Cisco Nexus vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] comparison

Cisco and Dell Technologies are both solutions in the LAN Switching category. Additionally, 96% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Dell Technologies users who would recommend it.

Cisco Nexus

Read 103 Cisco Nexus reviews

2,146 Views
1,549 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Dell PowerConnect Switches ...

Read 34 Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] reviews

90% willing to recommend

Cisco Nexus

Dell PowerConnect Switches ...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Nexus and Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, HPE Aruba Networking, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others in LAN Switching.

To learn more, read our detailed LAN Switching Report (Updated: November 2024).

Buyer's Guide

LAN Switching

November 2024

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Helped 816,406 peers since 2012

Categories and Ranking

Cisco Nexus

Average Rating

8.4

Number of Reviews

103

Ranking in other categories

LAN Switching (4th), Data Center Networking (3rd)

Dell PowerConnect Switches ...

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

Joe Benítez

Systems Engineer at GAD Municipal de Guayaquil

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 And they were running outdated software.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.

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Hasan Haseeb

Senior Network Engineer at accrets

Excellent support, good pricing, and easy setup

I expect it to be a zero-touch or a plug-and-play device. To some extent, it is, but we need to know the architecture, and we need to know what exactly we are doing. It is not so easy to implement. It depends on what exactly we are doing and it is still not a plug-and-play or zero-touch device. In the upcoming version, they can make it zero-touch, where we can just power it on and start using it. They can have some templates for different scenarios, such as when you are using it for the data center or adding it to your existing infrastructure.

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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

"Cisco Nexus and Cisco Catalyst have processing power and offer good utilization of Cisco devices."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is to segregate the network."

"This solution has given us the ability to use Cisco ISE for security."

"The most valuable features are the access layer security, OpenConfig, and OpenFlow."

"This solution streamlines how we have to configure things because we can do everything from one device, whereas if we had individual devices we would have to go to each one and configure them manually."

"It is a scalable, reliable, stable and efficient solution."

"Cisco Nexus meets all of our requirements."

"The flexibility, how accurately the VPCs operate as well as the redundancy built into it with the VPCs are the most valuable features."

More Cisco Nexus pros

"The most valuable feature is its ability to multitask."

"The security is the most valuable aspect of this solution. It also has good storage and resource handling."

"The most valuable feature is stability."

"The features I've found most valuable are that the product is very easy to configure and inexpensive."

"The solution's most valuable feature is its good integration with solutions from other vendors."

"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."

"The most valuable features are the jumbo frames and the stacking."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is simplicity."

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] pros

Cons

"The initial setup is always complex."

"We lag on the configuration. The changes make a difference in troubleshooting."

"They need to understand that when we call them and have an issue, it's our production and sometimes they want us to do repairs that would cause other issues. That's the biggest problem."

"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."

"There's been a little bit of bugginess in the code, but that happens."

"Cisco Nexus needs to add the SDN capability and lower the price."

"I don't really deal with the pricing but I know that it's not cheap."

"They could improve on having different technologies between product models."

More Cisco Nexus cons

"Dell is sometimes slow to provide updates to firmware."

"The solution could provide more integration to focus on targeting the network as a whole rather than a unified environment. It is meant for a built environment, so integration with other third-party vendors will likely be necessary."

"A user can take care of the product's installation part, but it may not seem to be an easy process."

"The solution's ROI for generic networking is not extraordinary."

"The pricing could always be a bit lower."

"What's lacking in Dell PowerConnect Switches is SD-WAN integration, and this is what needs to be improved in it. All enterprises now move towards SD-WAN infrastructure, and because Dell PowerConnect Switches don't currently support SD-WAN, the product would be replaced, considered a secondary switch, or linked up to a different switch. Integration or support for SD-WAN is what I'd like to see in the next version of Dell PowerConnect Switches."

"I would like to see better scalability and more features on these switches in the future."

