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Small/Mid Tier Enterprise and Cisco 9500 series switches.
December 14, 2020

Small/Mid Tier Enterprise and Cisco 9500 series switches.

Daniel Aldridge | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches

  • Catalyst 9500 Series
These [Cisco Catalyst] 9500C-40X units are used for high speed link aggregation and for small scale data center core switching. The main problem these switches resolved was a small scale solution to the lack of 40Gbps+ stand alone interconnect networking.
  • Documentation
  • Support
  • Stability
  • Ease of configuration
  • The 9500C does not have dedicated stackwise, in order to stack these switches you must consume some of the available ports on the switch itself.
  • Virtual Stackwise is a little cumbersome to configure and get running properly
  • The newest iteration of Catalyst switches REQUIRE the DNA licensing platform, even though it will not be used.
  • These switches did require a purchase of the DNA license on top of standard switch licensing, even if the functions are no needed in the environment.
  • The increased SFP & QSFP connectivity enabled for faster processing within our compute environment. While the system is too new to quantify the value added in this, it undeniably will help with its ROI.
The 9000 series of switches do require the purchase of DNA licensing, even though you and your organization do not currently or many not even intend to use it in the future. The realization of this certainly made for a pause when considering the product. If you are a larger organization that stands up racks of equipment monthly, these features will certainly be for you. But for small to mid sized organizations may see very little value added from this required expense.
We do not utilize any of these functions in our organization. None that have been explored seem to provide any benefit over typical management/monitoring mechanisms in the small/mid tier enterprise.

Do you think Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches's feature set?

Yes

Did Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches again?

Yes

The [Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switches] is very well suited for datacenter core and distribution models, they work very well as a replacement for the 3850 switches that many smaller organizations use for core switching. The Catalyst 9500 series switches also works very well as a top of rack aggregation switch for SFP and QSFP connectivity.