These switches perform amazingly at the access layer, aggregate, or even as a router. Solid performance, reliable, and cost-effective. Support is first class with both their onsite support and telephone support. The ability to Interop with any other vendor without difficult administration or clumsy CLI/WebGUI.
Pros
Reliability
Scalable
Dual Flash
Cons
Documentation
Built in Help for commands
Consistency between models
Likelihood to Recommend
I love this switch for access and aggregate, especially due to the lack of needing reboots. [Other systems require this] reliable and stable platform.
Verified User
Professional in Information Technology (201-500 employees)
We have standardized the use of Ruckus ICX switches throughout the entire company. The business problems addressed by Ruckus ICX switches are that they are easier to configure than our Cisco switches were, they are easy to place into a logical stack, and they have an extremely wallet-friendly price point. They've done everything we've asked them to do. The transition from Brocade to Ruckus (company) was smooth and transparent. Both Brocade and Ruckus have excellent support.
Pros
They are relatively easy to configure and to maintain.
They have all of the high-end configuration capabilities as Cisco switches.
The switches have excellent performance and reliability.
Cons
I don't particularly care for some of the licensing complexity.
When you first power on the switches, they are quite loud. This might be minor if the switches are all in a server room but some of ours are in user areas and it's quite offputting when we reboot or power cycle a switch.
I wish that more than 12 switches could be in a stack. It seems like an arbitrary limitation.
Likelihood to Recommend
I'm not sure of a situation where Ruckus ICX switches wouldn't be appropriate unless you work in a very small company where you only have one or two switches and don't need managed (smart) switches. For every other situation, I think the switches are robust enough and certainly cost-effective enough to serve most any situation or need.
We use Ruckus ICX switches in a managed environment for VLANs. We have a VMware environment, and use the hosts to the SAN through the ICX switches 10GB ports. The 1GB ports connect through to our F5 load balancers and from there to our Cisco firewalls. We created VLANs for the host to SAN connections to direct traffic specifically between them. We set up management ports to manage via the GUI. Although the CLI is what I use primarily, it's nice to see the GUI for stats when I am watching other parts or that network. Otherwise, I use unused ports for hooking unmanaged equipment into my network.
Pros
VLANs are easily set up, via the GUI or Command line interface.
The 10 GB ports work flawlessly.
The commands are easy enough to learn.
Cons
Licensing for the 10GB ports is a bit pricey, but that was 5 years ago, so things may have changed
The CLI commands are slightly different than typical Cisco commands
Their rack mounting was not the prettiest in the world
Likelihood to Recommend
Creating VLANs for Vmware (or any virtualized environment) is exactly what these are meant for. You need this type of equipment in those environments to function. We are a production 24/7 environment, and the reliability and service (speed, low error rate) make these switches ideal for this environment. If you don't need a managed switch environment, like an internal network with minimal security where no separation of LAN is needed, you don't need these. BUT looking back on previous work environments I was in, with older technology where we didn't have these types of switches, since using them I see places we could have improved network performance and had security that was not available without managed switches where we could segregate work processes
Verified User
Manager in Information Technology (51-200 employees)
These are in use in two small Catholic schools that I personally service. These units are the only vendor used at one school, and a secondary switching solution. The E-rate discounts for the Ruckus ICX switches were incredibly good (80%), which was a huge drive for the technology upgrades. It addresses issues of port density, speed, and connectivity.
Pros
Port Density/cost per port
Some models auto-stack, which makes connectivity much easier
The E-rate discounts for education are AMAZING
Cons
Changing VLANs can be painful
trunk and port channel setups are quite difficult
Better web interface
POE - Needs to be set to auto by default
Likelihood to Recommend
Ruckus ICX switches are fantastic for schools, and other locations where new equipment is required but cost is a factor. They are also good for core switching replacements when Cisco is too outlandishly expensive.
Verified User
Professional in Information Technology (1001-5000 employees)
