Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches vs Dell PowerConnect Switches

Likelihood to Recommend

Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches are enterprise-class network core switches. They are not meant for small to medium size companies or satellite offices. These switches are useful to provide a highly available network backbone where all of your firewalls, edge routers, top-of-rack switches, and fabric interconnects can terminate on a scalable and secure network.

Read full review

Mark McCully

Senior Network Administrator

University HealthSystem ConsortiumHospital & Health Care, 1001-5000 employees

View all 11 answers on this topic

These Dell [PowerConnect Switches] will perform great on almost every scenario, that's no lie at all. On the other hand, they are expensive and if you have a small company or little to invest, they are not the best option. The model I worked with on my research paper is not the best out there, but performed great on all stress and comparisons made.

Read full review

Nadyan Pscheidt

Developer

BPlus Tecnologia Ltda.Computer Software, 11-50 employees

View all 6 answers on this topic

Pros

Offer a large concentration of high speed ports, even supporting PoE.
Very robust switches that have a large MTBF.
Support all of the enterprise software requirements.

Read full review

Bart Verbaandert

Technology Manager Global Connectivity Platforms

J&JHealth, Wellness and Fitness, 10,001+ employees

View all 11 answers on this topic

Easy to configure
Rock solid. Have only had 1 fail out of dozens in over 6 years.
Great features and interface.

Read full review

Troy Smith

Vice President of Information Technology/Network Administrator

VFCUFinancial Services, 51-200 employees

View all 6 answers on this topic

Cons

Software needs improvement, where features are added (Stack wise) or removed (GLBP) without solicitation from a wider audience or depreciation, respectively
Software bugs recently in basic features like AAA
Ability to turn off all unused services or features to reduce the attack surface
Cisco CoPP functionality is not like it was on the Cat 6k platform - users cannot create custom policies for use at the control-plane interface

Read full review

Verified User

Supervisor in Information Technology

Utilities Company, 10,001+ employees

View all 11 answers on this topic

Precarious graphical (GUI) mode, needing to be updated for more efficient technologies such as HTML5
Short support time, given how much these devices support in terms of use. I have owned the devices for years, but no longer have a warranty

Read full review

Roni Peterson Alvarenga

Diretor de Tecnologia da Informação e Telecomunicação

Câmara Municipal de CampinasGovernment Administration, 501-1000 employees

View all 6 answers on this topic

Support Rating

No score

No answers yet

No answers on this topic

Dell PowerConnect Switches 10.0

Based on 2 answers

Top-grade because it is a switch that never presented any major problems for us. It has always been easy to install, configure, customize. It is a device widely used in access to connect computers, phones, access points

Read full review

Carol Moreira

Especialista em TI

Vivo (Telefônica Brasil)Telecommunications, 5001-10,000 employees

View all 2 answers on this topic

Alternatives Considered

We ran a proof of concept for HPE and Cisco switches. Cisco won out due to the following:

Cisco's positive track record of previous Catalyst switch platforms we've had experience with (2900, 4500, 6500).
Large TCAM space to support large ACLs used to lock down endpoint access.
Cisco's community is large so it's typically easy to find answers online to questions we have about design, installation, or troubleshooting.
Catalyst 9000 is a newer platform than Aruba's switches that were perceived as re-branded HP Procurve switches, which have been around longer. While we can't say for sure this will amount to better ROI, we certainly felt like we'd get more life out of the Cisco 9000s.
ROI for Aruba Mobility Access Switches was low due to an unexpected EoS/EoL announcement, affecting our campus access switch deployment. This forced us to replace Aruba MAS switches sooner than expected, leaving a bad taste in our mouth.

Read full review

Verified User

Technician in Information Technology

Insurance Company, 1001-5000 employees

View all 11 answers on this topic

Dell PowerConnect Switches offer much better value for money than Cisco and a similar interface for deployment and management. They are interoperable and compatible with all open networking standards so will work with other vendors equipment. They also offer some unique hardware offerings such as 12 port 10GBe switches which is useful in smaller environments

Read full review

Tom Shepherd

Technical Architect

Computerworld GroupInformation Technology & Services, 11-50 employees

View all 6 answers on this topic

Return on Investment

Don't need to buy services - lifetime warranty
Stability - even 10 year old devices are still running and doing the job
Sometimes lines of products are on the market for a very short time (eg. 6800 instant access) - it is hard to buy equipment to make the network bigger.

Read full review

Verified User

Team Lead in Information Technology

Oil & Energy Company, 10,001+ employees

View all 11 answers on this topic

The ROI is great. Lost of ports and features for the money.
The Dell PowerConnect has allowed us to interconnect our core networking devices for a reasonable price.

Read full review

Steve P

Information Technology Manager

Human Resources FirmHuman Resources, 51-200 employees

View all 6 answers on this topic

Pricing Details

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No

General

Free Trial

—

Free/Freemium Version

—

Premium Consulting/Integration Services

—

Entry-level set up fee?

No