What users are saying about

Cisco NX-OS vs Windows Server

Cisco NX-OS
17 Ratings
Product Page
Windows Server
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Top Rated
742 Ratings

Cisco NX-OS

17 Ratings
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Score 8.3 out of 100

Based on 17 reviews and ratings

Product Page

Windows Server

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Top Rated
742 Ratings
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Score 8.6 out of 100

Based on 742 reviews and ratings

Attribute Ratings

  • Cisco NX-OS is rated higher in 2 areas: Usability, Support Rating
  • Windows Server is rated higher in 1 area: Likelihood to Recommend

Likelihood to Recommend

8.2

Cisco NX-OS

82%
13 Ratings
8.8

Windows Server

88%
63 Ratings

Likelihood to Renew

Cisco NX-OS

N/A
0 Ratings
5.2

Windows Server

52%
5 Ratings

Usability

8.2

Cisco NX-OS

82%
1 Rating
6.5

Windows Server

65%
6 Ratings

Performance

8.2

Cisco NX-OS

82%
10 Ratings

Windows Server

N/A
0 Ratings

Support Rating

7.9

Cisco NX-OS

79%
3 Ratings
6.0

Windows Server

60%
33 Ratings

Implementation Rating

Cisco NX-OS

N/A
0 Ratings
4.7

Windows Server

47%
4 Ratings

Product Scalability

8.0

Cisco NX-OS

80%
10 Ratings

Windows Server

N/A
0 Ratings

Likelihood to Recommend

Cisco NX-OS

This easy solution can be a great help for the big companies on easy multiple data processing and effective networking solutions for the various departments and also generating the real-time data reports with Cisco NX-OS is excellent. For the new users, it takes no time to become a pro on full manipulation of the features and offer the best and quality management services.

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Rahim Khan | TrustRadius Reviewer
Rahim Khan
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Windows Server

If you have one user or 1000's of users (especially using Windows), Windows Server is a no-brainer! The only reason I would suggest going with a Linux server is if you have old hardware (Windows Server is more process intensive than Linux).But, Linux is open-source, so anyone can publish updates/security updates, but on the flip side, malicious people also have full access to Linux's codebase allowing for much easier writing of exploitations/viruses/malware/ransomware.

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Michael Craven | TrustRadius Reviewer
Michael Craven
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Pros

Cisco NX-OS

  • Cisco NX-OS is very simple to use and user friendly CLI
  • NX-OS has a modular config so easy to configure.
  • NX-OS comes up with copp policy where we can define most of our system level ontrols instead of defining separate ACLs

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Ramesh Kaka | TrustRadius Reviewer
Ramesh Kaka
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Windows Server

  • Easy to use due to its intuitive graphical user interface.
  • Very popular and makes integration easier.
  • Lots of software drivers available.
  • Has many functionalities such as Active Directory, DNS, DHCP, VPN, RDP, VDI server, etc.
  • Many patches and updates available. Maybe abit too much too often.
  • Cost effective and with budget.
  • Remote desktop feature simplifies remote access to this server.
  • It has a built in VPN and ssl certificate feature.
  • Event viewer is available for alerts, although it seems too cumbersome to go through the logs.
  • If you got too many Windows systems to manage, then SCCM is an option.

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Zakarieya Abderoef | TrustRadius Reviewer
Zakarieya Abderoef
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Cons

Cisco NX-OS

  • Being used to Catalyst IOS the change in some commands gets annoying
  • It also came with a new license model compared to IOS devices

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Windows Server

  • DHCP Server could be better - we use the router for DHCP Routing
  • Print Server - not a fan of using the server as a print server since you have to license it. Direct access to printers via IP addresses is a much more efficient way to go
  • Better backup program - we utilize a third-party program that gives us more flexibility when restoring individual files.

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Rob Battaglia | TrustRadius Reviewer
Rob Battaglia
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Pricing Details

Cisco NX-OS

General

Free Trial
—
Free/Freemium Version
—
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—
Entry-level set up fee?
No

Starting Price

—

Windows Server

General

Free Trial
—
Free/Freemium Version
—
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—
Entry-level set up fee?
No

Starting Price

—

Likelihood to Renew

Cisco NX-OS

No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic

Windows Server

Windows Server 5.2
Based on 5 answers
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.

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Kettric Midura | TrustRadius Reviewer
Kettric Midura
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Usability

Cisco NX-OS

Cisco NX-OS 8.2
Based on 1 answer
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.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Windows Server

Windows Server 6.5
Based on 6 answers
There are simply too many different parts of Windows Server to make it a cohesive piece of software. While some of the newer features found in Windows Server 2012 and 2016 have nice UIs that are logically laid out, there are enough parts of the system that is still based on old code with clunky UIs and confusing options to make Windows Server a particularly user-friendly experience.

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Aaron Pinsker | TrustRadius Reviewer
Aaron Pinsker
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Performance

Cisco NX-OS

Cisco NX-OS 8.2
Based on 10 answers
Indeed, the latency is very, very low on the Nexus switches. As well, the VPC concept is quite easy to understand and to implement and is working perfectly with servers. So far, we didn't use much automation (unfortunately, we don't have much time and knowledge about this). But we can run scripts with [Cisco] NX-OS, which is really appreciable.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Windows Server

No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic

Support Rating

Cisco NX-OS

Cisco NX-OS 7.9
Based on 3 answers
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.

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John Patrick Duro | TrustRadius Reviewer
John Patrick Duro
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Windows Server

Windows Server 6.0
Based on 33 answers
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.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Implementation Rating

Cisco NX-OS

No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic

Windows Server

Windows Server 4.7
Based on 4 answers
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.

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Geoff Johnson | TrustRadius Reviewer
Geoff Johnson
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Alternatives Considered

Cisco NX-OS

I have tried out Aruba's core switches. I would say that Cisco NX-OS is a better option for a core switch if resilience is critical. You are also going to tend to spend more money on NX-OS.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Windows Server

I didn't use any other system which gives the same functionality and I am not aware of any. The full integration between all components and especially the ability to integrate mail via Exchange or even via a hybrid setup with the Ofice365 cloud, including the ability to directly manage the cloud from the server, using Power Shell, is something I didn't see anywhere else.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Scalability

Cisco NX-OS

Cisco NX-OS 8.0
Based on 10 answers
Excellent security is offered by the network operating system and the best power with effective scalability. Easy on security configuration and setting. Performance is also the best and very cost-effective and the data management capabilities are a very high and reliable tool that gathers all the network operations control in one room.

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Veronica Derrick | TrustRadius Reviewer
Veronica Derrick
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Windows Server

No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic

Return on Investment

Cisco NX-OS

  • Stable NX-OS gives peace of mind.
  • Performance and security is top class.
  • Documentation is very good to learn and refer later.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Windows Server

  • Because of our Microsoft Campus Agreement, Windows products are fairly affordable for us and that has been a huge blessing. We are considering some Azure cloud options and some of that is covered under our Campus Agreement, making it a nice incentive to start migrating certain apps and functionality to the cloud
  • I don't have access to our budgets so I cannot give a good answer as far as the impact of ROI on our institution, but if your company can afford it, you cannot go wrong with Windows server. Not having to send your sys admins to Linux or Unix school alone is a big savings as well as not having to train your staff on using a Linux desktop instead of a Windows-based one.
  • The compatibility with end users of all varieties and platforms will definitely impact your ROI in a positive way. We have Apple users, Android, Windows, and even a few Linux end users on our campus and Windows server works quite well with all of them.

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Omar Campos | TrustRadius Reviewer
Omar Campos
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