Cisco Catalyst vs Nexus: Which Switch is Right for You?

In today’s digitally connected world, network infrastructure is the backbone of business operations. Smooth functioning of enterprises through high-performance, secure, and scalable switches has become vital to meet the emerging digital applications. Cisco has two of the most famous switching product lines: the Cisco Catalyst and the Cisco Nexus, and they get compared when a business wants to upgrade or when implementing new networking solutions.

This blog breaks down the real-world differences between these two families and introduces you to select models such as the C9300-48P-E, C9300-24T-A, N5K-C5624Q-RF, and N7K-SUP2-RF available at ITDBay, a trusted source for certified new and refurbished Cisco hardware

Understanding the Role of Cisco Catalyst Switches

The Cisco Catalyst switches are standard switches to use for campus and enterprise network installations. They are constructed to be flexible, scalable, and power-efficient. The switches are built on wired/wireless convergence with support of Power over Ethernet (PoE) and deep visibility, segmentation, and automation.

C9300 Series is one of the top brands in the Catalyst family. For example:

• Cisco C9300-48P-E provides 48 PoE+ ports, and so, it is a good fit in office environments where a deployment is required to support IP phones, wireless access points, and security cameras. It is one of the stackable enterprise switches of Cisco, designed to support security, IoT, and cloud solutions.

• Cisco C9300-24T-A is a 24-port device that suits organizations that require access switching that has greater Layer 3 features but that do not need PoE. It fits well in secure and fast workstation connectivity in small and mid-sized applications.

Catalyst switches have high campus LANs. Catalysts offer high reliability and support of wired/wireless convergence, as well as end-to-end management through Cisco DNA Center.

Diving into Cisco Nexus Switches

Whereas Catalyst is used in the enterprise edge and campus networks, Cisco Nexus switches application is in the data centers and core networks. The switches are designed to provide high performance, ultra-low latency, and intense integration with virtualization and the cloud-saving environment.

Two elite models of Nexus are worth exploring:

• N5K-C5624Q-RF is a data center-class switch that offers 10/40 Gigabit Ethernet unified ports capabilities deployed in data centers. Perfect in a dense server setting, it facilitates the extensibility of the fabric and scalable virtual networking.

• The N7K-SUP2-RF is a supervisor engine within the Nexus 7000 range of products. An engine is designed to support a large-scale data centre architecture. It promotes high availability, virtual device contexts (VDCs), and system-level redundancy, ensuring that you have complete control over multi-tenant environments.

Nexus switches excel at networks that need high throughput speed, multi-layer mandation, and automation such as VXLAN and Cisco ACI.

Deployment Environments and Use Cases

Whether you would prefer to work with Catalyst or Nexus, it is mostly dependent on which environment you would like to deploy it in.

Where Cisco Catalyst Excels:

• Enterprise and campus access switching
• Customers who need Power over Ethernet (PoE/PoE+)
• Integrated infrastructure: wired/wireless Unified wired and wireless infrastructure
• Small-to-mid-size networking and branch offices

An instance of this is the case of having a corporate office with VoIP phones and wireless APs, deploying the C9300-48P-E is quite beneficial as it is capable of powering and providing secure access at the same time.

Where Cisco Nexus Stands Out:

• High-performance computing servers
• Virtual infrastructure based on technologies such as VXLAN and NVGRE
• DevOps in Clouds and SDN-Needing Clouds
• Aggregation layers and the core of large enterprises

A data center with important virtual workloads that require bare-metal servers may use the N5K-C5624Q-RF to provide very-low latency and increased density of the port, or the N7K-SUP2-RF to serve the data center orchestration centrally.

Key Architectural Differences

Cisco Catalyst family and Nexus family have a difference in their architecture, and this will influence their use.

• Catalyst switches are powered by Cisco IOS XE, offering features such as secure access, Layer 3 routing, and PoE capabilities.

• Nexus switches operate on Cisco NX-OS, which is optimized using data center switches that also have a modular software structure, rigid support for virtualization, and excellent resiliency.

Catalyst is designed around access and distribution, whereas Nexus is appropriate in the capacity of core and aggregation functions in high-speed scenarios.

Performance and Virtualization

There is increased performance gain with Nexus switches. They support technology such as VXLAN and are designed with multi-core processors that make them allow quick deployment of services. Dynamic workloads and unified fabric are supported by models such as the N5K-C5624Q-RF, which minimize overhead and reduce cabling.

Or a catalyst switch like the C9300-24T-A, which will not support the same level of hardware-based virtualization or programmability as Nexus. Nevertheless, Catalyst exceeds requirements in terms of the performance of office and campus LANs.

Security and PoE Support

Both platforms embed security differently:

• Catalyst switches include TrustSec, MACsec, 802.1X port-based access control, and deep Cisco ISE integration.

• Nexus is concerned with data center security, where its micro-segmentation and virtual firewalls are used, and the data center is connected to ACI to administer network control on a policy basis.

Catalyst is the undisputed leader as far as Power over Ethernet is concerned. Switches such as the C9300-48P-E will provide full PoE+ at all ports and are an excellent fit for networks rich in IoT. The nexus switches usually lack poe with the fact that they are used to link to servers and high-speed infrastructure.

Cost Considerations

Although the cost will depend on configurations and licensing options, the switch price given by Catalyst tends to be a lower entry cost, as well as being more affordable to small to medium-sized businesses.

Nexus switches are more expensive to invest in, but they offer scalability in their performance and reliability that is needed in critical data centers. Buying refurbished Nexus hardware, such as the N7K-SUP2-RF, can be a cost-effective way to access top-tier hardware at a lower price.

Making the Right Choice

Cisco Catalyst switches and Nexus switches are two products you can choose to use in your network, depending on the architecture of your network and the business objectives you want to achieve:

• Use Cisco Catalyst when you require office, school, or branch networks, where PoE is required. The C9300-48P-E or C9300-24T-A is a good beginning.

• Use Cisco Nexus when you need high throughput, virtualized settings, and scalable data center design. N5K-C5624Q-RF and N7K-SUP2-RF can be used to future-proof your data center.

Conclusion

The right switch can drastically impact the performance, security, and scalability of your network. While Cisco Catalyst switches provide a robust foundation for campus networks and offices, Cisco Nexus switches are built to handle the demands of next-generation data centers and high-speed infrastructure.

At ITDBay, you can purchase the original Cisco switches in their current and renewed versions that fulfill the demands of business at any level. Looking to upgrade the access layer or to optimize your data center fabric, ITDBay is here to assist you in making the best, cost-effective decisions.