Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500) vs Cisco vEdge Routers

Likelihood to Recommend

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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What an easy thing to recommend to almost anyone asking. If you have a remote site with a WAN, or just your main site connecting to the WAN. You want that perimeter to be safe and sound. You can rest pretty easy with Cisco watching your edges. You get the best of all their security expertise in a nice package.

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Verified User

Analyst in Information Technology

Government Administration Company, 501-1000 employees

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Pros

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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Nice design to fit in well with your modern network cabinet.
Plethora of available ports and port types.
Cutting edge security when paired with Cisco umbrella.

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Verified User

Analyst in Information Technology

Government Administration Company, 501-1000 employees

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Cons

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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A more robust high availability link would be nice.
More competitive pricing structure.
Faster ethernet ports on the lower end vEdge lineup.

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Verified User

Analyst in Information Technology

Government Administration Company, 501-1000 employees

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Support Rating

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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No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Alternatives Considered

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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No answers on this topic

Return on Investment

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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Keeping hackers and malicious code out of your network is a major positive.
We've been able to reduce security incidents, thus saving us time.
ROI is high on this product, as you can reduce the amount of devices at a site.

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Verified User

Analyst in Information Technology

Government Administration Company, 501-1000 employees

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Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

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Free/Freemium Version

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Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Entry-level set up fee?

No

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No