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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Meraki MS

    Score9 out of 10
    N/ACisco offers the Meraki brand of Ethernet switches.N/A

    NGINX

    Score9.1 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    NGINX, a business unit of F5 Networks, powers over 65% of the world's busiest websites and web applications. NGINX started out as an open source web server and reverse proxy, built to be faster and more efficient than Apache. Over the years, NGINX has built a suite of infrastructure software products o tackle some of the biggest challenges in managing high-transaction applications. NGINX offers a suite of products to form the core of what organizations need to create…N/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Meraki MSNGINX
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Meraki MSNGINX
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    Cisco Meraki MSNGINX
    Ethernet Switches
    Comparison of Ethernet Switches features of Cisco Meraki MS and NGINX
    Feature
    Cisco Meraki MS
    8.4
    16 Ratings
    2% below category average
    NGINX
    -
    Ratings
    Management Interface8.016 Ratings00 Ratings
    Quality of Service (QoS)8.215 Ratings00 Ratings
    Switch Scalability8.616 Ratings00 Ratings
    Switch Redundancy8.813 Ratings00 Ratings
    Link Aggregation (LACP)8.512 Ratings00 Ratings
    Application Servers
    Comparison of Application Servers features of Cisco Meraki MS and NGINX
    Feature
    Cisco Meraki MS
    -
    Ratings
    NGINX
    8.8
    43 Ratings
    10% above category average
    IDE support00 Ratings8.127 Ratings
    Security management00 Ratings8.638 Ratings
    Administration and management00 Ratings8.939 Ratings
    Application server performance00 Ratings9.139 Ratings
    Installation00 Ratings9.040 Ratings
    Open-source standards compliance00 Ratings9.037 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Meraki MSNGINX
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    RUCKUS Ethernet Switches
    Score1 out of 10
    Oracle WebLogic Server
    Score7.3 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Ethernet Switches
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Red Hat JBoss EAP
    Score8.5 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Meraki MSNGINX
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.1
    (126 ratings)
    9.3
    (72 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.7
    (9 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    9.6
    (5 ratings)
    8.3
    (25 ratings)
    Availability
    9.6
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    8.4
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.5
    (16 ratings)
    8.0
    (5 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.6
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.4
    (3 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.5
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.5
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.1
    (108 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.7
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.7
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Meraki MSNGINX
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    A Cisco Meraki solution should always be in the toolbox for a small-medium office. Especially for a project team that moves around a bit. It is very easy to deploy and if after 6 months the project moves to another location, re-deployment times are much faster than traditional kit. Whilst it could do the job. It is not at the point of replacing a large corporate office of Catalyst Switches but we feel it does not need to do that necessarily.
    Incentivized
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    F5
    Nginx is well-suited for any web server scenarios, such as web applications, backend or reverse proxy for both application and HTTP requests, and distribution. It is less appropriate for Windows-based applications that run directly on a Windows Server host. In any case, it is very easy to manage, through separate conf files for each application or site you want to host with it.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • I think when it comes to the Meraki products, it's just the ease of use and ease of troubleshooting because it's all cloud-based, easy to access from anywhere I can literally get on now and troubleshoot. So I think it's just the ease of use, which is great.
    Incentivized
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    F5
    • Very low memory usage. Can handle many more connections than alternatives (like Apache HTTPD) due to low overhead. (event-based architecture).
    • Great at serving static content.
    • Scales very well. Easy to host multiple Nginx servers to promote high availability.
    • Open-Source (no cost)!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • So compared to the Cisco Catalyst series, there isn't that many dolls you can turn and just optimize stuff. So particularly I'm not quite sure around how stuff like MACsec would work on the MS. It's something that I've really got to look into more and the documentation isn't really that obvious for that feature.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    F5
    • Customer support can be strangely condescending, perhaps it's a language issue?
    • I find it a little weird how the release versions used for Nginx+ aren't the same as for open source version. It can be very confusing to determine the cross-compatibility of modules, etc., because of this.
    • It seems like some (most?) modules on their own site are ancient and no longer supported, so their documentation in this area needs work.
    • It's difficult to navigate between nginx.com commercial site and customer support. They need to be integrated together.
    • I'd love to see more work done on nginx+ monitoring without requiring logging every request. I understand that many statistics can only be derived from logs, but plenty should work without that. Logging is not an option in many environments.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    At the time I am writing this, Meraki MS has conver all of the required needs. Is really easy to implement, the dashboard helps a lot with the implementation and troubleshooting process, the devices are very robust and you can count with the meraki support in case you face a physical or logical issue with them.
    Incentivized
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    F5
    Great value for the product
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Cisco
    The Meraki dashboard is one of the most intuitive and user-friendly network management interfaces available. It simplifies many traditionally complex tasks, such as VLAN configuration, port management, and firmware updates, making it easy to deploy and manage networks without extensive CLI work. Features like zero-touch provisioning, remote troubleshooting, and real-time monitoring significantly reduce the time and effort needed for network administration. The reason it’s not a perfect 10 is that while Meraki is great for most standard networking tasks, it can feel somewhat limiting for advanced configurations. Additionally, the reliance on the cloud dashboard means there’s very little local management option, which could be a drawback in environments with strict compliance requirements. Overall, it’s one of the easiest networking solutions to work with, but power users might find certain advanced features lacking.
