Likelihood to Recommend The [Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches] is very well suited for datacenter core and distribution models, they work very well as a replacement for the 3850 switches that many smaller organizations use for core switching. The Catalyst 9500 series switches also works very well as a top of rack aggregation switch for SFP and QSFP connectivity.
Read full review We work in the electric industry. These should not be used in a high-heat environment. We like to keep the temperature of the room in the low 60's so they are not suited for our Substation locations due to extreme heat and cold. However, they perform great in a server room.
Read full review Pros Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches are capable of 10g/40g with a great selection of ports for these speeds. The Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switch is a very capable piece of kit, supporting a lot of Cisco's new feature sets. Cisco IOS is the gold standard for switch operating systems. Read full review Reliable. Excellent hardware support from Dell including 4 hour parts/replacement. Excellent technical support from Dell on software, troubleshooting, and configuration. More affordable than its main enterprise competitors. Easy to use CLI. Read full review Cons Well the ACI, so the AP, the controller give us good chances to run everything, to configure everything. But the monitoring itself, it's not that easy. You need other products like Nexus dashboard or something else to do the monitoring. This is a little bit of a con. It's another technology so everyone has to think a little bit of others to adapt this knowledge and it takes two years I think for a technician to understand what ACI is really doing and what we can do with it. Read full review 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 Likelihood to Renew Based on the site load and requirements, the switches meets our processing and fiber ports requirements. Also they have great potential for future programmability options we are looking into.
Read full review Usability It has great potential. It can support 10, 40, 100 Gig ports. The chipset are high processing capabilities
Read full review Support Rating Cisco TAC engineers are very responsive and supportive.
Read full review Dell ProSupport is outstanding. Dell ProDeploy is likewise outstanding. I prefer them even over traditional Cisco support. I've had repeated cases where Dell immediately addressed or fixed an issue with US-based support, including firmware hotfixes. Not even Cisco can boast that.
Read full review Alternatives Considered The Catalyst 9400 was not out when we were looking at new core switches. We thought about using a Nexus 9k but neither were as good of a fit as the 9500. Between price and performance it was a no-brainer for us to look at the 9500. We have not nor in the future would we consider other brands for core switching.
Read full review I selected Dell mainly due to previous experience using them in a business environment. I've never had a unit fail on me and when my budget for equipment like network switches has been less than a training class on how to use those switches, it's incredible to be able to find quality equipment at the price point Dell offers and even more so when their enterprise support has been as excellent as I have been accustomed to dealing with. In all honesty, even if I had a larger budget, I would have bought these same switches since they were exactly what I needed to suit my needs. We looked into HPE/Aruba network switches, and while they would have performed everything we needed and more, they were almost four times the cost of these Dell network switches. That's a hard sell when it comes to planning a tight budget.
Read full review Return on Investment These switches did require a purchase of the DNA license on top of standard switch licensing, even if the functions are no needed in the environment. The increased SFP & QSFP connectivity enabled for faster processing within our compute environment. While the system is too new to quantify the value added in this, it undeniably will help with its ROI. Read full review Reports are easily created and very useful. Quick creation of different network connections. Excellent and secure channels for multiple data management. Great data visualization options offered by Dell PowerConnect Switches. Read full review ScreenShots