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 108 Cisco Nexus reviews

4,272 Views
1,965 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, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Netgear and others in LAN Switching.

To learn more, read our detailed LAN Switching Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

LAN Switching

April 2026

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Helped 893,915 peers since 2012

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 Nexus

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

108

Ranking in other categories

LAN Switching (2nd), Data Center Networking (1st)

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

Fakhar Mahmood

Sr. Network Administrator at i2c

Migration between data centers has strengthened core connectivity and simplified segmentation

The biggest problems during migration were corporate issues, including dependencies on other devices such as F5, HSMs, and firewalls from Palo Alto. Everything was connected over the core switches, which made this a quite difficult part to manage and to onboard the teams and to understand the impact of the migration. We encountered an issue where we have two data centers, and unknowingly we were configuring the devices with the same VPC number on both devices. By doing that, we were not able to terminate the lease lines over those core switches. According to Cisco, we had to change the VPC number of one of the data center's core switches since they are in a VPC. We are still waiting, and it has been more than five to six years just to change the VPC number and migrate back the lease line. Now we are having cabin switches for the lease line and then the core switch. That VPC number issue was quite surprising for us. However, we have a very frequent issue with Cisco Nexus, particularly with the SFPs. Every time a port or the SFP heats up, it gets faulty. We have almost sixteen Nexus switches per data center. In a year, we experience one or two port issues per annum. We have standard Equinix data centers with standard installations, but somehow the temperature is always maintained and there is no ducting, yet the ports and the SFPs heat up or become faulty. This is a very frequent issue with the SFP-based port.

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LarsEvans

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.

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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

"The most valuable feature is the Bluetooth console."

"The most valuable feature is the HSRP (Hot Standby Router Protocol)."

"We wanted to invest in a bigger and newer switch."

"I get very good support from Cisco, and the response was very fast when compared to other vendors."

"This solution has allowed us to better prepare our network for 10-gigabit."

"The solution has introduced VPC, Virtual Port Channel, which allows for more redundancy and flexibility."

"In general, Cisco products are excellent and we've been really happy with them."

"This solution improves network speed and provides high availability for our users."

More Cisco Nexus pros

"The functionality is very good."

"The most valuable feature of this product is its reliability."

"The tool is very user-friendly, with features catering to beginners and advanced users. For beginners, there are models with interactive and easy-to-navigate GUIs that aid in initial deployment and updates. For advanced users, there is the option to use the CLI."

"The support is just so good that there is no reason to re-evaluate because of the impact on the trust structure of operations."

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

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

"The most valuable feature of Dell PowerConnect Switches for me is the throughput. I also like that the product has more compatibility with Dell infrastructure, especially with EMC and new generation Dell servers. Dell PowerConnect Switches can also easily integrate with Dell servers, and this is another pro."

"It has excellent technical support, is very scalable, stable, reliable, and the product is very affordable."

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] pros

Cons

"The operating system needs to be improved. There should be stability in the operating system, and it should not have as many vulnerabilities."

"The technical support for this solution needs to be improved."

"There's a couple of really bad incidents lately. Probably luck of the draw."

"The licensing is the area that we are working that's a challenge."

"This solution costs a lot."

"I would like to see more automation and for it to be easier to use."

"It would be ideal if there was better integration with various other platforms."

"There is an ongoing problem with the limitation of the TCAM table, which is that it doesn't have enough memory to allow you to be really granular with your policy."

More Cisco Nexus cons

"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."

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

"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."

"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."

"The one issue you face in the industry there is always some planned obsolescence in these switches."

"Scalability, especially with the power connect series is something that you have to take into account before starting the project because any changes to an ongoing project can be difficult."

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

"If I were to rate the support for Dell PowerConnect Switches, I'd give a rating of two out of five."

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have three hundred to four hundred data centers of Nexus. So the coverage associated with Smart Net is 27 by 4, is basically what we spend each year. If the incentives get better, which I know they're working on, it would be great but right now we're buying year to year."

