

Arista Networks Platform and Cisco Nexus compete in the networking solutions category. Arista has the upper hand in simplicity and deployment ease, while Cisco Nexus excels with more extensive features and scalability.
Features: Arista Networks is known for its ease of use, leveraging a single operating system for a streamlined deployment process and offering non-blocking technology, CloudVision, and telemetry. Cisco Nexus shines with advanced features like VRF support, VDCs, and modular designs, appreciated for reliability and management in large environments.
Room for Improvement: Arista could enhance its documentation, integration capabilities, and price competitiveness, with users seeking better scalability and integration with new products. Cisco Nexus might simplify licensing, improve the user interface, and address stability issues, with users desiring better support and simpler configurations.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Arista provides a fast, simple deployment experience, bolstered by CloudVision and excellent technical support. Cisco Nexus, while robust, involves a complex deployment process, though it offers reliable support acknowledged for thoroughness and efficiency in resolving issues.
Pricing and ROI: Arista is often seen as more expensive despite offering strong ROI through simplified deployment and operational efficiency. Cisco Nexus, although a higher-cost option, offers significant ROI with its comprehensive feature set. Licensing for both platforms involves annual payments, with Cisco's seen as more complex, making Arista's higher upfront cost more appealing financially.
We save on employees and also save time because it is easy to install.
I saved between five to six hours using Arista Networks Platform, as it takes less time to actually add your APs to the dashboard and deployment is quite fast and easy.
Speeding up our response times and reducing errors and incidents with automation and available APIs.
All network engineers from the organization were present in the program, and the Arista engineer provided a solution in less than five minutes.
They provide instant support and maintain commitments regarding replacement products.
We would rate the customer support as a nine to 9.5 out of ten.
For us, we have a time advantage because we know the solution, and the technological refresh is easier.
Scalability is a key feature of Arista, owing to the possibilities to manage the entire data center network from a single console.
We can easily scale up with Arista Networks Platform, as it is not difficult, and they have a platform that encourages scalability.
I have not had any downtime using Arista Networks Platform.
We have been working with Arista Networks Platform for the past five years, and we can say it is stable.
Initially, the stability of Cisco Nexus, particularly with the ACI, was problematic due to unstable codes, requiring replacements.
Feature-wise, it addresses most customer requirements.
Arista Networks is currently less popular as they were initially more focused on data centers than campus networks.
It might be pretty expensive for other companies.
The solution is on-premises and stable.
When I talk about data centers, which are critical infrastructure and centralized application hubs, the Nexus platforms should be highly stable.
The customer price for an Arista router is approximately $7,000 USD, while Cisco's is around $18,000.
Arista products are perceived as costly, especially compared to competitors like Cisco.
All solutions are very expensive and not an economy solution.
The price of Cisco Nexus is on the higher side due to the premium services Cisco offers.
The best features Arista Networks Platform offers are the dashboards where you can see all your APs that have been deployed and installed across all locations, making it quite unique to access, manage, and monitor performance from that dashboard.
Features include plug-and-play auto-discovery, allowing centralized configuration and management.
The access points are easy to install and the switches are easy to install. I can install seven or eight access points in less than two hours.
It has helped streamline network-related operations with its automation and API capabilities.
For us, we have a time advantage because we know the solution, and the technological refresh is easier.
I would recommend Cisco Nexus for large enterprises and the government sector, as they can afford it.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Arista Networks Platform | 15.7% |
| Cisco Nexus | 15.3% |
| Other | 69.0% |

| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 15 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 4 |
| Large Enterprise | 12 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 19 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 17 |
| Large Enterprise | 82 |
Arista Networks Platform is a stable and reliable solution for data center features, specifically for non-blocking switches used for spine-leaf connectivity with servers hooked to these switches. It also provides multi-layer switches for client networks, particularly in the banking sector.
Arista products are preferred for their stability, good hardware, ease of adoption and configuration, responsive and helpful support, and high throughput ratings. The solution has helped prevent screen loss and business outages in the media industry and is designed for next-generation data centers.
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