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Cisco Nexus vs Cisco Nexus Dashboard 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 Nexus
Ranking in Data Center Networking
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
108
Ranking in other categories
LAN Switching (3rd)
Cisco Nexus Dashboard
Ranking in Data Center Networking
17th
Average Rating
9.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Data Center Infrastructure Management (27th)
 

Featured Reviews

Fakhar Mahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Network Administrator at i2c
Migration between data centers has strengthened core connectivity and simplified segmentation
The biggest problems during migration were corporate issues, including dependencies on other devices such as F5, HSMs, and firewalls from Palo Alto. Everything was connected over the core switches, which made this a quite difficult part to manage and to onboard the teams and to understand the impact of the migration. We encountered an issue where we have two data centers, and unknowingly we were configuring the devices with the same VPC number on both devices. By doing that, we were not able to terminate the lease lines over those core switches. According to Cisco, we had to change the VPC number of one of the data center's core switches since they are in a VPC. We are still waiting, and it has been more than five to six years just to change the VPC number and migrate back the lease line. Now we are having cabin switches for the lease line and then the core switch. That VPC number issue was quite surprising for us. However, we have a very frequent issue with Cisco Nexus, particularly with the SFPs. Every time a port or the SFP heats up, it gets faulty. We have almost sixteen Nexus switches per data center. In a year, we experience one or two port issues per annum. We have standard Equinix data centers with standard installations, but somehow the temperature is always maintained and there is no ducting, yet the ports and the SFPs heat up or become faulty. This is a very frequent issue with the SFP-based port.
Vijaya Mandadi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Engineer at Wells Fargo
Monitoring has improved and now quickly identifies misaligned configurations and link issues
I have been using Cisco Nexus Dashboard for three to four years initially, and then got switched to Arista, and now it is coming back again as we just deployed the servers for those who are in the process of setting it up.I do not think Cisco optimizes the experience of a hybrid or distributed enterprise setup because we have Arista in our network too.I do not know how end-to-end visibility from Cisco affects my organization's troubleshooting capabilities.The first time when we got Cisco deployed, for some reason, it was not as scalable as how we wanted because the leaves stopped growing after approximately 150 or something. We needed to be scaled much larger, and that is when we pivoted from Cisco to Arista. However, I think it is coming back as they eliminated that problem.I would rate this review at a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"This solution has given us the ability to use Cisco ISE for security."
"The in-service software upgrade (ISSU) feature is quite valuable."
"This product has improved the way our organization functions through automation."
"I would recommend this solution to others who are interested in using it; it's very good."
"The product's initial setup phase is very easy."
"This solution has allowed us to scale bigger than ever."
"It gives me an unparalleled ability to build out my environment differently than I would have if I was going with another vendor."
"This product has improved the way our organization functions by providing fast access to storage and data center resources, and we are getting better performance out of our network by using this platform."
"What I like the most about Cisco Nexus Dashboard is the easier way to know exactly which device is connected to where."
"The feature I appreciate most about Cisco Nexus Dashboard is the ability to control everything in one centralized place."
 

Cons

"One of the problems we have is that there is no confirmation for when you try to test a system command."
"I can't necessarily do that with the costings of a Cisco organization, as they're too expensive."
"Nothing is perfect."
"Documentation is often scant."
"The only issue that I have with this product is finding help on different commands when I'm trying to make a change."
"There are still bugs in the system that need to be fixed. Technical support could be better."
"In the Nexus 3500, you can't do per-port Jumbo frames, so you have to enable it as a global configuration."
"The additional features I would like to see included in the next release is the ability to integrate routing and switching features."
"My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Cisco Nexus Dashboard is that it is expensive."
"The first time when we got Cisco deployed, for some reason, it was not as scalable as how we wanted because the leaves stopped growing after approximately 150 or something."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is very expensive. Its licensing is on a yearly basis."
"The solution is relatively expensive when compared with Cisco Catalyst."
"If you compare Cisco hardware to any other vendors, such as HPE, they are more expensive. There is a license to use the solution. If my customer's licenses are about to expire I receive notification from Cisco, this is very helpful."
"It's worth the money we're paying for Nexus."
"Cisco Nexus is not cheap compared to Fortinet, Palo Alto, and Check Point."
"Cisco Nexus is not a cheaply priced product."
"The license on a yearly basis is $200,000."
"The Nexus 9000 is very competitively priced."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise17
Large Enterprise83
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Nexus?
We are a reseller, and we sell products to our customers.
What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?
The biggest problems during migration were corporate issues, including dependencies on other devices such as F5, HSMs, and firewalls from Palo Alto. Everything was connected over the core switches,...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Nexus?
Cisco Nexus is used in data centers with a simple Nexus OS deployment model. In our environment, we do not use programmability with Cisco Nexus. The switches are used very basically in our infrastr...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Nexus Dashboard?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Cisco Nexus Dashboard is that it is expensive. They are not going to lower the price. If you want it, you are going to have to pay for it. ...
What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus Dashboard?
Cisco Nexus Dashboard is pretty solid, so I do not know what can be improved or what additional features should be included.
What is your primary use case for Cisco Nexus Dashboard?
Cisco Nexus Dashboard serves as a dashboard to ensure that all Nexus devices are properly set up.
 

Comparisons

 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil, Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Calligaris, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa Distributing, Department of Justice, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Hertz, K&L Gates , LightEdge, Lone Star College System, Management Science Associates, Mindtree, NBC Olympics, Quest, Sony Corporation, The Department of Education in Western Australia, Valley Proteins
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Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco Nexus vs. Cisco Nexus Dashboard and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
899,917 professionals have used our research since 2012.