would tell potential users that if they are supporting a media or trading kind of business, they should go for Arista because it is a low-latency switch that will meet the expectation of the business."
"Arista Networks offers similar features to Cisco."
"We find the CloudVision switching feature of this solution really useful."
"The most valuable features of the Arista Networks Platform are the EVPN and VXLAN. It has comprehensive features."
"The most valuable features of Arista include low latency, scalability, and sustainability of the products."
"Arista's customer service is excellent."
"Arista Networks Platform has impacted my organization positively by reducing the time taken to deploy a wireless solution in any organization or in any projects we have been on so far."
"The user-friendly policy manager lets us apply different controls for various user groups easily."
"PowerConnect Switches' stability is satisfactory."
"The most valuable features are the jumbo frames and the stacking."
"Dell seems to accommodate everyone when it comes to managing these switches."
"The solution's most valuable feature is its good integration with solutions from other vendors."
"We have these switches installed in an environment with hardware from many other vendors, and so far, so good."
"This is a stable product and I have not experienced any bugs."
"Dell PowerConnect Switches are easy to configure."
"There is high reliability since we have used them for close to twenty years and only had possibly one failure."
 

Cons

"The overall price of the Arista Networks Platform is expensive. It should be reduced."
"My company does face issues in terms of interoperability when it comes to the product, making it an area that needs to be fixed."
"They should have a more stable code."
"The solution’s pricing could be better."
"A weakness would be that in our company, we don't have many people within our team who support the product because there are different vendors, and most of them are not tier-one vendors, so the skills required sometimes are just not there."
"They need to enhance their code and their EOS. They need to improve some security features, and there are quite a number of bugs in their system. So, they need to work on that piece. In the next release, we need to have a modular feature. Instead of providing an integrated solution, they should go for something modular. They need to come up with modular highly scalable models. Even at the chassis layer, I want to see some improvement."
"A smoother transition between ISPs during failover would improve the user experience by reducing unnecessary notifications and interruptions."
"The cost of Arista Networks Platform is high; it is more expensive than other networking solutions."
"The configuration should be improved."
"I think accessibility and management could be improved."
"The solution's ROI for generic networking is not extraordinary."
"We've only been using the solution for half a year. We haven't run into any issues, but maybe over time, that may change."
"However, we are now having a problem where it does not integrate well with SDN."
"Because of the stackings, you lose some boards and the two switches."
"The CLI for Dell PowerConnect Switches is sometimes confusing, especially with the LAN, but for the GUI it is simple."
"An area for improvement would be that it's very hard to configure if you're not familiar with the UI or CLI of the product. The UI itself could also be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is pretty pricey for a networking platform. It is on par with Cisco."
"If one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the product price as seven out of ten."
"I rate the product price a seven on a scale of one to ten where ten is high price and one is low price."
"Arista is very expensive. Not everybody is in a position to spend $70,000 to $80,000 for one switch."
"Cost wise, Arista Networks Platform is more expensive than other networking solutions."
"I remember that when our customers were offered the Arista Networks Platform, they used a checklist to compare the prices between Arista and Cisco for their requirements, and found that the prices were almost the same."
"The customer price for an Arista router is approximately $7,000 USD, while Cisco's is around $18,000."
"Network devices are generally expensive. However, during the evaluation, Arista was the most inexpensive vendor."
"If you want to purchase a new Dell PowerConnect Switch, you will pay up to $1,600, but I bought them used. I bought the four Dell PowerConnect Switches that I used for $1,000."
"PowerConnect Switches are priced well."
"If one is the cheapest price and ten is the most expensive, I rate the product price as an eight or nine. The tool is not cheap."
"The product is cheaper than Cisco and licensing is yearly. We have to pay additional costs for support."
"The product has a low price for the features it provides."
"The price of these switches is okay."
"In my opinion, it is a product that is priced somewhere in the middle, making it a well-priced solution in the middle. It is not a very cheap product."
"Its price is okay. Sometimes, it is lower than a Cisco solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Construction Company
17%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Energy/Utilities Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise12
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business21
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise6
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Arista Networks Platform?
I do not handle the pricing for Arista Networks Platform as other departments handle the costing. I am a network engineer in my company.
What needs improvement with Arista Networks Platform?
I see some areas for improvement, particularly with pricing. I think that not all features that are needed are already in Arista. AI power is required nowadays. AI would be needed for understanding...
What is your primary use case for Arista Networks Platform?
We are still using Arista Networks Platform as system integrators. We sold the product and my customer is using this product. Mostly we sold Arista Networks Platform in data centers where customer ...
What do you like most about Dell PowerConnect Switches?
Dell PowerConnect Switches have a VTL feature similar to Cisco's VSS. With VTL, using this technology, you can cluster two switches together to increase redundancy in the environment.
What needs improvement with Dell PowerConnect Switches?
Some proprietary commands available in Cisco are preferred by users accustomed to Cisco systems. These users might hesitate to switch because they want to continue using familiar commands and see t...
 

Also Known As

7000 Series
PowerConnect Switches
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

American Internet Services
Amerijet Holdings Inc., CGD Securities, MavenWire, Tulane University
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Dell Technologies, Juniper and others in Data Center Networking. Updated: March 2026.
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