Feature, future potential and use cases of Cisco Catalyst 9500 switches
June 27, 2019

Feature, future potential and use cases of Cisco Catalyst 9500 switches

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches

We are currently using CAT 9500-40X and 9500-32C at our campus and branches. The switches are used at either distribution or core layer.
  • It supports programmability
  • It supports 10, 40, 100 Gig interfaces
  • It can be used as fusion router in the SDA deployment
  • 9500-32C is not supported in the DNA
  • There are some bugs on the stackwise virtual stacking uses. The stacks get splitted and manual reboot is required to fix it
  • I think it has potential for future use. We can even run the guestshell on it. So, if you want to run container environment, it fits well.
  • Also, they are good if the plan is to use programmability and API to manage/maintain the switches.
We haven't used any virtualization and programmability features of the CAT 9500 yet. However, we are planning to use programming/API to configure and manage the switches. Right now we are using DNA Center for automating the switches deployment.
Other than using the DNA center to manage/configure the switches, we haven't used any advanced customization and manageability features of the CAT 9500 switches.
I have used H3C 7500 and H3C 5800 at the distribution and core layer of the network. Also from Cisco product family, CAT 4500 and 6500 series switches.
Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches is well suited if the requirement is for fiber ports. The Catalyst 9500 Series Switches has only fiber ports. The chip sets on the 9500 series switches are powerful. So, they are recommended on the aggregation layer on the larger deployment at the campus or branches. However, they are not suited if there are requirements for copper ports and traffic load is not huge.

Cisco Catalyst Addtional Questions

  • It is suitable at the distribution and core layer of the large sites
  • It can be used as the SDA fabric switch
  • It has high processing power to handle the heavy switching and routing loads
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Existing Relationship with the Vendor
The main reason is existing relationship with the vendor. So, you trusted the product after doing some POC with the switches.
I will recommend to use DNA PNP feature to provision the switches and use Day-N template to configure the remaining configuration.
As they are our existing vendor, it is very easy to work with them.
They are attentive in the post-sale as that of pre-sale.
We didn't use the advance services. We occasionally got the help from the different levels of Cisco support but not advance services.

Using Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches

30 - All of the users are network engineers.
30 - We have resources with different levels (Level 1 to Level 4) of knowledge.
  • Only innovative ways we have used so far is using DNA center to provision the switches
  • In the future we want to use the API and programmability features of the switches to automate the network infrastructure
Based on the site load and requirements, the switches meets our processing and fiber ports requirements. Also they have great potential for future programmability options we are looking into.

Evaluating Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches and Competitors

Yes - We replaced some H3C 7500 switches with CAT 9500-40X
Of course the switches are costly. Yes, we could look into cheaper whitebox solutions.

Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches Support

ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
Yes - It has not been resolved yet. The case was regarding DNA not supporting Cat 9500-32C.
They are very responsive for the TAC cases. I am very happy with their responses.
Cisco TAC engineers are very responsive and supportive.

Using Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches

ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • If used as the legacy networking, it is not complex
  • Be careful if you want to use stackwise virtual. Due to the bug, the stack will be split and you have to reboot the switch manually
It has great potential. It can support 10, 40, 100 Gig ports. The chipset are high processing capabilities.