Catalyst All the Way!
Updated January 08, 2019
Catalyst All the Way!
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Modules Used
- Cisco Catalyst 2960 X/XR Series
Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Catalyst Switches
- Catalyst 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?
- 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.