TrustRadius
Cisco's Catalyst is one of that company's brand of network switches.https://dudodiprj2sv7.cloudfront.net/product-logos/yc/hA/F0JDW2AQTDDO.JPEGCiscoCisco 6800ia's Best Innovation: Cisco has Killed!2018-06-21T16:01:34.903ZCatalyst 6800 Series,We currently are using our Cisco Catalyst 6800ia switches in all of our edge closets. They provide power to access points, phones, cameras, and our bell speakers in our schools. They also provide data to our end users in labs, classrooms, and offices. We really like the fact that they are easily managed via their fx uplink to the 6880s in the MDF closets.,Centrally managed configuration and IOS via the attached 6880 catalyst pair.
POE+ support for newer Access Points and speaker requirements
Firmware rollout is very smooth and simple using upgrades to the 6880 "core",There are some known bugs that cause interface errors and are listed as "cosmetic" and they do not plan to address them. This makes troubleshooting very difficult to determine what are real errors and what are cosmetic.
We have had a few batches that get stuck in random reboots.
Cisco foolishly has discontinued R&D for this line of Catalyst when they were finally showing some innovation that set them apart from other vendors.,9,We have cut down our time considerably with firmware rollouts and central management
We have been able to go to one spot to see CDP neighbors and Netflow for the whole environment
We will have to buy new very soon which is a negative because Cisco discontinued the 6800 line.,With NetFlow and firmware control centrally located we now can have one pane of glass to go to for data and analytics. When we upgrade the core 6880's all of the edge switches are also automatically upgraded to be at the same code revision creating a stable and consistent environment.,The manageability is the crucial reason these switches are better than others. Instead of touching 50 switches per building we only login to one. When a tech needs to troubleshoot a switch or client at a site, they no longer have to jump from switch to switch searching for the mac address of the client as it all comes back to the central 6880.,Extreme Ethernet Switches, Juniper Ethernet Switches and Ruckus ICX Switches (formerly Brocade ICX Switches),5000,4,Lab connectivity
Wireless poe connectivity and power
Multicast connectivity,We have been able to upgrade code in the middle of the day for the core 6880s because of the IRRU method
Poe to speakers, bells, phones and access points,Some might use them for building blocks. This question seems silly as switches are used for switch and routing. And that’s what they do.
We use Netflow to track what is on our network.
Ise and 802.1x integration in the future,10Tim LillisCatalyst 2960X and 3560CX Review2018-06-19T17:32:18.492ZCatalyst 2960 X/XR Series
Catalyst 3560-CX Series,We currently utilize a mixture of Catalyst 2960X and 3560CX switches at our edge in 42 locations throughout our county. Overall we have over 900+ catalyst switches deployed. The biggest thing they address for us is the Auto SmartPort feature that provisions edge ports based off of MAC OUI. This allows us to auto-provision end-user computers, phones, and access points without an engineer having to touch each switch to ensure proper VLANs and QoS are set up.,Stack up to 8 high providing high port density with a single managed IP address
Autosmart ports allow zero touch provisioning of edge connected devices
IOS commands are congruent amongst most models (Obviously different features available for different products),My only complain is the boot time for a stack. Just more of an education thing to end users than a nuisance. Letting them know it may be 5-10 minutes before connectivity is restored in the event of a power loss.,10,They have returned engineer hours spent on manually configuring ports and resolving issues related to STP.
They have also allowed end to end congruence of configurations. Each location is similar in its configuration which allows for easier manageability.,We most certainly have benefited from the automation features of the catalyst switching line. As mentioned in previous questions, we utilize the Autosmart port feature quite heavily. It has really helped our engineers regain time spent doing menial tasks such as manually assigning VLANs and QoS policies which are now handled by the Autosmart port provision feature. We have done a little bit with analytics and watching NetFlows but only in a troubleshooting scenario. It's not something that we keep an eye on all the time.,Manageability with the Catalyst switches has been pretty simple and straight forward. We utilize a multitude of tools to monitor and retrieve data from the switches for simple up/down notifications, to watching CPU load, or CPU temperature. Since the Catalyst line follows industry standards for SNMP, as long as you can find the respective MIB you can monitor pretty much anything you need to.,,,4,Edge switching for our campus LAN environment.
Ease of mangement by stacking 8 high and allowing high port density with only 1 management IP.
