Cisco Nexus vs Dell PowerSwitch N-Series comparison

Cisco and Dell Technologies are both solutions in the LAN Switching category. Cisco is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.7, while Dell Technologies is ranked #12. Cisco holds a 8.7% mindshare in LS, compared to Dell Technologies’s 2.3% mindshare. Additionally, 96% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 50% of Dell Technologies users who would recommend it.

Cisco Nexus

Read 104 Cisco Nexus reviews

1,898 Views
1,368 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Dell PowerSwitch N-Series

Read 2 Dell PowerSwitch N-Series reviews

261 Views
219 Comparison Views

50% willing to recommend

Cisco Nexus

Dell PowerSwitch N-Series

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Nexus and Dell PowerSwitch N-Series based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two LAN Switching solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Cisco Nexus vs. Dell PowerSwitch N-Series Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus vs. Dell PowerSwitch N-Series

January 2025

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Helped 831,683 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

Ranking in LAN Switching

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

104

Ranking in other categories

Data Center Networking (3rd)

Dell PowerSwitch N-Series

Ranking in LAN Switching

12th

Average Rating

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Cisco Nexus is 8.7%, down from 11.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dell PowerSwitch N-Series is 2.3%, up from 1.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

LAN Switching

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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Al Vasek

Executive Business Development Manager, Cloud and Managed Services at Presidio Networked Solutions

Performs well, but the support and stability could be improved

There is a lack of support because there is a lack of adoption. Because Cisco switches are so widely used, anyone in the world can support them. It was two Cisco engineers who released Arista's code. In terms of programming functionality, they essentially duplicated the Cisco iOS, so all Cisco commands work on the Arista commands. You can do an Arista if you can do a Cisco. Aruba isn't all that different. It's a little different, but they have all of HPE's money and stuff behind it and things like that. I would say the same thing about Extreme or some of the other switches where it's penny-wise, pound-foolish. You save some money if you are a small shop with only one or two guys, it's understandable. Fortinet is now in the switch business, and they have their FortiSwitch devices, which are controlled by the FortiGate firewalls to do all of the programs. There is a lot to choose from. But, in my opinion, a lot of it is dependent on the use case and the customer type. Meraki is a nice little Cisco product for the right kind of business, but I wouldn't use it in an enterprise setting.

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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 interface is easy to use. It is not much different from iOS, but you can use it on a larger scale in data centers."

"The most valuable features are that it is easy to use, provides stability, easy to configure, low latency, and it provides communication to the data center."

"The most valuable feature is its reliability."

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

"The integrations are valuable."

"We have a much more stable network now using the Cisco Nexus."

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

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

More Cisco Nexus pros

"Port density and port speed performance are both suitable. It has some appealing intangibles."

"For a customer, it is easy to configure and to add ports through the LAN the GUI."

Cons

"Areas in which the solution have room for improvement are the interface, management, and reporting."

"The solution is more expensive than other options on the market."

"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 the next release of the solution, I would like to see varying integration between VRF (Virtual Routing and Forwarding) instances so we can integrate BGB into different VRFs in a more organized way. We have some issues with tunnels and VRFs."

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

"I would like to see more granularity."

"The scalability can be improved."

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

More Cisco Nexus cons

"Instead of competing at the enterprise level with that product, they should probably scale it. With all of the ports, they should develop a good mid-level business to truly scale it and gain adoption before attempting to go after the enterprise."

"Customers do not prefer this to connect to multiple cities."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

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

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

"The license on a yearly basis is $200,000."

"Costs more than most, but the reliability pays for the difference."

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

"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."

"We consider Juniper switches to be more affordable."

More Cisco Nexus pricing and cost advice

"You are selling it to larger customers and in larger environments, where it's a less expensive model than Cisco, which is attempting to use the same approach Arista did, but with a completely different programming language."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

26%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Government

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

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?

Cisco pricing is at the same level as many competitors, however, due to competition, they sometimes lower prices and offer large discounts.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?

Cisco's security features are in line with other OEMs, however, for data center security in terms of layer seven security, we prefer to have different OEMs rather than relying solely on Cisco.

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Comparisons

Juniper QFX Series Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 45% of the time

Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 22% of the time

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 15% of the time

ExtremeSwitching vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 4% of the time

NETGEAR Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 2% of the time

More Cisco Nexus Competitors

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Dell PowerSwitch N-Series

Compared 66% of the time

More Dell PowerSwitch N-Series Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus

January 2025

Download Cisco Nexus product report

Buyer's Guide

LAN Switching

January 2025

Download Dell PowerSwitch N-Series product report

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

Dell PowerSwitch N-Series bring users efficient connections to the network with highly functional access and aggregation switching. Products consist of: Dell EMC Networking N1100 Series, Dell Networking N1500 Switches, Dell Networking N2000 Series, Dell Networking N3000 Series and Dell Networking N4000 Series.

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

Norwich University of the Arts, Shelby American, City and Islington College

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus vs. Dell PowerSwitch N-Series

January 2025

Free Report: Cisco Nexus vs. Dell PowerSwitch N-Series

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Nexus vs. Dell PowerSwitch N-Series and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

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We monitor all LAN Switching reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.