Cisco 500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 500) vs Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)

Likelihood to Recommend

Well suited for10G aggregation at network edge. Small managed networks such as school districts or distributed enterprise campus. Not well suited to RPHY aggregation at network core — queuing in NCS540 results in jitter and poor RPHY performance. Allow port license purchases in smaller units. Better support for SLA performance monitoring capabilities would allow use as a box for 10G aggregation for Carrier Ethernet NNI handoff.

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Ben Wiechman

Director of Network Strategy and Engineering

ArvigTelecommunications, 501-1000 employees

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The Cisco 5500 Series NCS appears to be well suited as a fairly simple core network device that doesn't require a lot of one-off configuration setup. It may have some restrictions if used as a peering and/or edge device due to control-plane protection design and QoS/TCAM memory and Forwarding capacity. The 5501 is well suited as a switch due to mature code and hardware capability.

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Verified User

Contributor in Information Technology

Information Technology and Services Company, 10,001+ employees

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Pros

Switching.
Routing.
Access.

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Verified User

Engineer in Engineering

Telecommunications Company, 11-50 employees

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Large bandwidth per blade at 36x100Gb.
IOS-XR for full functionality of automation and service provider experience.
Great price per port when looking at the scaling opportunity.

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Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology

Computer Software Company, 10,001+ employees

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Cons

MPLS feature set on NCS520
Full support for RFC2544, Y.1564 across the product line
Greater clarity of the impact of smaller buffers on NCS540 when compared to other Qumran chipsets — some use cases like RPHY aggregation at network core are not a good fit.

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Ben Wiechman

Director of Network Strategy and Engineering

ArvigTelecommunications, 501-1000 employees

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When upgrading components of the NCS 5500 it can take a particularly long time and many steps to confirm additional components. Have all updates on the need basis instead of a one-step process.

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Carlos Bedia

Technical Operations Engineer I

Cox CommunicationsBroadcast Media, 10,001+ employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Yes

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

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General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Yes

Entry-level set up fee?

No

Starting Price

—

Support Rating

No score

No answers yet

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Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500) 8.0

Based on 2 answers

Cisco support is always informative and reliable. Depending on the level of support you subscribe to, the techs and Cisco TAC are well versed in hardware and operating system of the NCS series routers. You can receive 24x7 support and either Next Business Day or 4-hour part replacement from Cisco if required.

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Verified User

Contributor in Information Technology

Information Technology and Services Company, 10,001+ employees

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Alternatives Considered

Higher 10G port density on NCS540Availability of 25G/40G/100G provides greater flexibilityGood choice when full line rate is not neededGood choice when full capabilities of ASR9000 are not required

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Ben Wiechman

Director of Network Strategy and Engineering

ArvigTelecommunications, 501-1000 employees

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We've always used Cisco, but from time to time we've interfaced with Juniper and Aerohive. Cisco has always performed better than Juniper, and seems on-par with Aerohive's most innovative features.

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Jorge Melo

Telecommunications Engineer

Carrilho EngineeringTelecommunications, 11-50 employees

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Return on Investment

Relatively low cost access layer device.
Very cost effective means of getting 10G interfaces.
Some features available on other devices out of the box are more complex or absent on the NCS without licensing or assistance.

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Verified User

Engineer in Engineering

Telecommunications Company, 11-50 employees

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Allows us to offer free WiFi for our visitors, patients, families, and staff on an equal performance plane.
Allows us to scale access and traffic based on usage, helping our staff maintain efficiency
This acts a major component to our mobile expansion strategy allowing development anytime anywhere

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Verified User

Professional in Information Technology

Hospital & Health Care Company, 1001-5000 employees

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Cisco 500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 500) vs Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)