Provides easy no-touch provisioning for end devices using AutoSmart ports.,We've been able to utilize the compact switches in compact environments where cooling and space are limited.,Just continue using the product to meet our needs at the edge. With the upcoming release of the Catalyst 9200 there may be some more opportunities to be innovative.,10Matthew CableLifeNCatalyst2018-06-14T15:38:20.399ZCatalyst 2960 X/XR Series,We have multiple switch stacks at each of our three locations, they serve to allow our end users to interact with our core, servers and internet based hosts. Our switch stacks all have 10GB redundant uplinks to the core, to provide assurance of no bottlenecks while processing data requests. These switch stacks also serve the needs of our PoE devices such as desk and conference phones and access points.,LAN traffic processing
PoE power management and sensing
Uptime, they can run forever in some of the worst conditions ive seen... Particularly one in an autoshop covered in oil, drained and it still functions today.,Modularity in the lower end models could use a bit of a hand
Power cord stress relief and retention options
Integrated environment sensors, option to connect external directly,10,Uptime is generally hard to define in value but it sure is noticed when its not up
Support is there when needed
Warranty is above and beyond,Simple drop in expansion is great, when a switch stack becomes full to capacity it is easy to extend the capacity of that switch stack. Also how quickly and versatile this process is is just an amazing feat. As long as a switch has the same ios running you are golden. My organization has used catalyst switch stacks for years with little need for anything more than regular maintenance with great glee.,Catalyst Switches have the ability to provide a rich feature set, that can meet the needs of any organization needing a physical infrastructure. The ability to customize and define these needs are able to keep pace with the ever-changing environment that is business.,Juniper Ethernet SwitchesJason ThompsonCatalyst All the Way!2018-05-21T18:34:41.190ZWe use Cisco Catalyst switches throughout our entire campus. Our network infrastructure is strictly Cisco, except for the industrial switches we use in our emergency blue light poles. We've always been a Cisco shop, long before I was hired. We used to implement the 3700 series, but now we are transitioning to the 2900's as we do not need routing on our campus access switches. Moving to the 2900 series has saved us a good deal of money. Using Cisco switches ensures we won't have any interoperability/compatibility issues with our Cisco IP phone system and allows Cisco to provide support without having to involve other vendors.,I haven't worked on many other brands of routers/switches, but I can say with certainty that Cisco's IOS network operating system is very well written. Using the question mark helps you find a command or complete its options very easily.
Cisco's Catalyst documentation is superb and if you can't find what you're looking for there, you can find a ton of great blogs by certified Cisco engineers.
Cisco may be notorious for creating their own proprietary protocols, but for every proprietary protocol they also support the industry standard protocols.
Cisco Catalyst switches are genuine workhorses; we still have some switches on our network that are older than 10 years and still performing great!,Cisco Catalyst switches, like all Cisco products, are insanely expensive. However, the tech support they provide is unparalleled. You can get support from Cisco TAC (Technical Assistance Center) any time of day/night.
It would be easier if Cisco stopped creating their own proprietary protocols and only supported the industry standards.
One thing I don't like about Cisco IOS is that you must remember what interface you are configuring, as the command prompt will not tell you. It's not a huge deal, but it's worth fixing.
Since Cisco's hardware and support maintenance is so expensive, they should drop the modular pricing on their IOS and give ALL their customers the full OS with all capabilities included. Their IP base OS doesn't even support cryptography! Who DOESN'T use SSH these days?,8,Getting more than 10 years out of our switches has more than met our ROI.
The Catalyst 2900 series (Layer 2 only) is well priced and has saved us money, compared to buying the considerably more expensive L3 switches.
When we were purchasing the 3700 series, the switches were so expensive we had trouble getting the budget to upgrade them. Make sure you actually need L3 switches at the access level before purchasing them!Omar CamposMany, many years of experience with Cisco Catalyst Switches2018-06-29T15:43:00.177ZCatalyst 3560-CX Series
Catalyst 3650 Series
Catalyst 3850 Series
Other,My company has been using Catalyst Switches since I was hired 10 years ago. We use them for user access, core switching, and data center switching. In the modular series, it is easy to find and purchase any type of interface you need. These switches are extremely stable, easy to maintain and troubleshoot, and Cisco support is always available if there is an issue.,Support for several types of interfaces on a single chassis.
Hardware and software stability. We have some switches on our network that are at least 15 years old.
Ease of implementation and software upgrades.,The price point for some of the modular products, particularly in the 6500 series chassis makes it difficult for some companies to implement. So, competitors sometimes "win" because Cisco is just too expensive.,10,We have not had capital to purchase many switches in the past 5 years. While we can't do a lot of "new" technologies, we haven't NEEDED to replace our switching infrastructure because they are so reliable.
As for ROI, our Cisco 6509s and 4506s have been on our network for at least 7 years. That is much longer than most technology products.,We are looking to virtualization in 2019.,We will also be looking at this in 2019.Jodi Pratt
Unspecified
Cisco Catalyst Switches
160 Ratings
