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

2,694 Views
1,105 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: January 2026).

Buyer's Guide

LAN Switching

January 2026

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

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 scalability of the solution is well beyond anything I would ever need."

"This product has improved the way our organization functions through the ability to do things in a maintenance window while allowing other teams to continue to work."

"It's easy to use, and the performance is great."

"The ability to tenant-out the traffic and segment it, without having to get into separate physical hardware or trying to figure out VDCs manually, has been really powerful and extremely useful for us."

"Cisco Nexus provides a reliable switching platform for our data centers."

"We leverage Cisco DCNM a lot, which allows us to automate."

"Its low latency is most valuable. Its performance is good, and it is also very stable."

"Current flexibility and the opportunities for future planning and scaling make this product line an ultimate opportunity."

More Cisco Nexus pros

"The product is cheap."

"This is a very reliable solution."

"This solution comes with a lifetime warranty."

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

"There is high reliability since we have used them for close to twenty years and only had possibly one failure."

"The product is reliable."

"The technology is good and the interface is simple. We haven't had any bugs, disconnections or delays."

"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."

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] pros

Cons

"The installation process lasted too long, taking 16 to 24 hours for full completion."

"I would like to see Duo directly integrated with the Nexus hardware, instead of it being through the proxies, like how Duo works today."

"It would be great if they could make the interface a little more user-friendly, but not trade power off for simplicity."

"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."

"The only issue that I have with this product is finding help on different commands when I'm trying to make a change."

"I would like to see a central management solution in order to have all of the equipment in one place."

"The software is not as mature as it could be and needs some integration improvements with other orchestrators."

"In the next release of this solution, I would like to see a focus on backplane deployment, so you can stack more."

More Cisco Nexus cons

"More stable firmware releases would be an improvement because we have had them randomly power on and off."

"When it comes to the configuration, there should be documentation and interactive help available to assist people who have experience with products from other vendors."

"A big issue with this product is that when our customer migrated the data center, one cluster blocked the whole network and because we had a new approach, some commands were not compatible with the new version."

"The product needs to improve in terms of reports and backups."

"The network features are not good."

"There should be more port options in this switch. Currently, it has 24 or 48 ports. However, some of our customers require only 8 ports, but I have to put a switch with 24 ports. They should provide smaller solutions and complimentary access point for companies like ours with a low quantity of work. The main issue with this product is branding. They should improve their branding and promote their brand more in Mexico. Customers are more aware of brands like Cisco as compared to Dell."

"Accessibility and management could be improved."

"The product's infrastructure and connectivity features need improvement."

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Our licensing costs for this solution are approximately $200 USD per month."

"The subscription model and price could be better."

"I thought that it would be less expensive."

"It is very expensive. Its licensing is on a yearly basis."

"This is a very expensive product."

"Cisco Nexus is not a cheaply priced product."

"The solution should be more cost-effective in general."

"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

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

"The solution is less expensive and more cost-efficient."

"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."

"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."

"Inexpensive"

"The product is cheaper than Cisco and licensing is yearly. We have to pay additional costs for support."

"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."

"PowerConnect Switches are priced well."

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

Marketing Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

10%

Energy/Utilities Company

10%

University

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 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?

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

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?

Cisco Nexus may not be very popular because of the requirements that we come across, as it will go into the core data centers, whereas we work with most of the corporate sectors, so Cisco Nexus is ...

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 25% of the time

Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 12% of the time

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 12% of the time

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 8% of the time

Juniper QFabric vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 7% of the time

More Cisco Nexus Competitors

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

Compared 38% of the time

NETGEAR Switches vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

Compared 19% of the time

HPE ProCurve vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

Compared 16% of the time

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

Compared 13% of the time

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus

January 2026

Download Cisco Nexus product report

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

January 2026

Download Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] product report

Also Known As

No data available

PowerConnect Switches

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.

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: January 2026.

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