TrustRadius
Cisco's Catalyst is one of that company's brand of network switches.https://dudodiprj2sv7.cloudfront.net/product-logos/yc/hA/F0JDW2AQTDDO.JPEGCiscoCatalyst for the rest of us2018-03-30T10:34:41.708ZCatalyst 2960 X/XR Series
Catalyst 3650 Series,We are currently using the Catalyst series in our Core, Distribution, and Access Layer network design. It is used in the majority of the organization across multiple locations.
We were looking to segment our network as we transitioned from a small organization to a larger one. It allowed us to get a better understanding of the needs of our end users, implement appropriate security mechanisms and make network management easier.
Our newest scope for re-design is to stack several devices and allow even easier management and reduce the need for loop detection mechanisms.
Update:
We just deployed the a couple Catalyst 3650 Stackwise-160 and the migration was almost flawless from the 3560-x series (standalone). The only issue is that we are experiencing a LACP etherchannel which will explain more further down. We have replaced all our HP access layer switches with the 2960-X POE.,Management and administration
Documentation
Integration with the rest of Cisco's product lines
Community support
Hardware design and layout,Price. There are competitors that provide similar service levels at the most reasonable prices.
The innovation of emerging technology in areas of network management and integration.
Model numbers can be confusing when wanting to find exactly what you need.
Cisco IOS feature sets are even more confusing than the model numbers
Be ware of IOS bug(s) that could affect your infrastructure. But every vendor will have them,8,Return on investment compared to a reduced time of management has improved our overalls goals on network management
Being a small-mid size organization it can stretch our budget when we implement new initiatives
Even those not on the network have the ability manage these devices due to documentation and IOS command structure
The new stack makes the management of multiple devices quite easy. Yes I know not a new concept, but doing it well is not something all vendors can do
The tools and options available naively in the Cisco IOS gives us more troubleshooting options and usually quicker than some 3rd party options.,We haven't really dived into automation nor analytics with this line, but Our VMware admins love the Cisco Discovery Protocol compatibility that is used with vCenter. They are able to to tell the network setup without having to bother the network admins.
Due to the partnerships with VMware there are also other efficiencies that we could use, like the Nexus series, however I just don't have the budget nor manpower to implement.,Cisco does a fantastic job with allowing you to customize just about any feature you may need to and more. The command line interface is robust and advanced so you know that this is not a port from the web UI.
We have also configured all our devices with a snmp monitor and the amount of data we get from the Cisco devices is far more superior to other vendors that we have.,Extreme Ethernet Switches,Foglight for Virtualization, PRTG Network Monitor, VMware ESXi, VMware vCenter Server,Interface management
remote admin / ssh / console security,web access
delegate access to lower tier support,No,8Graham MurisonCatalyst 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.,,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.,Product Usability
Product Reputation
Prior Experience with the Product
Vendor Reputation
Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor,Number one recommendation hands down is ensure that you secure the devices from the get go. The obvious things like not using default vlans. Don't advertise CDP on edge ports. Only allow VLANs you need on your trunks rather than all vlans. Use DHCP Snooping, ARP Inspection, the list goes on and on. There are tons of best practices guides out there for hardening catalyst switches. But these are a few of the recommendations I can make right off the top of my head.,10,10,10,We did not engage in any Cisco services. We purchased the product, configured it, and installed it all ourselves. Cisco does offer a great portfolio of services, we just didn't personally have a need for any of their offerings. We have since looked at other products and used other services not directly related to Catalyst switches and have nothing but good things to say.,10,,4,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.,10,Yes,Honestly if we had to do it again I don't think that we'd change anything about how we evaluated and selected the product. Cisco is the gold standard leader in switching and still continues to hold a majority of the market share. We did look at other vendors during our evaluation and selection process but none of them even came close to being able to offer the usability of the catalyst line for us.,10,No - there is no facility to customize the interface,Yes - we have added extensive custom code,We didn't add anything special to our Catalyst switches other than the AutoSmart ports. The switches do offer a lot of feature sets that we don't currently utilize in our space. As mentioned in other sections of my review the Catalyst line is vast, from layer 2 switching all the way up to ISP carrier class. They really do have a switch that can fit just about any need.,Yes,No,When we first installed the Catalyst series switches at one of our high schools we were having problems with multicasting over wireless. We contacted TAC and were immediately escalated to a tier 2 engineer. The engineer spent a majority of his work day on a call with us to help us resolve the issue. By the end of the call we had resolved our initial issue as well as resolved a couple more that we didn't even know we had. The engineer went above and beyond what was expected!,Out of the box configuration is pretty straight forward using the in software setup wizard if you choose to go that route.
