Cisco Nexus vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] comparison

Cisco and Dell Technologies are both solutions in the LAN Switching category. Additionally, 96% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Dell Technologies users who would recommend it.

Cisco Nexus

Read 106 Cisco Nexus reviews

2,607 Views
1,121 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Dell PowerConnect Switches ...

Read 34 Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] reviews

90% willing to recommend

Cisco Nexus

Dell PowerConnect Switches ...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Cisco Nexus and Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Netgear and others in LAN Switching.

To learn more, read our detailed LAN Switching Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

LAN Switching

August 2025

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Helped 867,370 peers since 2012

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

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

106

Ranking in other categories

LAN Switching (3rd), Data Center Networking (3rd)

Dell PowerConnect Switches ...

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

DeepakYadav1

Network Engineer at Craw Security

Offers good processing power to users

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a four to five out of ten. I rate the stability of the product as four to five out of ten based on the fact that I have checked the tool's features. I also know that there are many more options available in the market, like Palo Alto, Check Point, Fortinet, and other devices, which offer affordable, configurable, and scalable devices that I should plan to buy. Cisco is not providing tools for everything my company needs, but it is a good product. The market competition is high nowadays. Cisco is still handling some old parts. Cisco's old products make up approximately 67 percent of the devices offered in the networking industry. Despite the competition from products like Palo Alto, Check Point, and Fortinet, Cisco is not very scalable, but all its devices are updated regularly.

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LarsEvans

Chief Technology Officer / Chief Information Security Officer at Lorton Data, Inc.

Reliable and useful for network segmentation

The solution's most valuable feature stands up well. The tool is reliable, and it stands up well. The solution works fine and lasts a long time. I think if you speak about the features that have a flow and you can measure, it is hard to say. I don't spend a lot of my time with the tool, but I know that Dell APEX is the solution's cloud. I would say the VLAN features are important. The VLAN features are really useful because network segmentation is important. I would say the tool is easy to program. I don't know if the tool has any security features that I am aware of other than the fact that the solution is for networking. The VLAN and the ability to segment your networks are easy, which is its security feature.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Cisco Nexus and Cisco Catalyst have processing power and offer good utilization of Cisco devices."

"This solution improves network speed and provides high availability for our users."

"The most valuable features are extensions and recorded scalability."

"The biggest benefit to this solution is a high port density with high bandwidth."

"The most valuable feature of the 7700 series is probably the multi-context subset VRS, which lets you use multi-VRS, multi-context, and also VPC setup, where you have two logical devices that are still separate in terms of management planes, but have shared, virtual core channels."

"The most valuable feature is the HSRP (Hot Standby Router Protocol)."

"Nexus provides inner redundancy. It allows us to perform updates on individual switches, while still maintaining reliability and uptime on the server."

"The flexibility, how accurately the VPCs operate as well as the redundancy built into it with the VPCs are the most valuable features."

More Cisco Nexus pros

"The solution's most valuable feature is its good integration with solutions from other vendors."

"The security is the most valuable aspect of this solution. It also has good storage and resource handling."

"Dell PowerConnect Switches are very easy to configure with the GUI. Dell supports the solution even though it has been discontinued."

"The technology is good and the interface is simple. We haven't had any bugs, disconnections or delays."

"The tool is very user-friendly, with features catering to beginners and advanced users. For beginners, there are models with interactive and easy-to-navigate GUIs that aid in initial deployment and updates. For advanced users, there is the option to use the CLI."

"The product is cheap."

"The functionality is very good."

"Dell offers very good support."

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] pros

Cons

"The licensing is the area that we are working that's a challenge."

"Nothing is perfect."

"The solution has room for improvement in terms of the learning curve."

"I would like to see a lighter platform."

"Currently, the switches don't behave like the 4500 switches in terms of acting as one physical chassis. So the multi-chassis PortChannel feature is not applicable in this case. Nevertheless, virtual port-channel feature covers this."

"The initial setup was pretty complex, mostly because of our environment, having to do multi-context. That's where you have a lot of different logical routes that are in one physical device, and it can get kind of complex trying to think about how to set all that up. You really have to whiteboard it out a lot."

"There are too many different model numbers and too much complexity."

"The product lacks options for integration with other market products that would allow us more flexibility."

More Cisco Nexus cons

"Their hardware is not reliable, it's faulty."

