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Cisco Ethernet Switches vs Cisco Nexus 9000 Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 1, 2026

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 Ethernet Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
138
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Nexus 9000 Series
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
16th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
4.6
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Data Center Networking (7th)
 

Featured Reviews

Sachin-Yadav - PeerSpot reviewer
Network & Security Engineer at Arrow PC Network Private Limited
Network segmentation has improved security and performance across all departments
Cisco Ethernet Switches offer various features such as L3 capable models which help me with my routing requirements, OSPF, EIGRP, and VRF for segmentation, as well as policy-based routing. Additionally, it provides a high layer of enterprise security via 802.1X port-based authentication, DHCP snooping, ARP inspection, IP Guard, ACLs, and integration with Cisco ISE. I have been using Cisco Ethernet Switches for more than four years, and they have provided me stability, better connectivity, and higher speed. My organization values these switches greatly.
Fakhar Mahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Network Administrator at i2c
Has consistently supported high availability with reliable performance and minimal disruption
Cisco Nexus 9000 Series and the routers are good, but the FMC or FTDs still need some improvement. We have Palo Alto firewalls and Next-Generation Firewalls in our environment. In comparison to the main firewall, we moved from Cisco FTDs to Palo Alto. We still have FTDs in our environment, but the majority of the firewalls have been moved to Palo Alto. They are more user-friendly, give more visibility, and are more efficient. The performance is better than Cisco. With the new features, Cisco is having some improvement for the FTD. I am currently evaluating the FTDs. The new version has better features like the encrypted visibility engine and user-based changes in FMCs, and other things are quite useful for us. FTDs do have limitations and other issues. We communicated that limitation and feature support to the Cisco account manager. We do have support for the devices. We currently have a weekly call with Cisco and they are making progress regarding new versions of the FMCs and introducing new features. The performance of deployment has improved quite a bit compared to four or five years ago.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I have many models, and some models are older than 20 years; they have worked up to now, and we have used the newest versions for about five years."
"What we love about the Cisco switches is that they are very reliable, you can deploy them and go to sleep, and you can be sure that nothing is going to go wrong."
"DNA Center is very interesting in automating the setup and monitoring as with each occurrence it gets easier to troubleshoot and provides an impression about what could be the problem."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches are stable."
"We appreciate Cisco Ethernet Switches because we can install them and forget them, which is the most important thing for us."
"It is a scalable solution."
"It is a very good solution."
"When it comes to switching routing, we have no doubts about Cisco; it's a robust solution and really stable, even taking into account Africa's infrastructure."
"We are using the core capabilities of Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Ethernet switches, and it is performing well."
"Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is very durable and very reliable, and there has never been any issue with it."
"RealPresence works effectively."
"Performance has been great with no abnormal behaviors detected, and the network remains stable even in failover scenarios, supporting vast environments with high availability."
"Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is quite a complex machine, but we are using a very simple configuration with basic Nexus switching, and we don't have many issues with Cisco Nexus 9000 Series at the moment in our present infrastructure."
"The stability and reliability of Cisco Nexus 9000 Series are robust, and once you put it on, it does not just fail; that takes a long time, maybe even years."
 

Cons

"Cisco Ethernet Switches could improve if they removed the command line interface and replaced it with a better GUI. It is too difficult at the moment, we always need to figure out the commands."
"The solution really should offer better pricing. It would help them stay competitive."
"When Cisco products integrate with a third party module it not easy to renew support on the third party modules software."
"The product could improve in the area of simulated switches."
"Cisco has a licensing procedure that is very complicated and it changes every six months."
"It could be cheaper, especially the DNA license. One DNA license is around $3,000 for a three-year contract."
"You have to be Cisco-certified to work on Cisco products, so we can't get into Cisco to do even basic configurations."
"The solution is expensive."
"I would rate the technical support for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series an eight out of ten. This rating is not because of their lack of expertise, but just the assignment period."
"For Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches, I think we need to work on the HSRP. Whenever it flaps or something happens, it creates an issue."
"The SFP modules we are using have had issues. We have Cisco modules, but they frequently heat up or there are packet error issues."
"Cost-wise, Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is very expensive."
"We find that Cisco has been left behind by the other vendors. The other vendors have adopted new technology, and we find Cisco lagging behind."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Quality comes at a price. I've been around the block a bit, and I know that good quality comes at a price. However, some of the organizations don't have big budgets, so you have to develop different solutions for them. They don't have the budget to get some of the high-end features. Cisco can consider providing entry-level hardware to suit SMBs."
"When we want an extra feature then we need to purchase another license bundle."
"The solution is not too expensive."
"These switches are expensive, but they are an excellent buy and definitely have value for the investment."
"The cost of this solution is expensive."
"The price of Cisco Ethernet Switches here in India is too high. There are other cheaper solutions available."
"While Cisco's pricing can be a concern, particularly with support fees, its overall features and support community make it a solid choice."
"Cisco offers annual and three-year license options."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Construction Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
26%
Construction Company
15%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business60
Midsize Enterprise35
Large Enterprise55
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 ...
Which would you choose - Fortinet Fortiswitch secure access or Cisco Ethernet Switches?
We researched Cisco but ultimately chose Fortinet FortiSwitch Secure Access, mostly because of the price. Fortinet FortiSwitch is an ethernet switch solution that provides security and performance...
In terms of ethernet switches, would you go with Cisco or Juniper?
Our organization ran comparison tests to determine whether Cisco or Juniper Ethernet switches were the better fit for us. We decided to go with Juniper. Juniper ethernet switches are a lesser-known...
What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
At this point, not much could be improved about Cisco Nexus 9000 Series. Automation GUI based is not the core of the 9000, so this is a different device or a different solution. I do not find anyth...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
My usual use cases for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series involve various companies, particularly when they are in need of a new automation solution or just an upgrade of the data center.
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
I am very satisfied with this solution. However, it is more about whether it is actually possible to do the solutions, and normally people already know what they want. They only need to have the ri...
 

Also Known As

Cisco Industrial Ethernet Switches
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Linz AG
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Ethernet Switches vs. Cisco Nexus 9000 Series and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.