Setting up vlans and interface policies are pretty straight forward.
The CLI in general is pretty easy to navigate. Utilizing the ? feature and tab completion, you can complete just about any task with little effort.,Not neccesarily difficult but more time consuming is the the programming of the macros for AutoSmart ports. However, once configured they work quite well and will save you a lot of time in the long run.
Multicast can be a bear, but the same as above, once you get it working, it's rock solid.,No,10Matthew CableCisco Catalyst LAN Switches2018-01-26T15:56:19.580ZCatalyst 2960 X/XR Series
Catalyst 3560-CX Series,The Cisco Catalyst Switch is used for many purposes in our various departments around our organizations. Each location has a multilayer switch that can do routing as well. Users LANs are able to connect to them from their distribution switches to the core switch to gain connectivity to the network or other departments. In terms of Networks, this has helped a lot,Connects various switches via trunks for network accessibility to departments
Ability to do routing network packets
VLANS for departments have been created successfully
Servers, printer and PCs have been able to connect to the each other via the Cisco Switch,It is quite expensive. Most Cisco switches are not cheap and organizations usually focus on Cisco certifications especially the CCIE for cost reduction.,10,Expansion has been made in our organization. We recently use a 24 port switch but as the company grew, we required a more robust switch
Core switches are able to do MPLS to reach other locations
Most switches are now 48 port and support fiber ports not only Gigabit ports,My organisation does more of voice and data . All switches in my organisatiom act as core switches and distribution switches for end users, computers and voice phones.
Virtualisation and all are done on our internal servers. The organisation does not support automation as well.,All switches in the orgainsation only performs routing, Switching and VLAN
Management of dhcp sessions are also done on multilayers switches but only for few sites outside the organisations.,Cisco RoutersOlumayowa MosuroCatalyst All the Way!2018-05-21T18:34:41.190ZCatalyst 2960 X/XR Series,We 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!
I like the way Catalyst implements vlans; very easy and straightforward
I like the stacking capability of Catalyst. it's very easy to configure and you are now managing a single switch, composed of multiple switches,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!
Since we are a Cisco shop, the Catalyst works exceptionally well with our Cisco CallManager, Nexus switches, and wireless environment,We have not had the opportunity to do SDN, so we currently manage all switches individually. However, I'm sure that's coming in the fairly near future. We could definitely use some automation on our network. We also have not done much with analytics at this point.,No UI needed for this product! The command line is very easy to navigate, making the switches easy to manage. When they are stacked, they are even easier to manage since you're only managing a single switch rather than say 4. They are easy to configure and even easier to maintain. They are very well made and last at least 10 years from my experience. We have not done customization with these however.Omar CamposCatalyst switches in enterprise networks2018-06-13T19:15:16.588ZCatalyst 3850 Series
Catalyst 6800 Series,They are used as access and distribution switches. They are used in enterprise networks and also data centers management networks. In general, they are really stable.,Access switches
Colapse Core switch
Many redundancy functions, depending on the model, there are stacks, VSS, even working separately provide L3 redundancy with HSRP for example,Maybe interference speed, the highest I have seen is 10Gbps. Nexus is working in 40 Gbps and even 100 Gbps,9,They are really stable
An investment for years
Great support and knowledge for lots of engineers,Not really. I would like to actually.,Well, at least I have not seen that customization, they basically do what they were made to do. Regarding manageability, it is OK, a CLI would be the best option to manage them.,,Network access
Data Center Core switches,Product Features
Product Usability
Product Reputation,Reduncay always in mind,9,10,10,Yes, for pricing. Nice recomendations,10,30,30,Basically network connectivity, maybe full rendundancy,Network connectivity,10,Yes,Network Programability,Yes,When I open a case and after so many days they realized what the issue was, it took a long while, but the tech support was patient,Relatively simple to set up,Implementing new features which are not part of the normal usage,10Bryan Valverde Piedra
Unspecified
Cisco Catalyst Switches
203 Ratings
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