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Cisco Catalyst Switches vs NVIDIA Mellanox comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.7
Cisco Catalyst Switches offer long-term value and reliability but may not provide immediate returns due to initial costs.
Sentiment score
1.0
Users reported time and cost savings from NVIDIA Mellanox, highlighting improved performance, reduced latency, increased efficiency, scalability, and reliability.
From an investment standpoint, deploying Cisco Catalyst Switches offers tangible benefits, including cost reductions.
Unit Nos at Orange
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.9
Cisco Catalyst Switches support is praised for expertise but criticized for slow responses; documentation aids self-service troubleshooting.
Sentiment score
7.5
Customers desire multilingual NVIDIA Mellanox support, rating it satisfactory to good, while often relying on peer assistance.
When requesting an RMA, they replace defective items in just one day.
Network Engineer at General Authority OF ZAKAT & TAX
On a scale from one to 10, I would rate the technical support of Cisco at 10 out of 10.
student at St. Joseph's College of Engineering
Cisco support is very good and responsive.
Unit Nos at Orange
I would assess their technical support as good—not the best, but it is good.
CEO at Tekpulse Ltd
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.6
Cisco Catalyst Switches are praised for scalability, handling large deployments, modularity, despite potential cost or configuration challenges.
Sentiment score
5.8
NVIDIA Mellanox's scalable leaf and spine architecture efficiently supports network growth for organizations across various sectors.
The scalability of Cisco Catalyst Switches is very much scalable, as it supports the stacking feature and growth; for instance, with 94K modular switches, based on the requirement, we can even increase modules for more bandwidth.
Unit Nos at Orange
Unlike Meraki, where I can bring a switch online, join it to the portal, and it becomes operational immediately.
Software Developer/ IT Analyst Individual Contributor at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Cisco Catalyst Switches are scalable, and I would rate them eight to nine out of ten for scalability.
Network Manager at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Cisco Catalyst Switches are praised for their strong stability, reliability, and long-term operation, even in demanding environments.
Sentiment score
5.8
Users are satisfied with NVIDIA Mellanox for its reliable performance and stability, with improvements noted over time.
I would rate the stability of Cisco Catalyst Switches at about eight out of ten.
Software Developer/ IT Analyst Individual Contributor at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Cisco Catalyst Switches are stable.
Network Manager at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
I would rate it a seven because the old versions were not stable, but it is becoming stable over time.
Managing Partner & Technical Consultant at IT Expert
 

Room For Improvement

Cisco Catalyst Switches users desire improved pricing, compatibility, ease of use, security, support, automation, scalability, and user-friendly interfaces.
NVIDIA Mellanox needs improved user-friendliness, better integration, enhanced GUIs, faster support, and occasional bug fixes.
Cisco should provide some level of software that I can bring on-premise where I can add all my Catalyst switches for central management.
Software Developer/ IT Analyst Individual Contributor at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
It is the highest cost in the market.
Network Engineer at General Authority OF ZAKAT & TAX
Currently, I don't see much AI integration with Cisco Catalyst Switches; though they've started, it still needs improvement.
Unit Nos at Orange
I think it's okay; it's the best solution for now for AI data centers.
Managing Partner & Technical Consultant at IT Expert
 

Setup Cost

Cisco Catalyst Switches are pricey with complex licensing, prompting buyers to consider cheaper alternatives like Dell, Juniper, or Huawei.
NVIDIA Mellanox offers competitive pricing, strong performance, and cost-effective licensing, making it a highly-rated, affordable enterprise solution.
Cisco provides unique features that justify their pricing.
Product Manager at Uop Ipl
Cisco usually is costly compared to other vendors.
Unit Nos at Orange
Cisco Catalyst Switches are quite pricey.
Network Manager at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
For its performance, it's cheaper.
Managing Partner & Technical Consultant at IT Expert
 

