Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. Ruckus ICX Switches

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cisco Catalyst Switches
Score 9.1 out of 10
N/A
Cisco's Catalyst is one of that company's brand of network switches.N/A
Ruckus ICX Switches
Score 9.9 out of 10
N/A
Ruckus acquired the ICX series of campus switches, and in turn Ruckus was acquired by ARRIS in December 2017.
$835
Pricing
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesRuckus ICX Switches
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Compact Switch
$835.00
Port Switch
$1,000.00
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesRuckus ICX 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 SwitchesRuckus ICX Switches
Considered Both Products
Cisco Catalyst Switches
Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
We had about 15 different brands of network switches before adopting Cisco, and were not satisfied with any of them. Percentage of breakage on these units was very high.
Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
While the Brocade switches were very good overall, we had them for quite some time (10 years). They served the purpose for our company during that time but felt that the Cisco Catalyst Switches offered a more robust and reliable functionality.
Chose Cisco Catalyst Switches
Cisco have the most popular interface in the market. Any networking technician have experience working with them in some way, that makes them the easiest to troubleshoot, mantain and administer. The Catalyst series particularily allows a depth of configuration that exceeds our …
Ruckus ICX Switches

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesRuckus ICX 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 Catalyst Switches
Cisco Catalyst Switches
Score 9.1 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesRuckus ICX Switches
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(637 ratings)
10.0
(4 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.2
(37 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.3
(39 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
9.4
(14 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.2
(14 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.3
(37 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.6
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
7.7
(11 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
9.1
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.2
(9 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.9
(14 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.6
(35 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.2
(36 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cisco Catalyst SwitchesRuckus ICX Switches
Likelihood to Recommend
Cisco
Our access infrastructure. If you want to bring many devices into your infrastructure and you don't want to bring the devices direct on the core routers, something like that. Or to the routers, the catalyst switches are perfectly suited for that or for top of direct switches.
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ARRIS
I love this switch for access and aggregate, especially due to the lack of needing reboots. [Other systems require this] reliable and stable platform.
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Pros
Cisco
  • I think particularly for the 2960-Xs, these are quite sturdy. I believe they don't get, even if there's a power outage out at Cole's, we usually do some electricity work just to do the electricity redundancy. We just power off the, let's say, the transformers and then see if the mains can handle the power supply. So these 2960, these switches are quite sturdy, I believe, and they don't die on us, but I've seen with the 9200s and the other switches, they don't come back usually when there's a power outage or something like that. So we have to replace the power supply units and all those things to get them working again.
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ARRIS
  • They are relatively easy to configure and to maintain.
  • They have all of the high-end configuration capabilities as Cisco switches.
  • The switches have excellent performance and reliability.
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Cons
Cisco
  • I wouldn't fault the product per se. I think it's just more its integration with the SSD access network that there could be room for improvement. I think the 9300 has been a solid device by itself, and I can't think of anything that I could fault on the device itself. It's probably been doing a very good job and we are happy with it.
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ARRIS
  • Licensing for the 10GB ports is a bit pricey, but that was 5 years ago, so things may have changed
  • The CLI commands are slightly different than typical Cisco commands
  • Their rack mounting was not the prettiest in the world
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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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ARRIS
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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ARRIS
No answers on this topic
Reliability and Availability
Cisco
As per our experience, the turn around time for switches after PO is raised varies from 1 - 3 months.
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ARRIS
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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ARRIS
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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ARRIS
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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ARRIS
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
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ARRIS
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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ARRIS
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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ARRIS
The switching holds up well against HP, Extreme, Juniper, et. al at the edge. Cost is also a huge factor, and played a part in the purchase. Not just for the switches themselves, but also optics can be purchased at a discount. Service delivery has been fantastic, and in 3 years I've not had to replace any of the brocade switches I've purchased.
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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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ARRIS
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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ARRIS
  • Equipment just runs
  • Sometimes past EOL/EOS
  • Firmwares just work
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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