TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Nexus Series Switches

    Score9.3 out of 10
    N/ACisco Nexus is a series of network switches.N/A

    Windows Server

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/AN/AN/A
    Pricing
    Cisco Nexus Series SwitchesWindows Server
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Nexus Series SwitchesWindows Server
    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 Nexus Series SwitchesWindows Server
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    99%
    Would buy again
    127 Answers
    98%
    Would buy again
    44 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    96%
    Delivers good value for the price
    115 Answers
    95%
    Delivers good value for the price
    42 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    126 Answers
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    44 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    95%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100 Answers
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    38 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    122 Answers
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    42 Answers
    Features
    Cisco Nexus Series SwitchesWindows Server
    Operating System
    Comparison of Operating System features of Cisco Nexus Series Switches and Windows Server
    Feature
    Cisco Nexus Series Switches
    -
    Ratings
    Windows Server
    7.8
    5 Ratings
    11% below category average
    File Management00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
    Software Application Management00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
    System Update Frequency00 Ratings6.65 Ratings
    Operating System Security00 Ratings7.65 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Nexus Series SwitchesWindows Server
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    CentOS Linux
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Cisco Nexus Dashboard
    Score8.2 out of 10
    IBM AIX
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Nexus Dashboard
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Nexus Series SwitchesWindows Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (137 ratings)
    9.2
    (68 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.7
    (10 ratings)
    9.0
    (7 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (67 ratings)
    9.2
    (12 ratings)
    Availability
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    7.5
    (4 ratings)
    5.5
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.3
    (12 ratings)
    6.4
    (19 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.2
    (4 ratings)
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    Configurability
    7.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    8.6
    (3 ratings)
    4.5
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.2
    (2 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.5
    (4 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    7.5
    (2 ratings)
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.6
    (4 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.6
    (4 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Nexus Series SwitchesWindows Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    I would like to give it a rating of 9 out of 10 because of its excellent performance and better Enterprise and data network Centre management. Also, because of its reliability and minimal downtime, this tool has been one of the best software solutions that our business needed to grow with good security and automation.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Windows Server and Active Directory is very robust and stable, it has been a staple in every IT environment I have worked in during my career. Junior to Intermediate admins can learn Windows Server easily, the user interfaces make administration tasks very easy as well as the documentation available through a vast amount of resources. There are other Operating Systems available with no GUI which has a smaller attack surface, faster update installation and reboot time. Windows Server does have the ability to remove the desktop experience, however it is not something I have had experience with and I believe most administrators choose not to remove it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Cisco
    • Continuous system operation:
    • Maintenance, upgrades, and software certification can be performed without service interruptions because of the modular nature of NX-OS and features such as In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) and the capability for processes to restart dynamically
    • FabricPath:
    • Enables each device to build an overall view of the topology; this is similar to other link state routing protocols. Each device in the FabricPath topology is identified by a switch-id. The Layer 2 forwarding tables are built based on reachability to each switch-id, not by the MAC address. Eliminates spanning-tree to maximize network bandwidth and flexibility in topological configurations, as well as simplify operational support and configuration. This enables a tremendous amount of flexibility on the topology because you can now build FabricPath topologies for Layer 2-based networks the same as for Layer 3-based networks
    • Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV): Enables the Layer 2 extension between distributed data centers over any transport Layer 3 network
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Backup of workstations & itself - reliably, consistently, with Bare-Metal Restore and deduplication
    • File management and Security on a per file/folder/user basis is simple and fully done through an easy GUI
    • DNS, DHCP server functions are easy to configure using the built-in GUI
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • Implementing jumbo frames on interfaces of its fabric extender series (N2k, etc.) by editing the network QoS does not have to be a global configuration that would affect all its interfaces. It can be improved to become just an interface configuration.
    • Licensing on the NXOS is a bit complicated and expensive. I understand that the Nexus is made for core data center switching but it does not have to break the bank.
    • OTV technology is for Nexus only. Based on the advantage of the technology, it should be made vendor-neutral to accommodate other vendor devices.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft needs to minimize the update frequency by making the product more secure. It can become very exhausting trying to keep updated if you don't have a dedicated support team. It can become challenging where the business is unable to allow downtime for reboots as part of the update process.
    • Prone to security and audit vulnerabilities.
    • The operating system needs more CPU and memory resources compared to other options such as Linux.
    • Understanding the licensing model can be abit confusing.
    • Comes with a standard firewall, but not the most secured one available. Would suggest using a more secured firewall as part of your antivirus software.
