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Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches

Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches

Overview

What is Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches?

Cisco offers the Catalyst 9400 enterprise series of LAN switches.

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Recent Reviews

Easy and fast

8 out of 10
February 12, 2019
Incentivized
We use Cisco Catalyst Switches for our infrastructure and to enable our business to perform better in various aspects.
Continue reading
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Awards

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Reviewer Pros & Cons

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Product Details

What is Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches?

The Catalyst 9400 Series is presented by Cisco as the next generation of the industry's most widely deployed enterprise switching platform, recognized as CRN's 2017 and 2018 Network Product of the Year. These modular access switches are built for security, IoT, and cloud. The vendor states they deliver state-of-the-art high availability, support up to 9 Tbps, provide the latest in 90-watt UPOE+, and form one of the building blocks for SD-Access, Cisco's enterprise architecture solution.

Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches Competitors

Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches Technical Details

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Frequently Asked Questions

Cisco offers the Catalyst 9400 enterprise series of LAN switches.

HPE Networking Switches and Dell PowerConnect Switches are common alternatives for Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches.

The most common users of Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches are from Enterprises (1,001+ employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(25)

Reviews

(1-13 of 13)
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Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches are the standard that we deploy in our data closets. We have trusted Cisco over the years to deliver strong and reliable network connectivity for our environment. As the platforms have continued to mature, we are pleased with the advances made with the Catalyst 9000 series line. The Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches are used all across our deployments from small offices with single 1U 24 to 48 port lines to higher density deployments of 1U switches in stacks and finalizing in the large deployment chassis based systems. We have been able to meet any data closet requirements with the Cisco Catalyst 9000 series, whether data, voice, or wireless connectivity. The Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches provides us high port density as well as high availability with dual supervisor options as well as multiple power supplies. The line card diversity provides flexible options for deployments at varying data rates and port densities. The unified code of the Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches has also allowed us to gain operational efficiency by reducing the number of code releases we have to test, verify, and monitor for security updates. The Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches are a vital part of our network success.
  • The Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches provide reliable connectivity for multiple client device types whether computers, phones, wireless access points, etc.
  • The Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches has deployment flexibility from traditional IOS-XE deployments to Cisco Catalyst SD-Access and now Meraki monitored solutions.
  • Multiple switch models allow us to customize each data closet deployment to exactly fit the port density and power-over-Ethernet requirements.
Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches are well suited for data closets in today’s ever expanding network system requirements. Today’s businesses rely on stable, fast, and highly available data connectivity. Businesses perform at such a quick pace now and the need to consume data resources is an integral part of most every business function. There can no longer be outages. Slow data connectivity and sluggish system response is directly related to business success. The Cisco Catalyst platform has provided our company with a network foundation that is fast and reliable so that the business can concentrate on what they do best.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use the Catalyst 9400 series switches in our wiring closets as our access layer switches. They provide the necessary connectivity for wired ports and support 5 gig ethernet power over ethernet for our access points.
  • They seem to be performing very well for our wired access needs
  • They are easy to configure
  • DNA center deployment of the switches seems somewhat tedious to configure.
They work very well in the role of access layer switches. They have both L2 and L3 capabilties and have PoE and mGig capabilities.
June 09, 2023

Catalyst 9400s

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use the Catalyst 9400s in our access layer
  • Excellent Hardware performance
  • Ample throughput
  • Numerous module options
  • Can't think of any at the moment
In our environment they are suited perfectly for our access layer environment
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We are using the 9400 as our campus core switch connecting to several IDFs and access switches. It is secured and supports multiple vlans and has multiple ports for your campus needs. very secure with have advanced encryption standards.
  • inter vlan routing
  • Layer 3 protocols
  • gateway
  • Gre tunneling
  • lighter chasis
  • more fiber built in ports
  • firewall features
  • L3 support
Core level, distribution level and access level for inter vlan routing and trunking
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches offers high availability for the network, and we avoid production issues during upgrades.
  • Switching
  • Security
  • Shop floor
  • Data center
Cisco Catalyst 9400 Series Switches are less appropriate for industrial assets connectivity. But we appreciate the Catalyst C2960X, C6500, and other old Catalyst Series because of stability and robustness.
December 04, 2019

