Dell PowerConnect Switches (discontinued) vs. NVIDIA Spectrum Switches

We work in the electric industry. These should not be used in a high-heat environment. We like to keep the temperature of the room in the low 60's so they are not suited for our Substation locations due to extreme heat and cold. However, they perform great in a server room.

Incentivized

Well suited: HCI Infrastructure as a high-performance platform for storage traffic TOR or Network Backbone Less appropriate: Client Access switches

Incentivized

• Dell provides good support for the PowerConnect line
• The PowerConnect switches are easily managed
• The PowerConnect switches are reliable and can fit a wide variety of environments

Incentivized

• open platform for use with e.g. Cumulus OS
• cost effective
• excellent support

Incentivized

• I've had fans burn out after the warranty period. In a way that is a positive and tells you just how long the fans last. However, it would be nice if the fans lasted a bit longer.
• In a perfect world, it would be nice if the switches were not so loud.

Incentivized

• Interoperability with other vendors
• Bugs

Incentivized

The Dell PowerConnect switch is a great switch in certain use cases. It really works well when training users to set up their own vlans in a technology class. We have a lot of different scenarios happening at this company, with 8 different buildings and multiple different affiliate entities. For some of the departments, the budget is the most crucial element. That is where the Dell PowerConnect switches are a really great option.

Incentivized

Dell ProSupport is outstanding. Dell ProDeploy is likewise outstanding. I prefer them even over traditional Cisco support. I've had repeated cases where Dell immediately addressed or fixed an issue with US-based support, including firmware hotfixes. Not even Cisco can boast that.

Incentivized

I selected Dell mainly due to previous experience using them in a business environment. I've never had a unit fail on me and when my budget for equipment like network switches has been less than a training class on how to use those switches, it's incredible to be able to find quality equipment at the price point Dell offers and even more so when their enterprise support has been as excellent as I have been accustomed to dealing with. In all honesty, even if I had a larger budget, I would have bought these same switches since they were exactly what I needed to suit my needs. We looked into HPE/Aruba network switches, and while they would have performed everything we needed and more, they were almost four times the cost of these Dell network switches. That's a hard sell when it comes to planning a tight budget.

Incentivized

Broadcom is quicker is rolling out newer chipset and hardware. But NVIDIA Mellanox has better system integration due to its purchase of Cumulus OS.

Incentivized

• Massive decrease in network-related incidents
• Downtime close to zero
• Due to the robustness (and reductions that they can provide), MTBF is high and coherent, creating the possibility of effective preventive actions

Incentivized

• Overall seamless integration into the datacenter
• Better cost per port so higher ROI

Incentivized