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Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches vs NVIDIA Mellanox 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 N9300 Series Smart Sw...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
26th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
NVIDIA Mellanox
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
19th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
4.7
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Thu Al-Faqar Salah - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at V2X
Modern data center fabric has delivered zero packet drops and simplified traffic control
Regarding improvements for Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches, I think the only issue that could prevent users from using these devices is the smart licensing, as the license model could be much simpler and more cost-effective. Managing Cisco licensing and tiered subscriptions involves unnecessary operational overhead for deployment and renewal. Also, if you are planning to use ACI mode, most of the concepts such as VRF, EPG, and tenant will change. When deploying in ACI mode, the architecture has a steep learning curve, as the policy-driven model requires expensive and specialized training, and many concepts will change for traditional network engineers, requiring them to adapt and learn. Additionally, most of the issues I faced are related to hardware cost specifically, so if we could get a model that is less costly and more cost-effective with simpler licensing, it would be much better. Regarding further improvements, I remember something about the upgrade process. When we did the upgrade for the N9300, changing the image took us around 12 to 15 minutes, which was really a long time. This happened for more than one switch, so I do not know if it is a bug or if this is something normal, but I think they need to address it.
Nurudeen Suleiman - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Tekpulse Ltd
Automation and integration improve operations efficiently
We wanted to utilize the advanced InfiniBand and Ethernet solutions offered by NVIDIA, but the users are not too familiar with the InfiniBand environment, which is why we are using the Linux Cumulus 5.6, which is usually the normal Ethernet. I am familiar with NVIDIA Mellanox, as I have products from NVIDIA on review here on our website. I use enhanced multi-tenancy features. Currently, within the data center, we have mixtures of both Cisco Nexus switches, NVIDIA switches, and Huawei switches, so eventually, we are changing all the switches to NVIDIA. On a scale of 1-10, I rate NVIDIA Mellanox an eight.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The integration is very good, and there is very low CPU utilization, so multiple users can work without any problem."
"Cisco products are very strong and stable."
"When you buy a Cisco device, you are going to forget about it after plugging it in because the device is powerful."
"Performance-wise, Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches is a great machine to work with."
"Mellanox provides a feature called RDMA; this feature is very special and only Mellanox can provide it."
"From what I've been told, a valuable feature of Mellanox switches is they're quite user-friendly."
"The most valuable features of this solution are its functionality."
"The stability of this solution is great, which is one of the reasons why I chose it."
"The biggest advantage is that the vendor is the only one providing no-drop traffic."
"One of the features that attracted us is the functionality to automate processes and to integrate with current systems such as the AI environment."
"The most valuable features of Mellanox Switches are the size, power consumption, and the vast amount of features."
"The most valuable features of Mellanox Switches are the powerful hardware and the software is open. They're using Linux operating system. You can do and install many things, and it performs well."
 

Cons

"The price is something negative for Cisco that I see."
"Regarding improvements for Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches, I think the only issue that could prevent users from using these devices is the smart licensing, as the license model could be much simpler and more cost-effective."
"It is expensive. Compared to Aruba and Dell, it is a little bit costly."
"If you compare this solution with Cisco, utilization in Cisco is more popular and it is more friendly."
"The configuration is a bit different from Cisco, and therefore, for me at least, there's a bit of a learning curve."
"Mellanox Switches were easier before Nvidia bought Mellanox and then their new version of the operating system changed."
"The scalability is working fine at the moment, but there's always room for improvement. As of right now, I don't know of any improvements to suggest."
"Mellanox Switches were easier before Nvidia bought Mellanox and then their new version of the operating system changed. They started with Ennui, and now they only use Linux. If they returned to their previous CLI it would be a good option for starters. The new CLI is more difficult to use but more powerful than the older one. It has its advantages."
"Sometimes, it can have some bugs from the past if I am an old user. However, it is stable now."
"Mellanox Switches could improve by adding some features that can make it easier for integrating the switches in some managing and monitoring platforms, such as Elastic or similar software for monitoring data with the data center in a more holistic way."
"The feature we would want to see in future updates of NVIDIA Mellanox is improved accessibility for normal users, as quite a lot of experience is needed before using Mellanox."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"It's an open-source solution."
"There is a license to use the switch ports of Mellanox Switches."
"The price of Mellanox Switches is reasonable compared to other solutions. The price and quality ratio was very good. There is a one-time license purchase that is needed."
"The pricing is very competitive. The licensing costs are fine."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
University
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches?
Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches is expensive. Compared with Aruba and Dell, it is a little bit costly.
What needs improvement with Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches?
As for any negative points, I think there is nothing significant. The only thing that Cisco may focus on commercially is the SmartNet. From my experience, I have worked with many MNCs where SmartNe...
What is your primary use case for Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches?
The major use case that we have with Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches is that our current switches are old and getting into end of life from Cisco. This is the reason we started looking for the ri...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Mellanox Switches?
The pricing is competitive. For its performance, it's cheaper, so I would rate it a four if cheaper is lower.
What needs improvement with Mellanox Switches?
The feature we would want to see in future updates of NVIDIA Mellanox is improved accessibility for normal users, as quite a lot of experience is needed before using Mellanox. None of the Mellanox ...
What is your primary use case for Mellanox Switches?
NVIDIA Mellanox is usually used for numerous purposes, but in our case, we are using it in a data center for high-end servers running 200 gig interfaces, and we are able to link it up with Ansible ...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Mellanox Switches, Mellanox SN2700
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
CNPC, Korea Consumer Agency, Nutanix, Roxo Systems, StorPool, Atlantic.Net, INFN, StarWind, NYSE Technologies, Creative Consultants, ENKI
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches vs. NVIDIA Mellanox and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.