Fairly stable and easy to operate - but I haven't any experience with other brands, so I don't have anything to compare with. Fairly fast in the OS. Easy to upgrade - but with some SW issues. Sometimes clearing of log folders is needed. Access to bash is cool. Tips & cool tricks for operations could be nice to share.
HPE Networking Switches are great for most any scenario. They are great with low network load and also high network load. They are not exactly the cheapest solution, so they aren't suited for budget conscious users. They are made to work 24/7 with no interruptions, and they have lived up to that promise for us.
Maintenance, upgrades, and software certification can be performed without service interruptions because of the modular nature of NX-OS and features such as In-Service Software Upgrade (ISSU) and the capability for processes to restart dynamically
FabricPath:
Enables each device to build an overall view of the topology; this is similar to other link state routing protocols. Each device in the FabricPath topology is identified by a switch-id. The Layer 2 forwarding tables are built based on reachability to each switch-id, not by the MAC address. Eliminates spanning-tree to maximize network bandwidth and flexibility in topological configurations, as well as simplify operational support and configuration. This enables a tremendous amount of flexibility on the topology because you can now build FabricPath topologies for Layer 2-based networks the same as for Layer 3-based networks
Overlay Transport Virtualization (OTV): Enables the Layer 2 extension between distributed data centers over any transport Layer 3 network
Implementing jumbo frames on interfaces of its fabric extender series (N2k, etc.) by editing the network QoS does not have to be a global configuration that would affect all its interfaces. It can be improved to become just an interface configuration.
Licensing on the NXOS is a bit complicated and expensive. I understand that the Nexus is made for core data center switching but it does not have to break the bank.
OTV technology is for Nexus only. Based on the advantage of the technology, it should be made vendor-neutral to accommodate other vendor devices.
The Enterprise management software always seemed less intuitive than the default software.
More of the parts could be supported across a wider variety of models.
Add-on modules should be cheaper than buying a new switch with modules already installed. So they could really do to serve their customers better with pricing options.
We will use it for a long time, since they are switches with great capacity and positive results, they promote the perfect operation of our data center, I always recommend them, because they are switches with good results.
The Cisco Nexus Series Switches platform is similar to other ios or ios-xe switches that we manage even though it offers a much more datacenter specific features. The skills to manage this platform can easily translate and transfer on other Cisco switches. Syntax might be a bit different than other Cisco Switches operating systems, but overall it is not an issue. Cisco Nexus Series Switches also have ISSU upgrade process that was a really nice feature that IOS or Catalyst switch platform lacks and this was the feature we really like as we can upgrade to a new version with less thing to worry about.
These switches are very fast. They've been designed to work within the data center. We connect them to Cisco UCS-B Mini servers with the storage being directly attached. They are able to handle the data traffic pretty easily. We can also move servers pretty fast from data center to data center without overloading them. This has allowed our company to stay running during any kind of conditional outage. We have come to really rely on them for business continuity.
Overall, Cisco has great products and I believe that they believe in the philosophy of a great customer experience. Although there have been a few technical support issues that caused a lot of company anxiety, in most cases, Cisco has gone above and beyond in making a valiant effort to help the customer solve any issues.
We have had very little experience with support and nothing for years really. But when we have needed support we always got what we needed in a timely fashion. Basically good support that you would expect from an enterprise class business. Definitely less hoops to jump through getting help or parts than their desktop or printer divisions.
The Cisco 9000 stacks up quite well against the Cisco Catalyst 3850 switches. The additional features available in the Nexus 9000, such as VPN, FCoE, 40 gigabits, give us the ability to support the future needs of the company in our data center. The Nexus 9000 allowed us to condense our core and aggregation environment that comprised of 2 Catalyst 6504 and 2 Catalyst 6509 to a port of Nexus 9000. Although the Catalyst 3850 would be sufficient to handle routing, those features in the Nexus 9000 made it the clear choice for us.
HP is a Great balance of everything you need, from cost, quality, and manageability. I have worked with Cisco, Dell, and Ubiquiti, as well as many other brands. Each come with their own Pros and Cons, but are all good products. In the end, I go with HP because the product has never done me wrong. Perception is everything. Downtime makes people question the credibility of the IT managing the systems. HP has never put me in a bad spot where the quality of IT is questioned.
The Nexus 3000 series switches are data center switches, so I would say they have similar security ability to other switches in this segment. I don't have a lot of experience doing more than basic ACL security on switches, but I know these can be integrated into other security solutions like Cisco ISE and 802.1x authentication. It could also be integrated into an ACI solution to add micro segmentation, which would bring in other security functions.
I really like the idea of paying for the switches one time and just pay for support going forward. The prices are on the high end but I think it is worth it. I wish they would include all the features in one go so we would not have to pay for every new feature.