Item: Cisco Nexus Series Switches
Rating: 10
Author: Olivier Desnoë

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use Nexus 9000 switches to transport video and audio in replacement of SDI technology, using the IPFM Cisco setup. Media is transported within sites and also across site, as well as with partners.

Pros and Cons

multicast
routing
time synchronization

NETCONF
telemetry
CLI

Return on Investment

Lower inter-site costs compared to SDI
Higher throughput
Media is available easily

Alternatives Considered

Juniper MX Series

Juniper has a much much better NETCONF/YANG implementation that I regret. But for transport 2110 media flows, I trust Cisco Nexus 9000 switches.

Other Software Used

Netbox, Grafana, Cisco 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers (ASR 9000)

Likelihood to Recommend

Cisco Nexus 9000 has everything you may need.

Key Differentiators

Product Features
Product Reputation
Prior Experience with the Product

NBM feature on Cisco Nexus 9000 is a very important feature for us to avoid congestion in our network.

Network bandwith protection and PTP quality are the top most features. So I would start by just filtering the equipments that do not fit these 2 requirements. Then, in this domain, reputation is the also a very important thing to compare. Then, streaming telemetry would be the next item I would compare, as well as network configuration API like NETCONF. Of course price and support would be also important.

Implementation Rating

10

Start simple, use a central configuration repository, optimize then.

Implementation Details / Implementation Partner

Implemented in-house

Implementation Phases

No

Change Management Lessons

Change management was minimal

Implementation Issues

Configuration had to be automated for consistency
Rebooting so that TCAM carving takes effect

Support Rating

10

All the cases I opened at the TAC were successfully answered, some of them were very technical. We also have a great pre-sales team.

Cisco Nexus Series Switches Customer Support Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved Kept well informed No escalation required Immediate help available Support cares about my success Quick Initial Response	None

Pros	Cons
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar	None

Easy Tasks

Routing protocols
PTP
Visore.html on NX-API

Difficult Tasks

telemetry
NETCONF/YANG
CLI

Great for Media transport

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Nexus Series Switches

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

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

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

Did implementation of Cisco Nexus Series Switches go as expected?

Would you buy Cisco Nexus Series Switches again?

Using Cisco Nexus Series Switches

Evaluating Cisco Nexus Series Switches and Competitors

Cisco Nexus Series Switches Implementation

Cisco Nexus Series Switches Support

Using Cisco Nexus Series Switches