"Dell is sometimes slow to provide updates to firmware."

"I expect it to be a zero-touch or a plug-and-play device. To some extent, it is, but we need to know the architecture, and we need to know what exactly we are doing. It is not so easy to implement. It depends on what exactly we are doing and it is still not a plug-and-play or zero-touch device. In the upcoming version, they can make it zero-touch, where we can just power it on and start using it. They can have some templates for different scenarios, such as when you are using it for the data center or adding it to your existing infrastructure."

"What's lacking in Dell PowerConnect Switches is SD-WAN integration, and this is what needs to be improved in it. All enterprises now move towards SD-WAN infrastructure, and because Dell PowerConnect Switches don't currently support SD-WAN, the product would be replaced, considered a secondary switch, or linked up to a different switch. Integration or support for SD-WAN is what I'd like to see in the next version of Dell PowerConnect Switches."

"The solution's ROI for generic networking is not extraordinary."

"You have to build the stackable interface by yourself in Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL], making it an area that can be considered for improvement."

"When it comes to the configuration, there should be documentation and interactive help available to assist people who have experience with products from other vendors."

"It would be great to have modules that integrate with SDN solutions such as Cisco ACI, Arista SDN, Huawei Agile, and IBM."

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I thought that it would be less expensive."

"It's around $160K a year for our license."

"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."

"The license on a yearly basis is $200,000."

"The solution is expensive."

"We have a virtual license."

"It is very expensive. Its licensing is on a yearly basis."

"Our licensing fees are approximately $2,000 USD per year."

More Cisco Nexus pricing and cost advice

"The solution is less expensive and more cost-efficient."

"If you want to purchase a new Dell PowerConnect Switch, you will pay up to $1,600, but I bought them used. I bought the four Dell PowerConnect Switches that I used for $1,000."

"Inexpensive"

"This solution is much cheaper than comparable products by Cisco."

"The product has a low price for the features it provides."

"If one is the cheapest price and ten is the most expensive, I rate the product price as an eight or nine. The tool is not cheap."

"The price of these switches is okay."

"I would rate the pricing as a seven or eight."

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	16
Large Enterprise	82

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	21
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	6

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Cisco Nexus?

The product's initial setup phase is very easy.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Nexus?

All solutions are very expensive and not an economy solution.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?

All solutions are very expensive and not an economy solution. The solution is on-premises and stable. We haven't tried integration with the network software.

See all answers

What do you like most about Dell PowerConnect Switches?

Dell PowerConnect Switches have a VTL feature similar to Cisco's VSS. With VTL, using this technology, you can cluster two switches together to increase redundancy in the environment.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Dell PowerConnect Switches?

The solution is cheaper than Cisco.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Dell PowerConnect Switches?

Some proprietary commands available in Cisco are preferred by users accustomed to Cisco systems. These users might hesitate to switch because they want to continue using familiar commands and see t...

See all answers

Comparisons

Juniper QFX Series Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 38% of the time

Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 16% of the time

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 7% of the time

Juniper QFabric vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 6% of the time

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 5% of the time

More Cisco Nexus Competitors

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

Compared 88% of the time

More Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus

September 2025

Download Cisco Nexus product report

Buyer's Guide

Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL]

September 2025

Download Dell PowerConnect Switches [EOL] product report

Also Known As

No data available

PowerConnect Switches

Overview

The Cisco Nexus family of switches is designed to meet the stringent requirements of the next-generation data center. Not simply bigger or faster, these switches offer the following characteristics: infrastructure that can be scaled cost-effectively and that helps you increase energy, budget, and resource efficiency, transport that can navigate the transition to 10 Gigabit Ethernet and unified fabric and can also handle architectural changes such as virtualization, Web 2.0 applications, and cloud computing and operational continuity to meet your need for an environment where system availability is assumed and maintenance windows are rare if not totally extinct.

Cisco

PowerConnect Switches family offers a set of flexible, manageable and comprehensive switch solutions supporting up to 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) and optimized Internet iSCSI (iSCSI) performance with Dell Storage solutions, ideal for enterprise and campus LAN environments alike.

Dell Technologies

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

Amerijet Holdings Inc., CGD Securities, MavenWire, Tulane University

Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Netgear and others in LAN Switching. Updated: August 2025.

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