"I expect it to be a zero-touch or a plug-and-play device. To some extent, it is, but we need to know the architecture, and we need to know what exactly we are doing. It is not so easy to implement. It depends on what exactly we are doing and it is still not a plug-and-play or zero-touch device. In the upcoming version, they can make it zero-touch, where we can just power it on and start using it. They can have some templates for different scenarios, such as when you are using it for the data center or adding it to your existing infrastructure."

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We consider Juniper switches to be more affordable."

"The license for Cisco Nexus is one year to three years, in this case for the SMARTnet. It is a price per unit, in terms of this specific appliance."

"The licensing fees for this solution are approximately $800,000 USD annually."

"Cisco's licensing structures can be complex across different technologies, for example, unified communications."

"Every Cisco product is more expensive than competitors on the market, which is just a fact, but from my perspective, it is worth it."

"The subscription model and price could be better."

"In most cases, there is a need to secure perpetual licenses to be able to use the product. When I set up the product, there isn't just a one-time cost that is involved."

"If you compare Cisco hardware to any other vendors, such as HPE, they are more expensive. There is a license to use the solution. If my customer's licenses are about to expire I receive notification from Cisco, this is very helpful."

More Cisco Nexus pricing and cost advice

"Pricing for Dell PowerConnect Switches is quite competitive compared to Cisco and HP pricing. Dell has cheaper pricing and the company is trying to push for sales for its switching infrastructure because right now, the current market is dominated by Cisco. In the US market, there's Cisco, HP, Juniper, and Arista which you can buy for data center switching meant for different kinds of enterprises and ISPs. Dell PowerConnect Switches, on the other hand, is a product for people who need smaller setups or individual switches, especially those looking for a cheaper product and basic switching, though you can also buy a complete suite packaged with the switches."

"PowerConnect Switches are priced well."

"Cheaper than its competitors"

"This solution is much cheaper than comparable products by Cisco."

"The price of these switches is okay."

"On a scale of one to ten, if one means it is a cheap solution, and ten means it is a very expensive tool, I rate the product's price as seven. The tool is a bit pricey."

"The initial cost was high but since they have lasted for over ten or twenty years they are worth it."

"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."

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

26%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

17%

Government

10%

Educational Organization

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Nexus?

The product's initial setup phase is very easy.

See all answers

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

In most cases, there is a need to secure perpetual licenses to be able to use the product. When I set up the product, there isn't just a one-time cost that is involved. If you want to upgrade to iO...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?

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. If you do some kind of configuration on t...

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerConnect Switches?

The solution is cheaper than Cisco.

See all answers

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...

See all answers

Comparisons

Juniper QFX Series Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 41% of the time

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 20% of the time

Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 20% of the time

ExtremeSwitching vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 4% of the time

VMware NSX vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 3% of the time

More Cisco Nexus Competitors

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

Compared 57% of the time

NETGEAR Switches vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

Compared 8% of the time

Arista Networks Platform vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

Compared 8% of the time

HPE ProCurve vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

Compared 8% of the time

Dell PowerSwitch N-Series vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

Compared 7% of the time

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus

November 2024

Download Cisco Nexus product report

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

November 2024

Download Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] product report

Also Known As

No data available

PowerConnect Switches

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Cisco

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Dell Technologies

Overview

The Cisco Nexus family of switches is designed to meet the stringent requirements of the next-generation data center. Not simply bigger or faster, these switches offer the following characteristics: infrastructure that can be scaled cost-effectively and that helps you increase energy, budget, and resource efficiency, transport that can navigate the transition to 10 Gigabit Ethernet and unified fabric and can also handle architectural changes such as virtualization, Web 2.0 applications, and cloud computing and operational continuity to meet your need for an environment where system availability is assumed and maintenance windows are rare if not totally extinct.

PowerConnect Switches family offers a set of flexible, manageable and comprehensive switch solutions supporting up to 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and optimized Internet iSCSI (iSCSI) performance with Dell Storage solutions, ideal for enterprise and campus LAN environments alike.

Sample Customers

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

Amerijet Holdings Inc., CGD Securities, MavenWire, Tulane University

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, HPE Aruba Networking, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others in LAN Switching. Updated: November 2024.

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