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Cisco ACI vs Nuage Networks comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco ACI
Ranking in Software Defined Networking (SDN)
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
Network Virtualization (1st), Cloud and Data Center Security (4th)
Nuage Networks
Ranking in Software Defined Networking (SDN)
7th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (16th), WAN Edge (16th), Network Automation (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Software Defined Networking (SDN) category, the mindshare of Cisco ACI is 13.1%, up from 4.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Nuage Networks is 2.4%, down from 5.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined Networking (SDN)
 

Featured Reviews

Raj Metkar - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides scalability, ease of migration for future DC moves, multi-tenancy and programmability
Cisco's MSO (Multi-Site Orchestrator) or NDO has room for improvement. Cisco monitors ACI through a product called NDI. I find it very frustrating that Cisco has multiple monitoring platforms. It has DNAC for monitoring Cisco NX-OS, campus switches, and any other routers and switches you would have in the environment. That same thing does not work for Cisco ACI monitoring. MEraki cloudbasd platform for Meraki which will get extended to Campus monitoring, to be honest Cisco never got Monitoring 100% right from days of CiscoWorks to Prime to current platforms. To monitor and manage Cisco ACI, you need to have another platform called NDI and Cisco Dashboard Insights. What frustrates me about Cisco is that it never has a central, single pane of glass platform for all its solutions. It has one thing for Cisco ACI and another thing for campus switches. I would really appreciate it if Cisco came up with something centralized to monitor everything. I haven't thought about anything since the Cisco NDO is quite advanced, and you can deploy your cloud networking through it. I don't know how many people use it. I might explore it as my cloud orchestration tool in the future. We do a lot of cloud automation using our scripts like TerraForm, but I would like to see people using NDO more. We could have more case studies on how many people use NDO for their cloud orchestration. That might be a much easier journey for people when they move from an on-premises data center into a cloud and move from one cloud to another cloud. That is where I personally see an orchestrator being effectively used for multiple deployments.
Kristof Spriet - PeerSpot reviewer
Great multi-tenancy and routing functionalities but needs more security capabilities
We primarily use the solution for connectivity to the majority of our customers, for national and international deployments.  Their multi-tenancy and routing functionalities are both great. It is stable and reliable. The solution can scale. Technical support has been fine. Security needs to be…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The stability is quite good."
"Building the ACI Fabric is its most valuable feature."
"Because of its automation feature, when you configure scripts for Cisco ACI, it reduces human error."
"The most valuable feature is the unified fabric."
"ACI's most valuable feature is sizing - you can easily find the sizing of the data, which means the data speed, CPU, and virtualization can be determined."
"It has the fastest automation. You can move and deploy services in just a couple of minutes."
"The centralized configuration is its most valuable feature."
"I especially like the host-based routing feature of Cisco ACI because it's straightforward to do it on different data centers. Another valuable feature of Cisco ACI is that its management controller works very well with no issues."
"It has good reporting and analytics, that most people can understand without too much difficulty."
"It is stable and reliable."
"One of the most valuable features of this solution is network management. The customer is able to manage their network from home or we can also manage the whole customer network."
 

Cons

"The tool's initial deployment is complex and takes five hours to complete."
"I would really appreciate it if Cisco came up with something centralized to monitor everything."
"Because this is new technology, which requires a different way of thinking, it can be hard to understand. Therefore, I would like more documentation or education."
"I would like for there to be more information about it available. While using the ACI in the graphical interface, I would like if there was something that explained every step that you can click and it will tell you what you are doing in more detail."
"I would like to see a lot more integrations with the rest of the Cisco portfolio."
"Before version 5, you could manage your firewall or load balancer from the AP. It was very basic and now they removed the whole features in the new version, so you cannot manage your load balance or firewall from your AP on L2, L4, and L7 services."
"The GUI is not easy to use."
"We faced some issues while configuring the microsegment."
"The setup can be complex."
"Security is an area that could use some work."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco ACI is more expensive than Juniper, however, ACI is not the most expensive option."
"The price could be improved. It is expensive, but then again, it is Cisco. The price is worth what you pay for."
"There are no additional costs. We only have to pay for a support contract apart from the license."
"Price is always an issue."
"We don't use all of the features but it's still worth the money."
"The pricing and licensing are both high, particularly if you want a high level of functionality. It would be great if the price and licensing cost could be decreased."
"Cisco ACI costs depend on how many sites you have. One simple site with a simple installation, including two leaves, two spines, and some fibers, would cost $200,000 to $300,000 for the licenses. The solution is a bit expensive, but it's a good investment if you want your data centers to work without interruption."
"We bought a package for hardware, software, and support. At that time, Cisco was simply selling that package to distributors, then we opted for it directly."
"I would say, from our cost perspective, they are extremely competitive."
"The price of the solution could be more affordable. Customers want to use their own cheap connection and also do not want to pay too much for services from this solution, it becomes too expensive."
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824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
23%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
21%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
There are some very major differences between both the Products and to name a few. -Cisco ACI have physical network gear (9K Switches) where the Code runs in ACI Policy Mode & the UCS server wh...
What are the biggest differences between Cisco ACI and VMware NSX?
Once you know your way around the Cisco ecosystem, using Cisco ACI is not so difficult. It is a global product, so when you change one interface, changes are automatically reflected on every switch...
What do you like most about Cisco ACI?
The flexibility of adding new components with minimal impact on existing services running in the data center is a key benefit of this ACI-based solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Nuage Networks?
We pay a monthly fee in order to use the product. While there may be extra costs above the standard licensing fee for us, there is no extra cost for the customer.
What needs improvement with Nuage Networks?
Security needs to be improved. They have some security, however, additional security functions are not available. The setup can be complex.
What is your primary use case for Nuage Networks?
We primarily use the solution for connectivity to the majority of our customers, for national and international deployments.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bowling Green State University, du, Qatar University
Produban
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco ACI vs. Nuage Networks and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.