    • Due to the number of vulnerabilities and the operating system being a target for hackers, anti-virus software is a must.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    Actually if we need to implement or develop our actual DC we will use Cisco Nexus Series Switches again. The solution is well known and we will be able to interconnect easily the switches, as we're not using all the possibilities of features we know what is solution is a long term solution.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    I've carefully reviewed the servers and services currently running on Windows Server 2012, and given the opportunity would renew them as is going forward. There are two systems I currently have in place, one is a very large Linux implementation for a large ecommerce site, and one is a very large backup solution front ended by FTP servers running Linux. Neither are well suited for Windows, but the overall network infrastructure is and will be Windows Server for the foreseeable future.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Cisco
    The platform has a good performance. The major issue is all the bugs you can discover across the operations, and it can be a big challenge depending on the number of Cisco Nexus Series Switches you have deployed. In our case, we own more than 200 Cisco Nexus Series Switches 9k, and we face an upgrade process, it could be a long time project to grant a new software deployment in all our switches platform.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Anyone new to IT could easily use the familiar Desktop Experience (GUI) version because we all know how to use Windows, whether a client or server version. Once an IT user is more comfortable with the operating system, they can move on to the Core version, which is the way to go in almost all situations.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Cisco
    it is reliable and we seldom encounter outages for the switches
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    some times server hungs and user sessions were busy to connect
    Read full review
    Performance
    Cisco
    These switches are very fast. They've been designed to work within the data center. We connect them to Cisco UCS-B Mini servers with the storage being directly attached. They are able to handle the data traffic pretty easily. We can also move servers pretty fast from data center to data center without overloading them. This has allowed our company to stay running during any kind of conditional outage. We have come to really rely on them for business continuity.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    need to improve the performance more
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Cisco
    Overall, Cisco has great products and I believe that they believe in the philosophy of a great customer experience. Although there have been a few technical support issues that caused a lot of company anxiety, in most cases, Cisco has gone above and beyond in making a valiant effort to help the customer solve any issues.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Microsoft's support is hugely wide-ranging from articles online to having to contact them directly for the more serious issues. In recent years when I have contacted them directly, I have found the support o be excellent as I have found myself connected to very knowledgeable people in the field in which I needed the support. The online support available is vast and I tend to find most of the time that there is always someone out there who has had the same issue as me in the past and knows something about how to resolve it! This is the advantage of using industry standard and long-established systems such as Windows Server.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Cisco
    Trainer didn't has good handon experience.. he was bookish trainer.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    it was my senior who trained Windows Server features and i was satisfied
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Cisco
    Never had it
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    it was recorded session and useful
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    Since we already have exposure to other Cisco switching products, the implementation of these switches is very seamless;
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Make sure that you have detailed processes in place for every server instance you plan to install/upgrade, if possible get the base OS loaded and Windows Updates applied ahead of time, and if using a VM take a snapshot prior to installing each role, as well as along the way.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    The Cisco 9000 stacks up quite well against the Cisco Catalyst 3850 switches. The additional features available in the Nexus 9000, such as VPN, FCoE, 40 gigabits, give us the ability to support the future needs of the company in our data center. The Nexus 9000 allowed us to condense our core and aggregation environment that comprised of 2 Catalyst 6504 and 2 Catalyst 6509 to a port of Nexus 9000. Although the Catalyst 3850 would be sufficient to handle routing, those features in the Nexus 9000 made it the clear choice for us.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    They are different experiences, and while the other solutions offer enterprise-grade stability and, in some cases, address Windows server shortcomings (such as patching), they all do the trick, but the other solutions require a deeper technical background/configuration of items at the command line, which some people are not fully comfortable with.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Cisco
    We recently use the entreprise agreement on another perimeter, I could say that is linked to the typology of deployment. On our nexus perimeter, pricing and contract terms are defined without any evolution also is quite simple.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    need to reduce a lot
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Cisco
    The Nexus 3000 series switches are data center switches, so I would say they have similar security ability to other switches in this segment. I don't have a lot of experience doing more than basic ACL security on switches, but I know these can be integrated into other security solutions like Cisco ISE and 802.1x authentication. It could also be integrated into an ACI solution to add micro segmentation, which would bring in other security functions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    yes i completely agree multi deployment
    Read full review
    Professional Services
    Cisco
    their professional services is ok and support provided is good
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    i like the professional service but need to improve
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • We expected the switches to provide ROI and they did as advertised.
    • NX-OS was pretty similar to IOS so the learning curve was pretty low.
    • Being a Non-Profit we need to be extremely cost conscience and buy gear that has a long shelf life. Nexus line of switches met this objective.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Ability to keep all files in one place and give access to users makes file management easy to control.
    • VPN Access to off-site users is a plus.
    • Secure access to on-site SQL data from our accounting and estimating data is a plus.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Cisco Nexus Series Switches Screenshots

    Screenshot of Cisco Nexus 9800 SeriesScreenshot of Cisco Nexus 3000 SeriesScreenshot of Cisco Nexus 6004 Extensible Fixed SwitchScreenshot of N3K-C3548P-10GX Switch