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Cisco Catalyst 9k Review
December 04, 2019

Cisco Catalyst 9k Review

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches

  • Catalyst 9400 Series
We use these 9407 switches to aggregate LAN to WAN connections and as discrete data center switches in a secure environment.
  • Fit nicely into our use case
  • Routing
  • Switching
  • Software needs improvement, where features are added (Stack wise) or removed (GLBP) without solicitation from a wider audience or depreciation, respectively
  • Software bugs recently in basic features like AAA
  • Ability to turn off all unused services or features to reduce the attack surface
  • Cisco CoPP functionality is not like it was on the Cat 6k platform - users cannot create custom policies for use at the control-plane interface
  • Serious setbacks on project schedules due to software quality issues
  • Loss of confidence from the business when we deploy buggy software into production
  • Wasted time and frustration with the 9k licensing model
We cannot even get basic features to work, so no. We would like to be able to turn off all these bells and whistles when they're not in use.
I don't understand how this is provided, please let me know if you know who can help me.
Cisco is embedded into our environment, introducing a new vendor takes time from supply chain, development, NERC CIP certification, and IT support perspectives. We will look at these options in the future so we can be flexible when Cisco is no longer the right fit for our organization.
Cisco Catalyst Switches are well suited for those that enjoy software headaches and double-dipping support contracts (SmartNet and DNA Advantage). Cisco introduced the platform without clear documentation on licensing (our involvement was the onus for Cisco to create clear documentation at the cost of our time and frustration), configurations (dropping GLBP yet allowing it to be configured), features (selling us Stack Wise as replacement for GLBP) or intentions (we purchased the 9407 to replace a currently supported 6509 and literally a week or two after purchase, Cisco dropped the 9600 series as the replacement for the 6500-E series). The pains in Cisco licensing, software quality and lack of transparency in regards to hardware and features is disheartening.