Valuable Features

Cisco Catalyst Switches provide secure, reliable infrastructure with features like VLAN, PoE, and robust CLI for diverse network environments.
NVIDIA Mellanox excels in performance, flexibility, and integration with AI systems, making it ideal for data centers.
Cisco Catalyst Switches are valuable for their reliability and performance.
Product Manager at Uop Ipl
With Meraki access points, I do not have to have a wireless controller for them. I can configure the wireless device directly from the switch, making the setup cleaner, and that is a major reason for my preference.
Software Developer/ IT Analyst Individual Contributor at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
It is friendly and easy to use. Everyone is familiar with their commands.
Network Engineer at General Authority OF ZAKAT & TAX
The biggest advantage is that the vendor is the only one providing no-drop traffic.
Managing Partner & Technical Consultant at IT Expert
 

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Catalyst Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
5th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
179
Ranking in other categories
LAN Switching (1st), Data Center Networking (1st), AV Over IP Switching (1st)
NVIDIA Mellanox
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
19th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
4.7
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Ethernet Switches category, the mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Switches is 4.1%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of NVIDIA Mellanox is 1.9%, down from 2.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Ethernet Switches Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Cisco Catalyst Switches4.1%
NVIDIA Mellanox1.9%
Other94.0%
Ethernet Switches
 

Featured Reviews

AG
Unit Nos at Orange
Reliable support boosts confidence while initial setup complexities highlight improvement areas
Challenges I've encountered mostly involve the RMA part for hardware replacement, which doesn't happen regularly, but sometimes I face challenges due to limited parts in India; they offer different model devices as a stopgap arrangement. It's quite difficult to specify features I would want to see in future updates because that varies from model to model. I would definitely recommend Cisco Catalyst Switches to other users. We do maintenance for Cisco Catalyst Switches. For maintenance, we usually need three people from different regions working as a single team; our engineers handle both projects and maintenance, so there isn't a specific engineer just for maintenance. I work with firewalls and next-generation firewalls. Overall, I would rate the solution as an eight out of ten.
Nurudeen Suleiman - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Tekpulse Ltd
Automation and integration improve operations efficiently
We wanted to utilize the advanced InfiniBand and Ethernet solutions offered by NVIDIA, but the users are not too familiar with the InfiniBand environment, which is why we are using the Linux Cumulus 5.6, which is usually the normal Ethernet. I am familiar with NVIDIA Mellanox, as I have products from NVIDIA on review here on our website. I use enhanced multi-tenancy features. Currently, within the data center, we have mixtures of both Cisco Nexus switches, NVIDIA switches, and Huawei switches, so eventually, we are changing all the switches to NVIDIA. On a scale of 1-10, I rate NVIDIA Mellanox an eight.
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Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Ethernet Switches solutions are best for your needs.
883,089 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Educational Organization
6%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business80
Midsize Enterprise29
Large Enterprise79
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

Would you recommend replacing a Cisco Catalyst Switch by a D-link one?
Hello Mesfin It depends on the real scenario, the cisco 2960 is a very good device and they usually have routing functions but there are many different models within the same 2960 line, and on the ...
What do you like most about Cisco Catalyst Switches?
We are a vendor for the healthcare sector, especially hospitals, and normally, we use a full Cisco solution for stability, especially for the stability of the Access Points and the security of swit...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Catalyst Switches?
For pricing satisfaction, I'd say it will be six to seven because Cisco usually is costly compared to other vendors. Regarding pricing, there is indeed room for improvement.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Mellanox Switches?
The pricing is competitive. For its performance, it's cheaper, so I would rate it a four if cheaper is lower.
What needs improvement with Mellanox Switches?
The feature we would want to see in future updates of NVIDIA Mellanox is improved accessibility for normal users, as quite a lot of experience is needed before using Mellanox. None of the Mellanox ...
What is your primary use case for Mellanox Switches?
NVIDIA Mellanox is usually used for numerous purposes, but in our case, we are using it in a data center for high-end servers running 200 gig interfaces, and we are able to link it up with Ansible ...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Catalyst, Catalyst
Mellanox Switches, Mellanox SN2700
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Afni, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Del Papa Distributing, Explorer Pipeline, Mindtree, Omaha World Herald, Radio 538, Sony Corporation, Telecom Italia, Telenor Arena
CNPC, Korea Consumer Agency, Nutanix, Roxo Systems, StorPool, Atlantic.Net, INFN, StarWind, NYSE Technologies, Creative Consultants, ENKI
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. NVIDIA Mellanox and other solutions. Updated: March 2026.
883,089 professionals have used our research since 2012.