    Incentivized
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    F5
    This tool is really easy to use and configure. Consumes very less system resources. It is highly modular and configurable. You can easily use it with other tools like certbot for SSLs. You can configure basic security with configuration and headers
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Cisco
    Cisco Meraki MS switches are quite reliable, robust, and incredibly rare to experience failures. Most of the time, as with all equipment, problems arise from incorrect configurations, not from poor performance of the equipment itself. In any case, when a hardware or software issue arises, Meraki support responds promptly, and if equipment replacement is required, the service is dispatched quickly and efficiently.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    F5
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Cisco
    In deployments using Cisco Meraki switches, no issues with performance, slowness, or loss have been reported; overall, performance is quite good. Communication and integration with other devices and brands is quite good, and the devices rarely fail.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    F5
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Cisco
    Meraki support is excellent. They are also highly proactive. They literally replaced all of a particular model of our MS switches when it was discovered that they were not sure about the longevity of a particular chassis fan inside those switches. Without us having to do anything other than ask, they shipped us all new replacements (with a better fan in them) for the 10 or so of the switches that were in the affected model group, and we shipped the defective ones back to them int he same packaging, prepaid. None of the recalled switches had ever experienced a fan failure, but they were not willing to let them run in a production environment. I like that. Meraki MS support staff are also quick to get back to you and very knowledgeable about their product. I actually contact our Meraki rep to instigate a support case (although i could call support directly), and he gets the details from me first, then opens the ticket for us and explains it to support. This means that I only even need to talk to one person, and I like that, too. Meraki MS switches are designed to be essentially "plug and play", so support is generally not needed unless the end user is not following the deployment and operation guides
    Incentivized
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    F5
    Community support is great, and they've also had a presence at conferences. Overall, there is no shortage of documentation and community support. We're currently using it to serve up some WordPress sites, and configuring NGINX for this purpose is well documented.
    Incentivized
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    In-Person Training
    Cisco
    The trainers provided during the sessions are highly knowledgeable and well-prepared. They possess a strong understanding of both the technical aspects of Cisco products and the practical applications, which greatly enhances the learning experience. Their ability to explain complex concepts in a clear and understandable manner helps participants grasp the material more effectively. Additionally, their expertise allows them to address questions confidently and provide real-world insights, making the training sessions more engaging and valuable. Overall, their professionalism and depth of knowledge significantly contribute to a positive and productive learning environment.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    F5
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Cisco
    The trainers provided during the sessions are highly knowledgeable and well-prepared. They possess a strong understanding of both the technical aspects of Cisco products and the practical applications, which greatly enhances the learning experience. Their ability to explain complex concepts in a clear and understandable manner helps participants grasp the material more effectively. Additionally, their expertise allows them to address questions confidently and provide real-world insights, making the training sessions more engaging and valuable. Overall, their professionalism and depth of knowledge significantly contribute to a positive and productive learning environment.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    F5
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    In general, the implementation process was relatively simple, given that we already have a relationship with the partners and experience in other implementations, from the acquisition of licenses, purchase of equipment, configuration of switches and support from the Meraki team, everything has been easy to manage and the support from both the partner and the Meraki team has been excellent.
    Incentivized
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    F5
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    Cisco Meraki MS is the clear leader for technical proficiency and he ease of cloud integration with the rest of the network devices. Prospects often balk at the cost of MS Switches, or they might already have competitor switches. The Cisco Meraki MS Switch is preferable, but the budget may not exist.
    Incentivized
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    F5
    I have found that [NGINX] seems to perform better throughout the years with less issues although I've used Apache more. I would definitely recommend [NGINX] for any high volume site and I've seen this to usually be the case from most provided web hosts who will pick [NGINX] over alternatives
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Cisco
    Cisco Meraki MS is super easy to scale up. The dashboard neatly arranges all your devices. You can have a change of requirements, such as adding a new comms room in a site, and easily deploy and add new Meraki MS switches into it, and copy a lot of the configuration across. The SFP's also work very well and reliably in my experience
    Incentivized
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    F5
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • I can't think of any negatives. Positive, well, I had nothing but positive things to say about it. Like I said, multiple times. Of course it does give us so much visibility, which is important to us. As far as on a daily basis, I mean the dashboard daily of course, and the use of the phone. It's just also they keep innovating and adding new features to it, which help us lower our troubleshooting times and uptime. And just the overall use of the product itself.
    Incentivized
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    F5
    • By using Nginx, we can host multiple web services on a single server, keeping our infrastructure costs lower.
    • Nginx maintains our HTTPS connections, allowing us to keep our promise to our customers that their data is safe in transit.
    • Due to Nginx's extremely low failure rate, our web addresses always return something meaningful, even when individual services go down. In sense, this means we are "always online" and allows us to maintain brand and support our customers even in the face of catastrophe.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    NGINX Screenshots

    Screenshot of Overview of the NGINX Application PlatformScreenshot of NGINX Controller - MonitoringScreenshot of NGINX Controller - Configuration