We do have other vendors. For example, Juniper, Fortinet, and there are quite a few others. And Cisco is pretty good because we know the workflow, we know how the operating system works. We are much more familiar with Cisco products and we know the support system behind it. So …
Well, we've used the previous model of Cisco switches, which were 3850s, 2960s, and they performed in a similar manner, really reliable. But they needed to be updated and we've done that. Obviously we're now running the next generation 9300 series switches.
Interestingly, for the one that I'm working on, we always prefer to go with Cisco, and the reason for that is the sensitivity of the environment and reliability need.
Unfortunately, I haven't had an opportunity to look at other vendors of late, but predominantly Cisco has been a very good product and yet to see anyone else in the market is probably as close as possible to what they're able to offer in their ecosystem.
While using the fabric solution within the LAN and the next generation protocols, Cisco Catalyst Switches are a recommended choice for organisations that prioritise network security due to its robust security capabilities. TrustSec, MACsec, and other security procedures all …
I use like 9500 series also different callus switches. I wish kind of like, I do kind of want like iOS xr, the version set of xe, what they have. That'd be nice to have it on their switches, but I know that's more of a routing platform.
Catalyst is radically different than the competitors in Extreme and HP. While Extreme and HP do have better prices they do lack the features necessary to consolidate on a singular platform and encompass many routing features exclusive to Catalyst.
The Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches are the newer version of the 3850. They are quite similar, but the 9300 has some advantages. First is simply the increase in hardware - mGig ports, uplinks, UPoE, etc. The application hosting is another nice addition.
Verified User
Engineer
Chose Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches
HP does not provide enhanced NetFlow, unable to really get insight into the encrypted traffic. Software-Defined Access seems to be more cumbersome in the Aruba framework.
Ultimately we needed a small form factor and the capability to perform advanced layer-3 functionality in case we needed to perform routing on the devices. If we didn't need this, we would have gone with the 9200-series switches. The 9400-series chassis are overkill and the …
Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series [Switches] features top-of-the-line hardware and operating systems (OS). Compared to the other competitors, its features are far superior. There have been no problems with our older Catalyst Switches in years. Cisco was the vendor of choice for our …
We have always been primarily a Cisco switch and wireless shop and were familiar with the product line, have the relationship with Cisco, familiarity with TAC, etc., and it made sense to maintain that, in addition, to continue taking advantage of the in-house Cisco expertise we …
Our environment is Cisco, so the only products I have compared the Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches to would be other Cisco products. We find the same reliability and performance from the newer generation switches as we did with past generations. The Cisco Catalyst 9300 …
We used HP ProCurves at our old office. They offered cheap switching, lots of ports, and lifetime warranties, but you realistically got what you paid for. They were often times confounding, and much more difficult to integrate together and with our firewalls. QoS was pretty …
The Cisco Meraki are ridiculous. They are okay for the closet switches but we once had them as core switches. This makes for nightmarish weekends of outages as we had problems with them reaching the internet as they also held all of our core routing. The Cisco Nexus is a fine …
We have looked at competing products from Dell, HP, and Arista and compared the pricing, features, and total cost of ownership. When taking everything into account including the world-class TAC support, Cisco is our preferred vendor for networking and switches. Other solutions …
Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches are well suited for your small to large enterprise campus networks where high performance, scalability, and reliability are critical. The modular design of Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series Switches allows for easy expansion, and features like stacking enable simplified management. The PoE capabilities are ideal for scenarios where powering IP phones, CCTV cameras, and wireless access points.
One of the things that I would like to see is in the Meraki space, Meraki is a little behind compared to Catalyst because Meraki provides weeks of traffic segregation. That's one of the pain points that we are facing right now. But overall we say that Meraki is comparatively cheaper than the Catalyst. So that could be one of the advantages of that.
Catalyst isn't even the family, it's bigger than that. The current "family" is the catalyst 9000 series. And Cisco keeps pushing the edge of the envelope with each new family.
If you install the C9300 as a switch stack, the availability is amazing. This can even be a power stack setup, where the chassis power supplies can provide power redundancy for the other member switch chassis.
The C9300 is surfficiently spec'ed to support all the features it provides. We haven't yet experienced any hardware limitations, unless there's a loop in the network, which spanning-tree should take care of anyway
Honestly it really depends on who is going to take your case. You may need to contact your Cisco account manager if you don't get good support from the TAC.
Lately the 3850 and 9300 switches are affected by several bugs and sometimes it is frustrating when it's faster if you research the problem by yourself instead of rely on Cisco support. On the other hand I found also some really talented people in the cisco support team.
Cisco Networking Academy partners with many local Colleges and High Schools to provide great hands-on training. You do need to drive to learn the topic. The in-class session only go so far. You really need to apply this to the real world. Cisco makes it easy for business to connect via CLC or Cisco Learning Credits.
Our training for Cisco switches came from a third party instructor, e.g. CBT Nuggets. This was general training on switches and not in particular only the C9300 series. Nevertheless any hands-on experience from any other Cisco switching platform, will make you feel very acquainted with the C9300. The new switch platform just enables more perfomance and features.
It's essential to spend a few weeks on a Proof of Concept/Value test, to ensure that the equipment is ready for production. It's extremely hard to revert back to older hardware later. This testing period will also be a great opportunity for hardware burn-in, which will reveal any potential hardware failure due to production defects, etc
We do have other vendors. For example, Juniper, Fortinet, and there are quite a few others. And Cisco is pretty good because we know the workflow, we know how the operating system works. We are much more familiar with Cisco products and we know the support system behind it. So in terms of comparing with others, I think it stands out. It's one of our top products to go to
It seems like a very robust platform, which Cisco is constantly evolving with new features and possibilities. The standard network module gives the opportunity to customize the uplink interfaces, in both bandwidth and SFP type
Stability, uptime, and the way Catalyst implements VLANs are straightforward, which I appreciate.
Depending on the cabling requirements of the devices, different modules can connect them. Modules for the Catalyst 9300 series switches offer impressive flexibility.
This is priceless because it makes setup and operation so simple. It works with the DNA center for automation and dependability.