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Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Extreme VDX [EOL] comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 Catalyst Switches
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
191
Ranking in other categories
LAN Switching (1st), Ethernet Switches (3rd), Data Center Networking (1st), AV Over IP Switching (1st)
Extreme VDX [EOL]
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

MS
Electrical control system engineer at Dangote petroleum refinery and petrol chemicals
Reliable switching has delivered long‑term uptime, strong PoE support, and predictable performance
Cisco Systems Catalyst Switches are highly regarded for their performance, reliability, and enterprise-grade capabilities. My main reservation, however, is the pricing. The cost of Cisco Catalyst Switches—and Cisco products in general—is relatively high, especially in many African markets where organizations often need to balance budget constraints with required functionality. There are alternative vendors that offer comparable features at a lower price point. While they may not always match Cisco’s ecosystem, stability, or full feature depth, many businesses still choose them because of the significant cost savings. Another consideration is licensing, which can add to the overall total cost of ownership depending on the deployment model and required features. Overall, Cisco Catalyst Switches remain premium enterprise solutions, but when compared with other OEMs, their higher acquisition and licensing costs can be a major deciding factor for cost-conscious organizations.
Osama Ahmed LUBBAD - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Support Engineer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
A stable, scalable, and problem-free solution
Software needs to be updated regularly in order to maintain security and performance. However, in some cases, it is necessary to stack switches in order to meet the needs of the network. Although Cisco switches are able to stack, other switches are not as simple to stack. I would like the ability to stack with different switch brands.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Cisco Catalyst Switches are the best overall."
"There is a lot of improvement in the network segment after replacing the older switches. I have not seen any kind of issue with these switches since deployment. They are pretty much stable."
"The solution works well with analytics."
"We use a lot of security features available with Cisco Catalyst Switches."
"I recently discovered the DHCP feature. There is a feature with which you can make the core act as a DHCP server, and it will distribute the IPs for every device. I discovered this feature recently, and it is very nice."
"It is a stable and good product. It is also easy to install."
"We are very happy with what we are getting from our Cisco Catalyst Switches solution."
"The product is convenient to deploy."
"The fabric of the solution and the management aspect are the solution's most valuable features."
"Its simplicity and web interface were most valuable. I also liked the two-factor authentication."
"The most valuable feature of Extreme VDX is that we have had no problems and the solution's performance is excellent."
 

Cons

"In a future upgrade, I would like to see integrated wireless in the solution."
"It is not easy for everyone to configure the product's initial setup part, making it an area where improvements are required."
"Currently, Catalyst is completely proprietary with Cisco. They should have programmability options, through open-source controllers."
"The price is too high for this market. Catalyst switches are more expensive than the competing options."
"While the solution was very good for its time, this may not be so, at present, for big, leading enterprises, such as a bank consisting of 10,000 people."
"Pricing needs to improve. Competitors such as Arista, Aruba, and others are giving lifetime support."
"The product should work on its pricepoints. It's an expensive solution."
"The product could be cheaper."
"The only problem is that at the moment it's an Extreme product and Extreme is not really pushing it. They have to make up for weak innovation and I'm not sure if they want to do that."
"Its scalability is quite limited. We had four buildings merging into one building, and scalability was probably the reason why they didn't proceed with buying more Brocade switches and routers."
"I would like the ability to stack with different switch brands."
"Its scalability can be better. If possible, it can have Hyper POE. I am not sure if there is a fiber version."
"I don't know if the solution has a future because the company doesn't seem to be investing in updates or improvements."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing of Cisco equipment is high, but I think these switches are worth the price."
"​The price should go down instead of up. ​"
"The pricing of these devices can be better."
"I would say that the pricing of the solution falls within the moderate to higher range."
"The price could always be lower."
"I don't know a lot about the price, but they are affordable compared with other solutions."
"The price of the solution is expensive compared to other products from America or Europe. They should have more competitive pricing."
"The solution is probably the most expensive, but users who want the best need to pay the premium."
"It was around $1500 a year. It is cheaper than Cisco but more expensive than Ruckus."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Construction Company
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business84
Midsize Enterprise30
Large Enterprise87
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

Would you recommend replacing a Cisco Catalyst Switch by a D-link one?
Hello Mesfin It depends on the real scenario, the cisco 2960 is a very good device and they usually have routing functions but there are many different models within the same 2960 line, and on the ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Catalyst Switches?
The price is very high. Compared to others, I find the price a bit high when compared to Juniper and Allied Telesis.
What needs improvement with Cisco Catalyst Switches?
I cannot identify specific disadvantages with the product. However, the areas that have potential to be better are the timeline for the system and switch delivery. The delivery timelines for the pr...
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Also Known As

Cisco Catalyst, Catalyst
VDX, Brocade VDX
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Afni, Anilana Hotels and Resorts, Baylor Scott & White Health, Beachbody, Bellevue, Del Papa Distributing, Explorer Pipeline, Mindtree, Omaha World Herald, Radio 538, Sony Corporation, Telecom Italia, Telenor Arena
Niagra Falls Bridge Commission, Medien System Partner, CDE Lightband, MaximumASP
Find out what your peers are saying about Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cisco, Arista and others in Ethernet Switches. Updated: September 2026.
913,654 professionals have used our research since 2012.