"We have a virtual license."

"Our licensing fees are paid annually."

"The Nexus 9000 is very competitively priced."

"We only have a yearly support contract, as we do not use any of the subscription-based functions at this time."

"Cisco Nexus is not a cheaply priced product."

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

"This is a very expensive product."

More Cisco Nexus pricing and cost advice

"Dell PowerConnect switches are cheaper than Cisco switches. Cisco's higher capacity switches (100 or 200 gigs) are super-expensive. With the higher capacity, the price of the switches and the price of the architecture go high. Dell is cheaper and modular. So, I don't need to invest 100% upfront. I can invest as I progress. That is an option because the chassis will not be populated with all the pluggables. I have a choice because it is modular. I can go for 25 gigs today, and after four months, I can go for 100 gigs, and after that, I can go for 200 gigs. I have a choice when it is not a fixed switch."

"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."

"The product has a low price for the features it provides."

"I would rate the pricing as a seven or eight."

"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."

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

"Its price is okay. Sometimes, it is lower than a Cisco solution."

"PowerConnect Switches are priced well."

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Marketing Services Firm

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

16%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	17
Large Enterprise	83

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	21
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	6

Questions from the Community

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

We are a reseller, and we sell products to our customers.

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What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Cisco Nexus?

Cisco Nexus is used in data centers with a simple Nexus OS deployment model. In our environment, we do not use programmability with Cisco Nexus. The switches are used very basically in our infrastr...

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

What is your primary use case for Dell PowerConnect Switches?

Dell PowerConnect Switches are primarily used at the distribution layer, but as the product evolved, higher models became available. These newer models can function closer to the core network or th...

See all answers

Comparisons

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Compared 12% of the time

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 11% of the time

Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 10% of the time

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 9% of the time

Arista Campus LAN Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 7% of the time

More Cisco Nexus Competitors

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

Compared 29% of the time

HPE ProCurve vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

Compared 17% of the time

NETGEAR Switches vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

Compared 17% of the time

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

Compared 12% of the time

ExtremeSwitching vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

Compared 7% of the time

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus

May 2026

Download Cisco Nexus product report

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

May 2026

Download Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] product report

Also Known As

No data available

PowerConnect Switches

Overview

Cisco Nexus delivers flexibility, scalability, and performance for data centers, offering stability and ease of management. The integration with third-party security and high port density support are key features, making it ideal for core network infrastructures.

Cisco Nexus stands out in data centers for backbone switching and network management, known for its modularity and Virtual Port Channels. Organizations value its capacity for handling large data volumes and automation capabilities. The system's redundancy features enhance reliability in complex network environments. Despite its strengths, technical support, licensing complexity, and integration require improvement. Users benefit from features like Active/Active FEX connectivity and wish for enhancements in routing support, interface usability, and documentation. Cost concerns and port overheating issues are noted, with calls for better training and simplified configurations.

What are the key features of Cisco Nexus?

Modularity: Enables customization and upgradability.
Virtual Port Channels (VPCs): Offers resilience and high availability.
Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF): Supports routing domains within a network device.
High Port Density: Allows connection of multiple devices in a compact space.
Automation: Simplifies network management and operations.
Redundancy Features: Provides network reliability and uptime.

What benefits and ROI should users expect from Cisco Nexus?

Scalability: Supports growing network demands.
Stability: Offers a reliable operational environment.
Efficiency: Enhances data center connectivity and management.
Security Integration: Works seamlessly with third-party security solutions.
High Performance: Optimizes data handling and throughput.

In enterprise settings, Cisco Nexus is essential for switching, routing, and server connection aggregation. It's integral in spine-and-leaf architectures for scalability in multi-tenant environments, often integrated with hyper-converged technology to ensure reliable, secure server connectivity. Implementations span industries, each leveraging its strength for improved network efficiency.

Cisco

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.

Dell Technologies

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, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Netgear and others in LAN Switching. Updated: April 2026.

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