Arista 7000 series vs. Cisco Catalyst IE3300 Rugged Series Switches

Core and data center applications are the strengths of Arista products. The distribution layer is also a good fit. For the access layer, it would be more of a niche product.

Incentivized

Cisco Catalyst IE3300 Rugged Series Switches are what I would say a primary option if you are already a Cisco house that has software such as DNA Centre (they are compatible with it) or the future Catalyst Centre. This is great as it can be integrated into your existing infrastructure without compromising manageability or having to retrain staff to work on new equipment. Managing the switches is effectively the exact same. In my opinion, it is also more suited to small industrial needs in certain climate zones that are not extremes, as there are bespoke vendors that may be better hardware-wise than Cisco, but of course software wise Cisco does take some beating.

Incentivized

• The 7304's along side our core network design has provided 100% uptime during the 5 years of deployment.
• The multi-chassis LAG has provided near 100% connectivity to the distribution and access switches.
• Very low maintenance attention is needed.

Incentivized

• small form
• switching
• Climate control

Incentivized

• The 7304's lack a graceful non-intrusive upgrade method even though they are dual supervisor.
• I would like to see more integration with Aruba's ClearPass and Airwave products.

Incentivized

• Mounting unit kit provided at sale
• Better DC power connection cabling
• More aesthetically pleasing to look at

Incentivized

I have used the Catalyst 6500 series in the past. From my point of view, the Arista surpasses the Catalyst on just about every front. Originally we were planning on implementing the Nexus 7000/7700 series switches for our core. Though a little more feature rich, it did not provide features we needed that the Arista did. The Nexus also was a confusing and complex platform to work with. Also, the Nexus was a significantly more expensive solution. Although very happy with the Arista switches we may evaluate the Aruba HPE 8400 chassis-based switches along with Arista switches in the future.

Incentivized

Overall, a few vendors like Siemens, Moxa, Versitron. We were only after a simple solution, so Moxa could have seemed a good option but overall being a Cisco house is a no brainer for the organisation and teams. Comparisons weren't really in the decision. But these Cisco Catalyst IE3300 Rugged Series Switches are working great.

Incentivized

Easy to add additional modules.

Incentivized

• The Arista 7000 series met or exceed our data center switching and routing needs.
• It provided a more cost effective alternative to other products we were considering.
• Implementation was quick and easy due to the simple standards-based configuration.

Incentivized

• over priced
• Tac support is horrible
• Cisco has given up on hardware

Incentivized