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Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Rackswitch 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
Ranking in Data Center Networking
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
191
Ranking in other categories
LAN Switching (1st), Ethernet Switches (3rd), AV Over IP Switching (1st)
Rackswitch
Ranking in Data Center Networking
12th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Data Center Networking category, the mindshare of Cisco Catalyst Switches is 14.4%, down from 22.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Rackswitch is 2.6%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Data Center Networking Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Cisco Catalyst Switches14.4%
Rackswitch2.6%
Other83.0%
Data Center Networking
 

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.
it_user1068 - PeerSpot reviewer
Tech Support Staff at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Rackswitch is very easy to use and perfect for small businesses with small budgets.
Rackswitch consumes less power, eliminates delays, has a low latency, has airflow like the one found in servers for cooling purposes at a low cost and are redundant, is flexible, is reliable, and has a high level of performance. They are also scalable and of very high performance caliber with some already made virtualized.Rackswitch is easy to acquire, deploy and manage. It has an OpenFlow feature that minimizes complexity and allows for easy creation of virtualized networks.They are also fault tolerant, multicast and compatible with switches from other vendors.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Since Cisco Catalyst Switches don't go online, they are secured."
"The solution is stable."
"We are very happy with what we are getting from our Cisco Catalyst Switches solution."
"If we lose some network connections, the system automatically creates new connections between equipment."
"The most valuable feature is the interface, it's easy to configure. The command line uses a switch that gives us security."
"The product has very good routing capabilities."
"It's easy to configure."
"The overall functionality is very good, and the solution is already at the cutting edge in terms of innovation."
"Rackswitch consumes less power, eliminates delays, has a low latency, has airflow like the one found in servers for cooling purposes at a low cost and are redundant, is flexible, is reliable, and has a high level of performance."
 

Cons

"The product must provide a better central tool for management."
"It can have more security features to secure the access layer."
"There could be improvements in the repeat configuration with some file integration that is currently missing."
"The product could be more user-friendly."
"The switches could be improved."
"The solution is expensive."
"Services should be improved."
"An area for improvement would be the documentation and training on configuring this product."
"Rackswitches are very complex and you must be skilled to configure and use them."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the features-to-pricing ratio at six out of 10. My advice about licensing is that you should have a perpetual license, not one that is subscription-based."
"The solution is probably the most expensive, but users who want the best need to pay the premium."
"Highly priced"
"Cisco Catalyst Switches are a bit expensive."
"When compared with other products, the solution is kind of on the expensive side."
"It is expensive."
"I rate the product price a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price and ten is high price."
"It is very pricey. You have to pay for support."
Information not available
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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
No data available
 

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
Altus IT, SL-Rasch, COMAS, Balluff GmbH, CANCOM IT Solutions, Kings College London
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Dell Technologies, Arista and others in Data Center Networking. Updated: September 2026.
914,109 professionals have used our research since 2012.