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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Catalyst Switches

    Score9.1 out of 10
    N/ACisco's Catalyst is one of that company's brand of network switches.N/A

    OpenVPN Access Server

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/AOpenVPN headquartered in Pleasanton allows users to create secure access to a private network in the cloud or on-premise with Access Server. Access Server is available to deploy directly on various cloud platforms like Amazon AWS, Google GCP, Microsoft Azure, DigitalOcean, and also available as ready-to-deploy virtual appliances for Microsoft HyperV and VMWare ESXi. Alternately, OpenVPN Access Server Virtual Appliance is a full-featured secure network tunneling VPN virtual appliance solution…

    $27

    per month 3 connections (minimum)

    Pricing
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesOpenVPN Access Server
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    3-99 Connections
    $9
    per month per connection
    2,000 Connections
    $3,100.00
    per month per connection
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesOpenVPN Access Server
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—More connections reduces cost per connection, as does going with an annual plan versus a monthly price.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesOpenVPN Access Server
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    OpenVPN
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    98%
    Would buy again
    600 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    531 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    600 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    490 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    568 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesOpenVPN Access Server
    Virtual Private Network
    Comparison of Virtual Private Network features of Cisco Catalyst Switches and OpenVPN Access Server
    Feature
    Cisco Catalyst Switches
    -
    Ratings
    OpenVPN Access Server
    8.4
    2 Ratings
    6% below category average
    AES 256-bit Encryption00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
    Kill Switch00 Ratings9.52 Ratings
    Multi-Platform Support00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Split Tunneling00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    IP Address Masking00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    No-Logs Policy00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
    Multiple Server Locations00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Automatic Wi-Fi Protection00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Simultaneous Connections00 Ratings9.52 Ratings
    Customer Support Services00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesOpenVPN Access Server
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    RUCKUS Ethernet Switches
    Score1 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    Cisco Ethernet Switches
    Score9.1 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesOpenVPN Access Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.0
    (774 ratings)
    9.5
    (3 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.9
    (40 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.6
    (46 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Availability
    8.8
    (14 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    9.3
    (14 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.6
    (38 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.0
    (12 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    8.8
    (10 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.1
    (9 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.2
    (14 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    7.9
    (36 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.2
    (37 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesOpenVPN Access Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    Well-suited for big companies like mine, where we have a lot of users that we have to connect together. Getting all the switches into one big stack that you can just manage all at one time is fantastic for ease of use. Not suited for maybe smaller mom and pop shops or smaller companies that don’t have as many. They could probably go with something much easier to manage.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OpenVPN
    If you looking for a reliable, light weight and secure VPN server, than OpenVPN Access Server is the one. Easy to install and manage, OpenVPN will provide secure remote connections, with a very good integration with almost all LDAP directories, for user management. With my experience, I don't see any scenario that OpenVPN won't be able to handle.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Cisco
    • Easy-to-use management interfaces. The CLI commands go across the whole Cisco Catalyst Switches 9000 series, so it makes it easy, the code being the same on the 9000 series. Just being able to do port channels, trunks, and connecting up edge switches to it with the Cisco Catalyst Switches 9000 Series.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OpenVPN
    • Speed of logging in.
    • Lengthy session times.
    • Ease of troubleshooting.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • One thing is that these, every time Cisco gets a new switch, they just make an amendment to the power supply, so they'll just put a knob on it. So let's say if you lose any power supply unit, you'll have to purchase another one, which costs a lot of extra money because we have a lot of another power supply units from the redundant, which we can use, but we can't now because they have just tweaked the modeling of that. Which makes no sense, particularly to me because it's an extra money making machine kind of a thing. But that's fine.
    • Another thing is these ports, I believe they are a bit less of, if I can say the quality of the oldest switches, they were quite sturdy. As I said earlier, the new switches, they're very light and when you lift them you feel it. So that's one thing, which I think the quality or the material which we are using has gone down.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OpenVPN
    • some times error logs are not clear
    • Configuring 3rd party apps can sometimes be problematic
    • Limited functionality for iPhone users, but I believe that is due to an apple issue.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OpenVPN
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OpenVPN
    Whatever console or firewall you are running OpenVPN Access Server, it's configuration is very easy to do. You can create multiple tunnels, with different pourposes and authetication methods. It also has a quick and easy view of the connections opened, with possible actions, such as a very efficient kill switch and reconnect options.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OpenVPN
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OpenVPN
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OpenVPN
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OpenVPN
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Cisco
    My own personal research to get the information I want is very handy and helped me many times
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OpenVPN
    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.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OpenVPN
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    2960s, 9200s, 9400s, 3650s, 3800s. I think that this product is a lot better. I know I just complained about the noise, but it’s still much quieter than our other ones. So we do have a couple of public deployments, and once we swap these out, they complained less. Sometimes we have small offices that get the gear in with them, and these sound less like a jet engine. And yeah, these are a lot easier to manage as well. Everything in the same family. It’s a lot.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OpenVPN
    OpenVPN had a better UI and usability for our team. It was more straightforward, had better SAML integration, and allowed our team to be on the VPN and on our network in seconds. We had some issues getting Nord to work for our use cases, and have run into pretty much zero issues with OpenVPN.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OpenVPN
    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
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    OpenVPN
    • Only 2 free users, it would be nice if they would expand to 5.
    • Easy way to establish a VPN backbone between two locations
    • Great for work at home or BCP events.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Cisco Catalyst Switches Screenshots

    Product screenshotScreenshot of Catalyst 9200 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9300 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9400 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9400 Series Additional ViewScreenshot of Catalyst 9500 Series

    OpenVPN Access Server Screenshots

    Product screenshotProduct screenshot