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Cisco FabricPath vs Cisco Nexus comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

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

Cisco FabricPath
Ranking in LAN Switching
6th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
29
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Nexus
Ranking in LAN Switching
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
105
Ranking in other categories
Data Center Networking (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Cisco FabricPath is 1.9%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Nexus is 8.7%, down from 11.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
LAN Switching
 

Featured Reviews

OusaidAbaz - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Joe Benítez - PeerSpot reviewer
Offer high performance capabilities and enables efficient data transmission and processing
Before Nexus, I used to have Catalyst 6500 switches. Those 6500 series chassis gave us a lot of problems. Too many problems, actually. And we had a Cisco ASA firewall blade within those chassis. And they were running outdated software. So, in fact, it was the firewall blade that caused us too many problems instead of the chassis. The chassis itself was working well and performing fine, but the firewall card was not suitable for our needs. That was one aspect. Additionally, those chassis had been in operation for more than five years. As we are a local government, we have a policy to renew hardware every five years. That's because we need to maintain all the hardware and software in the latest versions and keep up with the technology lifecycle of the technology we use.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product's most valuable feature is its ports."
"The fact that the solution is on the cloud is its most valuable aspect. If you are on the cloud, you can manage your network from anywhere, any place. It's very good."
"Cisco FabricPath is highly beneficial for network performance and relatively easy to implement. It also offers straightforward monitoring capabilities."
"FabricPath's best features are routing, OSPS, ethernet, and performance."
"Cisco FabricPath operates with minimal errors."
"We have found the solution to be stable."
"It is stable and reliable."
"The most valuable features are the lead time and the high quality of the product."
"It's easy to use."
"This solution provides all of the routing and searching features that we need."
"It has improved our organization because we have aggregated ports, we're able to put multiple agencies on the multiple different interfaces that we have going there. We're able to separate them out with the use of VLANs and whatnot."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco Nexus is speed compared to what you would get from a Catalyst Series switch."
"The most valuable features of this solution are scalability and throughput."
"We've found their tech support to be excellent, especially in their willingness to resolve issues promptly."
"This solution has given us the ability to use Cisco ISE for security."
"The product's initial setup phase is very easy."
 

Cons

"Improvements could be made on specific technical issues such as implementation."
"The pricing could be adjusted to make it easier to sell to clients."
"Cisco FabricPath's pricing is expensive."
"The solution should offer better reporting."
"Lacks sufficient integration with SIEM."
"Currently, there are no issues or suggestions for improvement as everything is working smoothly."
"The documents could improve for Cisco FabricPath. There are times when the relevant information is not present in the different sections of the documents, such as deployment. The documents should be more detailed and enhanced."
"The initial setup is a little complex."
"I don't really deal with the pricing but I know that it's not cheap."
"Currently, the switches don't behave like the 4500 switches in terms of acting as one physical chassis. So the multi-chassis PortChannel feature is not applicable in this case. Nevertheless, virtual port-channel feature covers this."
"The initial setup was somewhat complex."
"Cisco Nexus is just a platform. You just set it up, give it an IP, and then start configuring it. But there are a million features to configure."
"In my company, we encountered some challenges since the network was not stable. The network is unstable, making it an area where improvements are required."
"I would like to see Duo directly integrated with the Nexus hardware, instead of it being through the proxies, like how Duo works today."
"There may be many bugs which remain unresolved."
"The pricing must be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Cisco is expensive but offers good-quality features, so I would rate it high on the pricing scale."
"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."
"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."
"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."
"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 pricing for this product is good."
"The solution falls under the pricier category, but it provides value for the price charged."
"This solution should be made more affordable."
"We use a local distributor for support, which is very expensive."
"Our licensing fees are approximately $2,000 USD per year."
"Licensing is annual or every three years. We were one of the big customers, and we used to get good prices, but the cost of the support can be improved."
"It's around $160K a year for our license."
"Our licensing costs for this solution are approximately $100K a year for the switching part."
"We have a three-year subscription for our licensing fees."
"The licensing fees for this solution are approximately $800,000 USD annually."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
33%
Government
17%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
24%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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.
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...
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...
What do you like most about Cisco Nexus?
The product's initial setup phase is very easy.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Nexus?
The price of Cisco Nexus is on the higher side due to the premium services Cisco offers. Despite the cost, it offers valuable features and services.
What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?
When I talk about data centers, which are critical infrastructure and centralized application hubs, the Nexus platforms should be highly stable. Initially, the codes I received through ACI were qui...
 

Also Known As

FabricPath
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Bellevue, Calligaris, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Management Science Associates, Multi-Customer, Oediv, Roper St. Francis, SNAM
Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil, Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Calligaris, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa Distributing, Department of Justice, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Hertz, K&L Gates , LightEdge, Lone Star College System, Management Science Associates, Mindtree, NBC Olympics, Quest, Sony Corporation, The Department of Education in Western Australia, Valley Proteins
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco FabricPath vs. Cisco Nexus and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
847,862 professionals have used our research since 2012.