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Cisco Catalyst Switches vs. Dell PowerSwitch S/Z Series

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco Catalyst Switches

    Score9.3 out of 10
    N/ACisco's Catalyst is one of that company's brand of network switches.N/A

    Dell PowerSwitch S/Z Series

    Score5 out of 10
    N/ABased on the former Force10 switches, the Dell PowerSwitch S and Z Series Ethernet switches are a varied series of data center switches.

    $3,002

    one-time fee (approx)

    Pricing
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesDell PowerSwitch S/Z Series
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    S3124
    $3,002.00
    one-time fee (approx)
    S3124F
    $3,354.00
    one-time fee (approx)
    S4128F-ON
    $6,582.00
    one-time fee (approx)
    S5248F-ON
    $8,918.00
    one-time fee (approx)
    S4148F-ON
    $9,340.00
    one-time fee (approx)
    S4148U-ON
    $11,516.00
    one-time fee (approx)
    S6010-ON
    $11,532.00
    one-time fee (approx)
    S5296F-ON
    $17,689.00
    one-time fee (approx)
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesDell PowerSwitch S/Z Series
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesDell PowerSwitch S/Z Series
    Considered Both Products
    Cisco
    No answer on this topic
    Dell Technologies
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    98%
    Would buy again
    493 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    439 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    494 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    98%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    407 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    98%
    Implementation went as expected
    470 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesDell PowerSwitch S/Z Series
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    RUCKUS Ethernet Switches
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Catalyst 8000 Edge Platforms
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Cisco Ethernet Switches
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesDell PowerSwitch S/Z Series
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.2
    (625 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (31 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    9.5
    (32 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    9.2
    (9 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (8 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.8
    (30 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    7.1
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.4
    (8 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.7
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.2
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    10.0
    (9 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.6
    (30 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    8.9
    (31 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco Catalyst SwitchesDell PowerSwitch S/Z Series
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    I think the most suited ones will be of course, for example, a supermarket where you have more than 50 plus devices because there are like 48 ports in a switch. We can just use a lot of devices and connect them to it. A less use case will be, I think it depends at the end of the day how your topology looks like. If you have a very few devices, you shouldn't be going for these catalyst switches because they are of course much bigger, more processing power and all those things. If you have, again, it comes to topology. If you have the number of users who are using these switches is less than 15, it's less than 15, then you can just go for any other option and not use them.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    Quick system and flexible features allow easy networking within the entire company and the network distribution is excellent and easy via this Dell platform. The easy issues reporting using the production capability is good and also securing the entire organization network from various cyber threats and securing all the business information within the system and even the server performance management capability with the product is excellent.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • One of the things that it does well, it's not something major, but there's a light tracking feature that the 9300 comes with that you can turn on the light and that has become critical in a data center environment where you want to help someone to make sure that you're talking about the same switch, you can turn the light on and off something that is not available in other versions of Cisco switches before the 9300. So it's not as major, but it's quite critical when you're dealing with multiple systems and multiple switches.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    • Improve connectivity
    • Control network coverage
    • Monitor flow of data
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Cisco
    • Functionality. Well, one of the functions that we are missing is a faster route based on OSPF. Other than that, it could provide an upgrade without a hitless upgrade. Well, now it is a very fast upgrade, which is also okay. We had a case when the platform crashed, but that was a specific case. We were happy with this product.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    • To non technical users, training is a must.
    • Managing various created networks for some users.
    • Detecting some network performance issues is also not easy to the beginners.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Cisco
    They are consistently reliable and this switch in particular is a very affordable solution. We can place the Cisco Catalyst 1000 Series Switches gear in areas that we normally would not place a switch because it is affordable enough to make it justifiable. And because it is a reliable solution, we are confident it will continue to provide service over the long haul.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Cisco
    Cisco by and far does a great job with the Catalyst line. From a layer 2 dumb switch all the way up to ISP carrier grade switching within the Catalyst portfolio. The best part about it is command parity among the various tiers of product. The only differences are going to lie in what features are available per switch.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    Cisco
    We have very few is any outages due to a Cisco hardware failure. Some of our gear is exposed to some pretty harsh environments, and they keep on ticking!
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Cisco
    No, the packets flow. Sometimes you will see collisions and broadcast storms can happen which will slow performance but that can be fixed and the packets will flow.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Cisco
    We rarely have issues with the product. I have only had to contact support one time since we put it in and that was to see if another vendor was giving me accurate information on an issue I was having.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    In-Person Training
    Cisco
    Cisco Networking Academy partners with many local Colleges and High Schools to provide great hands-on training. You do need to drive to learn the topic. The in-class session only go so far. You really need to apply this to the real world. Cisco makes it easy for business to connect via CLC or Cisco Learning Credits.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Cisco
    My own personal research to get the information I want is very handy and helped me many times
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Cisco
    The implementation of the Cisco Catalyst 1000 Series Switches is fairly seamless, especially if you are familiar with Cisco products. We have had Brocade switch gear in place too, and the differences between the manufacturers [are] not a major issue.
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    We do have other vendors. For example, Juniper, Fortinet, and there are quite a few others. And Cisco is pretty good because we know the workflow, we know how the operating system works. We are much more familiar with Cisco products and we know the support system behind it. So in terms of comparing with others, I think it stands out. It's one of our top products to go to
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    Due to Dell EMC powerswitch s series have reliable and flexible connevtivity and easily integrated with current system of organization and provided solution we are looking for within friendly budget. Data flow managing help us to customize data within time enable to get report timely and increased overall performance and production of the organization
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Cisco
    We are exclusive Cisco at our organization. In truth part of the reason is, with one type of switch and one manufacturer, it is easier to support. It is also easier to give consistent training to our staff in our tech department
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • energy costs dropped by around 11 per cent on the access layer
    • management has become easier with DNA Center
    • ISSU software upgrades and fabric deployments have significantly reduced "planned" down times
    • network speed has increased, latency is at an all-time best within our own LAN
    Incentivized
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    Dell Technologies
    • Great tool to secure the entire business network.
    • Effective issues management within the company networking systems.
    • Data easy management and transportation through the secure environment.
    • Reporting is good and easy.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Cisco Catalyst Switches Screenshots

    Product screenshotScreenshot of Catalyst 9200 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9300 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9400 SeriesScreenshot of Catalyst 9400 Series Additional ViewScreenshot of Catalyst 9500 Series