Cisco Catalyst IE3300 Rugged Series Switches vs. Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches

Well suited in areas where traditional IT personal need to have some management in a IoT development while keeping security at the for front of the deployment plan. Also offers great flexibility with the ability to purchase additional modules to expand switch port count without purchasing an entire separate switch which is extremely beneficial when space is a constraint and the ability to plan for future growth is impossible. Also the ability to just move SD card to back up switch and plug it in is great when IT staff is remote to keep warm spares onsite.

Incentivized

If you have a big environment with a lot of edge switch needs and department groups, then Extreme's fabric connect can save a lot of management time. If your environment is small then you may want to stick with the traditional model since fabric connect costs more. Also if you make lots of configuration changes all the time then fabric connect will be helpful. Otherwise, making an occasional change you don't need fabric connect.

Incentivized

• We're extremely proud of the IE3300s. We actually put them up on the cranes as well and with all the movement of the cranes, they're very sturdy and durable. We have not had issues at all with them.

Incentivized

• Uptime has been fantastic. We have had no issues with our switches shutting down or crashing
• Policy, We have the ability to enforce Policy at the port

Incentivized

• Whilst these switches for once weren't actually the most expensive, they are still not the cheapest.
• The IE-3XXX series in particular has great flexibility in that it offers custom options for bespoke needs.
• I would say Cisco focus on their software rather than hardware from experience and design, but it is by no means bad!

Incentivized

• They are working on it, but a single console to manage the policies across all switches.
• For those with a Cisco background, the CLI commands are different with Extreme so you have to get used to that. Nothing necessarily wrong though.
• If you want a chassis core switch/router then those are becoming less available and won't find many options with Extreme.

Incentivized

Great product, great support and very happy with the reliability.

Incentivized

Very easy to use, the CLI is a little different than competing products, but the GUI is very intuitive.

Incentivized

There hasn't been a single problem with the code or hardware that hasn't been resolved in a timely fashion. You get technicians who know the product and who will work with you to get things fixed. That being said, I never ran into a problem with Cisco tech support either. I love that both groups were willing to teach me as they fixed things.

Incentivized

Cisco is more expensive, but it has better security and functionality over competitor products. additionally, our core network is Cisco

Incentivized

We upgraded to Extreme Switches from Cisco SG500 and SG250 small business switches. Extreme Switches offer a much easier to use GUI management platform called Extreme CloudIQ, which makes visibility into our network much easier and user friendly. Performance wise these offered higher uplink speed as well.

Incentivized

The expansion modules really allow us to use these switches for different scenarios in the way that we need them. Sometimes we need a lot of extra ports. Sometimes we need some extra ports, but also extra fiber ports to bring the network to other areas.

Incentivized

• They are grossly overpriced for our implementation, but the built in cybervision and port expansion possibility is vital for us.
• Able to push our security standards with ISE into IoT enviroment.

Incentivized

• Extreme [Ethernet Switches] have a long-life. You can easily get 7 years in main production life depending on when you buy in the product life-cycle.
• Extreme [Ethernet Switches] are expensive, no doubt, but we also don't have "weird" network problems or other issues with the network randomly going down.
• If you use fabric connect switches then the ease of managing many switches is of no concern.

Incentivized