What users are saying about
14 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 7.9 out of 100
Based on 14 reviews and ratings
10 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 8.6 out of 100
Based on 10 reviews and ratings
Attribute Ratings
- Cisco Cloud Services Router 1000V Series (CSR 1000V) is rated higher in 1 area: Likelihood to Recommend
Likelihood to Recommend
6.0
Cisco 500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 500)
60%
2 Ratings
9.1
Cisco Cloud Services Router 1000V Series (CSR 1000V)
91%
3 Ratings
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco 500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 500)
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.
Director of Network Strategy and Engineering
ArvigTelecommunications, 501-1000 employees
Cisco Cloud Services Router 1000V Series (CSR 1000V)
If you just need to do simple communication to Azure such as smb and rdp sessions then the Cisco Cloud Services Router 1000V Series is overkill. If you need to setup multiple mesh vpn connections to existing ISRs and have complicated routing with multiple protocols then Cisco Cloud Services Router makes that setup much easier and less work to maintain and troubleshoot.
Enterprise Infrastructure Supervisor
KLJCivil Engineering, 501-1000 employees
Pros
Cisco 500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 500)
- Switching.
- Routing.
- Access.

Verified User
Engineer in Engineering
Telecommunications Company, 11-50 employeesCisco Cloud Services Router 1000V Series (CSR 1000V)
- Easy and available to download with a CCO account.
- Full-featured router platform.
- Can run as many instances as you have memory to handle.
- No issues so far running in VMWare player 14.0.

Verified User
Professional in Information Technology
Hospital & Health Care Company, 10,001+ employeesCons
Cisco 500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 500)
- 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.
Director of Network Strategy and Engineering
ArvigTelecommunications, 501-1000 employees
Cisco Cloud Services Router 1000V Series (CSR 1000V)
- More integration with the switching
- A dynamic approach for software updates
- More automation features and APIs

Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology
Professional Training & Coaching Company, 1001-5000 employeesPricing Details
Cisco 500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 500)
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
Yes
Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
—Cisco Cloud Services Router 1000V Series (CSR 1000V)
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
Starting Price
—Alternatives Considered
Cisco 500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 500)
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
Director of Network Strategy and Engineering
ArvigTelecommunications, 501-1000 employees
Cisco Cloud Services Router 1000V Series (CSR 1000V)
Neither product supported all the protocols we needed to allow all of our locations to route. It does add some complications to the gateway and vnet setup though. Once we retired our ISRs we were able to go to Meraki vMX and the auto-vpn setup works rather well and is much simpler than IOS configs
Enterprise Infrastructure Supervisor
KLJCivil Engineering, 501-1000 employees
Return on Investment
Cisco 500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 500)
- 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.

Verified User
Engineer in Engineering
Telecommunications Company, 11-50 employeesCisco Cloud Services Router 1000V Series (CSR 1000V)
- I don't need to use outdated hardware for testing.
- Don't need a dedicated power feed to spin up a usably-sized network.

Verified User
Professional in Information Technology
Hospital & Health Care Company, 10,001+ employees