TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco NX-OS

    Score8 out of 10
    N/ACisco NX-OS is a network operating system presented as a solution to help network operations move at the speed of business, with comprehensive automation, extensive visibility, and flexible open architectures for data center networks. NX-OS is the network operating system for all fabric architectures, from traditional L2/L3 to overlay-based fabrics.Cisco NX-OS powers the modern data center.N/A

    Windows for IoT

    N/AN/AWindows for IoT includes developer tools, long-term support, and enterprise-grade security. Windows 10 IoT Enterprise can be used to create, deploy, and scale IoT solutions on a trusted operating system with familiar development and management tools, and connect those devices to the cloud with Azure IoT.N/A

    Windows Server

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/AN/AN/A
    Pricing
    Cisco NX-OSWindows for IoTWindows Server
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco NX-OSWindows for IoTWindows Server
    Free Trial
    NoNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco NX-OSWindows for IoTWindows Server
    Considered Multiple Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    13 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    98%
    Would buy again
    44 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    12 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    95%
    Delivers good value for the price
    42 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    13 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    44 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    38 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    11 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    42 Answers
    Features
    Cisco NX-OSWindows for IoTWindows Server
    Operating System
    Comparison of Operating System features of Cisco NX-OS and Windows for IoT and Windows Server
    Feature
    Cisco NX-OS
    -
    Ratings
    Windows for IoT
    -
    Ratings
    Windows Server
    7.8
    5 Ratings
    11% below category average
    File Management00 Ratings00 Ratings9.05 Ratings
    Software Application Management00 Ratings00 Ratings8.05 Ratings
    System Update Frequency00 Ratings00 Ratings6.65 Ratings
    Operating System Security00 Ratings00 Ratings7.65 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco NX-OSWindows for IoTWindows Server
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    CentOS Linux
    Score8.9 out of 10
    CentOS Linux
    Score8.9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    IBM AIX
    Score9.4 out of 10
    IBM AIX
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL)
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco NX-OSWindows for IoTWindows Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.6
    (17 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.2
    (68 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (7 ratings)
    Usability
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.2
    (12 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    8.1
    (14 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    5.5
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.9
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.4
    (19 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (2 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    4.5
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    7.6
    (14 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.4
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.2
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco NX-OSWindows for IoTWindows Server
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    It's definitely very well suited for data center environments and the scale that is sometimes required. We also manage many enterprise environments, and we almost never see Cisco NX-OS or Nexus in an enterprise environment, only specifically on the data center side. Mainly because of the lower bandwidth requirements and so on. But it depends on the hardware, since it's a software product.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    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
    • Cisco NX-OS does a great job of supporting high dense environments due to Cisco NX-OS based devices having some of the fastest packet switching performance
    • Cisco NX-OS supports high bandwidth environments really well due to the high throughput links that are typically found in Cisco NX-OS network appliances
    • Cisco NX-OS provides some of the best redundancy in the way of "Active-Active redundancy" via it's VPC technology. This is especially desirable in data center environments.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    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
    • I think one thing we'd like to see a bit more in the Nexus space is probably the troubleshooting features. So one would be the I perf feature and being able to test network traffic across links. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of really good features in terms of troubleshooting, but one particular one that we like to see is where we can test network traffic. We can make sure that we have good latency, we got good bandwidth utilization as well. For us that's a big one. We've got to use third party tools to do that. So if the NXOS platform can do it, that's one of the thing we've got to do.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    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
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    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
    NX-OS has many similarities with the traditional IOS which is quite beneficial when it comes to configuration and learning. As a native Linux system, there are a lot of tools and features that can be enabled for any use case.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    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
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    some times server hungs and user sessions were busy to connect
    Read full review
    Performance
    Cisco
    Excellent and the best Automation capabilities with Cisco NX-OS which effectively allows easy management of different networks across the whole organization keeping all the business data secure and well managed. With its ability to detect any data threat and effectively fix the issue, Cisco NX-OS has extremely powerful options and its process monitoring capabilities are the best.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    need to improve the performance more
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Cisco
    Cisco support never fails me. In terms of timely response, no one is on par with them. They really value the impact of having technical issues and potential business stoppage. Also, their support staff are well equipped with knowledge and skills and easily resolve the most common incidents. Most of the time, we can resolve an issue by just calling them once.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    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
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    it was my senior who trained Windows Server features and i was satisfied
    Read full review
    Online Training
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    it was recorded session and useful
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    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
    I am much more familiar with the commands in Cisco IOS as it has been around for many more years. I know why NX-OS is a different system and can see the benefits of the fibre channel integration, but I do not understand why the commands had to use a different syntax. With the Nexus switches you don't get a choice of operating system unfortunately.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    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
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    need to reduce a lot
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Cisco
    Up to now, we haven't had a major ground-shaking attack on our networks but we take no chances by using NX-OS alongside a SIEM. All endpoints and workloads are secure so I would say we have plenty of trust in their security model.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    yes i completely agree multi deployment
    Read full review
    Professional Services
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    i like the professional service but need to improve
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • We do have some implementations on Cisco NX-OS and Nexus hardware, and some of these are already quite old, but they are still running pretty smoothly. So they are super reliable, in my opinion. So that's one of the very positive ways it impacts companies.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    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