Cisco Catalyst 9600--Secure, Reliable, Stable
May 03, 2021

Cisco Catalyst 9600--Secure, Reliable, Stable

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches

  • Catalyst 2960 X/XR Series
Layer-2 switch environment for WAN (connection of 19 locations back to the main data center). The connection is over Fiber backbone provided by a third party, with a network comprised of 12 VLANs. Once configured and deployed, Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches have provided stable, secure, and reliable connections for all clients back to the main data center.
  • Support of VLAN architecture that in our environment is somewhat complicated
  • Interface well with Fiber backbone provided by third party
  • Secure configuration and operation of network infrastructure
  • Uptime has been outstanding with no outages noted
  • Programming is different from other providers; this has caused some issues with staffing
  • The training opportunities do not provide the basics of programming or migration from other vendors' products.
  • Unless you are willing to purchase renewed switches, cost can be out of line with other vendors
  • Negative impact, difficult to find seasoned Cisco network admins at city government pay scales.
  • Difficult to find operational training (not cert training) for seasoned IT personnel to bring them up to speed for supporting the Cisco infrastructure.
  • Positive impact on network uptime and reliability in a WAN environment--over 50 units deployed have had zero down time.
  • Once configured, the environment appears to be secure and VLAN assignment straightforward.
We have not deployed any of these capabilities, due to the loss of a network administrator and inability to attract a replacement based on our municipal salary scale. When we do hire, we will begin to investigate the automation, scaling, and most certainly the analytics to determine if our deployment is optimal.
We have utilized the stacking of switches to allow for better management. This allows for remote management in a clean, easy-to-use format. Regarding customization, the only thing we are currently using is up to 15 VLANs per switch/stack. This allows us to secure areas of our network and data allowing only those with known needs to access.

Do you think Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches's feature set?

Yes

Did Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches again?

Yes

For the less appropriate installations, I would say that a smaller, less well funded organization would be hard pressed to justify the expense and possibly find it difficult to staff appropriately for deployment of Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches. Since the Cisco OS is so specialized and different from other vendors, a person with Cisco experience is required to properly configure. If the deployment does not require VLANs or segregation of data paths, using the switches in default mode will work, however there are less expensive options that will also provide connectivity.

Cisco Catalyst 9600 Series Switches are well suited for a robust environment, whether it is a simple LAN with multiple VLANS or a complex WAN environment with a multitude of drops. Security and reliability continue to be a strong benefit in this type of deployment.