Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. FortiSwitch Secure Access Switches

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Catalyst Switches
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Cisco's Catalyst is one of that company's brand of network switches.N/A
FortiSwitch Secure Access Switches
Score 7.2 out of 10
N/A
Fortinet headquartered in Sunnyvale, California offers the FortiSwitch Secure Access line of Ethernet switches.N/A
Pricing
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesFortiSwitch Secure Access Switches
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesFortiSwitch Secure Access Switches
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesFortiSwitch Secure Access Switches
Considered Both Products
Cisco Catalyst Switches
Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
Already have a large installed Cisco base, but am evaluating a shift.
FortiSwitch Secure Access Switches

No answer on this topic

Top Pros

No answers on this topic

Top Cons

No answers on this topic

Best Alternatives
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesFortiSwitch Secure Access Switches
Small Businesses

No answers on this topic

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Score 9.2 out of 10
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Extreme Networks Wired Access - Switches
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Cisco Nexus Series Switches
Cisco Nexus Series Switches
Score 9.3 out of 10
Cisco Ethernet Switches
Cisco Ethernet Switches
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesFortiSwitch Secure Access Switches
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(624 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(31 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.8
(32 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.4
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
9.6
(30 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
7.1
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
7.3
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.5
(8 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.7
(7 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.1
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
8.1
(30 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.4
(31 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesFortiSwitch Secure Access Switches
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
I think the most suited ones will be of course, for example, a supermarket where you have more than 50 plus devices because there are like 48 ports in a switch. We can just use a lot of devices and connect them to it. A less use case will be, I think it depends at the end of the day how your topology looks like. If you have a very few devices, you shouldn't be going for these catalyst switches because they are of course much bigger, more processing power and all those things. If you have, again, it comes to topology. If you have the number of users who are using these switches is less than 15, it's less than 15, then you can just go for any other option and not use them.
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Fortinet
If you've got a large network and are already using FortiGate firewalls or FortiAP access points, integrating FortiSwitch Secure Access Switches makes for one integrated solution. Previously we had Cisco switches that had to be configured and managed separately, which was always prone to error. Now that we have our entire network backbone on FortiNet devices, managing and configuring them is smoother. We are now able to see much clearer if there are any configuration issues between networking devices.
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Pros
Cisco
  • Great hardware. I've hardly had a device fail due to hardware.
  • Throughput. These devices handle quite a bit of processing power.
  • Extreme conditions. We have 9300s in NEMA cabinets that reach well into the 110 range and beyond.
  • Very diverse. These devices can be placed in an office IDF, outside in a NEMA cabinet, or in an MDF.
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Fortinet
  • Makes them easy to manage within one spot
  • Allows for advanced network configuration
  • Has plenty of power for all our PoE devices
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Cons
Cisco
  • The Cisco Catalyst Switches 9k line is fairly high. A lower cost option like a 9200X would be an improvement.
  • The Cisco Catalyst Switches 9k line lacks a higher port density fanless switch.
  • More blade combinations for the Cisco Catalyst Switches 9k chassis switches are needed.
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Fortinet
  • Would be nice to have a bit different layout on the configuration page. Sometimes can be hard to find what you're looking for.
  • When disabling ports, it would be nice to have batch setting features rather than having to make changes individually.
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Likelihood to Renew
Cisco
They are consistently reliable and this switch in particular is a very affordable solution. We can place the Cisco Catalyst 1000 Series Switches gear in areas that we normally would not place a switch because it is affordable enough to make it justifiable. And because it is a reliable solution, we are confident it will continue to provide service over the long haul.
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Fortinet
No answers on this topic
Usability
Cisco
Cisco by and far does a great job with the Catalyst line. From a layer 2 dumb switch all the way up to ISP carrier grade switching within the Catalyst portfolio. The best part about it is command parity among the various tiers of product. The only differences are going to lie in what features are available per switch.
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Fortinet
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Cisco
We have very few is any outages due to a Cisco hardware failure. Some of our gear is exposed to some pretty harsh environments, and they keep on ticking!
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Fortinet
No answers on this topic
Performance
Cisco
No, the packets flow. Sometimes you will see collisions and broadcast storms can happen which will slow performance but that can be fixed and the packets will flow.
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Fortinet
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Cisco
We rarely have issues with the product. I have only had to contact support one time since we put it in and that was to see if another vendor was giving me accurate information on an issue I was having.
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Fortinet
No answers on this topic
In-Person Training
Cisco
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.
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Fortinet
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Cisco
The implementation of the Cisco Catalyst 1000 Series Switches is fairly seamless, especially if you are familiar with Cisco products. We have had Brocade switch gear in place too, and the differences between the manufacturers [are] not a major issue.
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Fortinet
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Cisco
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
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Fortinet
We have previously used both Cisco 220 Series and Dell PowerConnect 8000 Series switches that were managed separately from our firewalls and access points. The Cisco and Dell switch worked fine and we never had a problem with them, but it was always a hassle to have to make configuration changes since that would have to be done via separate GUIs. Having the ability to configure and manage firewalls, switches, and wireless access points all within one central GUI saves time and headache.
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Scalability
Cisco
We are exclusive Cisco at our organization. In truth part of the reason is, with one type of switch and one manufacturer, it is easier to support. It is also easier to give consistent training to our staff in our tech department
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Fortinet
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Cisco
  • energy costs dropped by around 11 per cent on the access layer
  • management has become easier with DNA Center
  • ISSU software upgrades and fabric deployments have significantly reduced "planned" down times
  • network speed has increased, latency is at an all-time best within our own LAN
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Fortinet
  • It has made management of the network much easier and less time consuming
  • We are more confident that our network traffic is being secured
  • Ability to monitor network traffic and detect potential anomalies
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ScreenShots

Cisco Catalyst Switches Screenshots

Screenshot of Screenshot of Catalyst 9200 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9300 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9400 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9400 Series Additional ViewScreenshot of Catalyst 9500 Series