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Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)

Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)

Overview

What is Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)?

Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500) Series offers industry-leading density of routed 100 GE ports for high-scale WAN aggregation.

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Learn from top reviewers

Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System - Why it makes sense

Rating: 10 out of 10
November 20, 2023
IncentivizedVetted Review
The Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System scales to 400 GbE, and in my experience, it is utilized at various large service providers where critical bandwidth is necessa...
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Judy L. Berglund
Team Lead - Engineering
Sr Systems Engineer
Dell EMC and Many Other Companies
Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)3 years of experience

NCS5500 system is fantastic as a service provider edge platform where extensive egress features aren't necessary

Rating: 7 out of 10
June 8, 2023
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
We primarily use the NCS 5508 as an edge platform connection to major customers and other service providers. We have been moving to this platform and away from the ASR 9K for ...
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Verified user
Engineer
Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)1 year of experience

Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System Review

Rating: 9 out of 10
July 18, 2022
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
The Cisco 5500 NCS is a full-featured very versatile family of routers. There are currently 4 different chassis models that suit various network needs from Enterprise, to Data...
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Verified user
Contributor
Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)2 years of experience

NCS 5500 Converged Solution

Rating: 9 out of 10
May 1, 2019
Vetted ReviewVerified User
We are using this platform across our whole organization for standardization of the services we deliver in our department for each site in our topology. The NCS 5500 allows us...
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Carlos Bedia
Engineer - Information Technology
Technical Operations Engineer I
Cox Communications
Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)1 year of experience

Performance and reliability workhorses

Rating: 9 out of 10
February 6, 2019
IncentivizedVetted ReviewVerified User
We're using Cisco Routers for all our L3 corporate-wide. They're also bridging the gap for wifi connections for employees, hosts, and lab environments. They're paramount for o...
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Jorge Melo
Engineer - Engineering
Telecommunications Engineer
Carrilho Engineering
Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)8 years of experience
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

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Product Details

What is Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)?

The Cisco® Network Convergence System 5500 Series offers density of routed 100 Gigabit Ethernet (100GE) ports for high-scale WAN aggregation and is designed to efficiently scale between data centers and large enterprise, web, and service provider WAN and aggregation networks.

Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500) Features

  • Supported: Handles traffic growth with fixed or modular systems delivering 100G and 400G density.
  • Supported: Power efficiency keeps costs in check with systems delivering lower power consumption, down to 0.3 Watts/Gb.
  • Supported: Allows for unique network experiences with Segment Routing and EVPN powered by cloud-enhanced IOS XR.

Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500) Screenshots

Screenshot of fixed and modular options

Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500) Video

Tech Field Day: Cisco Service Provider NCS 5500 Overview

Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500) Competitors

Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500) Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsCisco IOS XR7
Mobile ApplicationNo

Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500) Downloadables

Frequently Asked Questions

Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500) Series offers industry-leading density of routed 100 GE ports for high-scale WAN aggregation.

Juniper MX Series, Nokia 7750 Service Router (SR), and Arista 7500R and 7500R3 Series are common alternatives for Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500).

The most common users of Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500) are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Comparisons

View all alternatives

Compare with

Cisco 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers (ASR 9000)

Cisco 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers (ASR 9000)

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Reviews From Top Reviewers

View all reviews
(1-5 of 7)

Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System - Why it makes sense

Rating: 10 out of 10
Incentivized
November 20, 2023
Pros
  • Provides functionality to both Top of Rack (TOR) and Spine and Leaf role models
  • High Port densities
  • Deep packet buffering
  • Ultra low power consumption
Cons
  • Learning Curve for employees not versed on Cisco Technology
  • Expensive
  • Port Upgrades can become very pricey based on the number of ports being added
  • Maintenance costs can be very expensive, especially when renewals come up

NCS5500 system is fantastic as a service provider edge platform where extensive egress features aren't necessary

Rating: 7 out of 10
Incentivized
June 08, 2023
Verified User
Engineer in Engineering
Telecommunications Company, 10,001+ employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)
1 year of experience
Pros
  • It has the 100G port density we require
Cons
  • The use of merchant silicon leads to very frustrating issues particularly related to the missing ability to do egress DSCP marking, which we use extensively in our network

Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System Review

Rating: 9 out of 10
Incentivized
July 18, 2022
Verified User
Contributor in Information Technology
Information Technology and Services Company, 10,001+ employees
Vetted Review
Verified User
Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)
2 years of experience
Pros
  • It is versatile due to the diversity in models and form factors.
  • Low power consumption compared to similar models
  • Mature operating system code allowing for quick production installation and configuration.
Cons
  • The 5508 router may not be as capable as the equivalent ASR 9000 as an edge device.
  • QoS/TCAM memory and Forwarding capacity with the NCS on high-traffic load
  • Protection during amplified DDOS attacks could be another concern.

NCS 5500 Converged Solution

Rating: 9 out of 10
May 01, 2019
CB
Carlos Bedia
Technical Operations Engineer I
Cox Communications (Broadcast Media, 10,001+ employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)
1 year of experience
View profile
Pros
  • High-density 100g ports
  • Card features scale with application or design
  • Support for segment routing and WAN aggregation
Cons
  • When upgrading components of the NCS 5500 it can take a particularly long time and many steps to confirm additional components. Have all updates on the need basis instead of a one-step process.

Performance and reliability workhorses

Rating: 9 out of 10
Incentivized
February 06, 2019
JM
Jorge Melo
Telecommunications Engineer
Carrilho Engineering (Telecommunications, 11-50 employees)
Vetted Review
Verified User
Cisco 5500 Series Network Convergence System (NCS 5500)
8 years of experience
View profile
Pros
  • Packet routing and forwarding.
  • Monitoring and usage tracking.
  • Distributed and high-availability architecture.
Cons
  • The price tag is on the high side.
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