Cisco Catalyst 9k Review

Score 5 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use these 9407 switches to aggregate LAN to WAN connections and as discrete data center switches in a secure environment.
  • Fit nicely into our use case
  • Routing
  • Switching
  • Software needs improvement, where features are added (Stack wise) or removed (GLBP) without solicitation from a wider audience or depreciation, respectively
  • Software bugs recently in basic features like AAA
  • Ability to turn off all unused services or features to reduce the attack surface
  • Cisco CoPP functionality is not like it was on the Cat 6k platform - users cannot create custom policies for use at the control-plane interface
Cisco Catalyst Switches are well suited for those that enjoy software headaches and double-dipping support contracts (SmartNet and DNA Advantage). Cisco introduced the platform without clear documentation on licensing (our involvement was the onus for Cisco to create clear documentation at the cost of our time and frustration), configurations (dropping GLBP yet allowing it to be configured), features (selling us Stack Wise as replacement for GLBP) or intentions (we purchased the 9407 to replace a currently supported 6509 and literally a week or two after purchase, Cisco dropped the 9600 series as the replacement for the 6500-E series). The pains in Cisco licensing, software quality and lack of transparency in regards to hardware and features is disheartening.
November 08, 2019

Sharpshooter switches!

Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Switchs access, offers connectivity to end users.
  • Estabilidad // Stability
  • Throughput // Throughput
  • Disponibilidad // Availability
  • Campuses
  • Wireless
  • VPS
En campus y switchs de acceso son muy buenos, no es apropiado en áreas pequeñas por el tamaño

On campuses and for use as access switches they are very good. They are not appropriate for use in a small area because of their size.
July 10, 2019

Awesome!

Benjamin Salmond | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use these switches for our Access layer switches. They can handle the amount of users and traffic we need.
  • These switches handle a full amount of users with ease, especially with dual 40G uplinks.
  • The options for power redundancy are amazing.
  • We have not had any issues with the 9400 series switches, so right now I have no notes for this.
I only work on Cisco products so I have a little bit of a bias. With that being said, I have had to work on Brocade and Juniper a few times, as well as other Firewall products, and I have found them confusing and not user-friendly. I think that the configuration of the Catalyst IOS is very straightforward and easy to teach others. For me, they are great for the access, distribution, and even core of the campus architecture, depending on the amount of traffic necessary, such as a collapsed core.
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We previously had another vendor's switches, but they went EoS after owning them for fewer than 5 years. It was clear that Cisco was investing significant resources into their new flagship Catalyst 9000 switches and we could count on owning these switches longer than the previous switches. So we purchased a fleet of Catalyst 9300/9400 switches to replace all campus access switches. These switches have features we need such as secure dot1x ports, expandability, fault tolerance, and programmability (APIs, onboard python scripting). They also support future needs like 802.3bt, multi-gig connectivity, and fabric mode (Software Defined Access).
  • IOS-XE has a large feature set
  • Running VMs and containers on the switches
  • Hardware is reliable
  • Programmability support
  • We've run into a few bugs on IOS-XE, particularly earlier versions.
  • Many of the cool and necessary features being touted by Cisco require newer versions of IOS-XE (16.9.X and up). As of 6/15/19, the recommended MD is still 16.5.X, which we prefer to use for stability.
Cisco Catalyst 9000 switches are well suited for:
  • businesses looking to replace their campus switches and need a platform that will be around for a while.
  • businesses requiring programmability of the network devices.
  • businesses that need newer standard support such as multi-gig ethernet and 802.3bt (POE++).
  • businesses that want to use Cisco's Software Defined Access.
Cisco Catalyst 9000 switches are less suited for:
  • businesses that want the latest features but aren't willing to run the latest code non-maintenance release code.
Eric Stearns | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
We use Catalyst 9400 switches at our newest hospital. They have been rock solid since the hospital opened. They are a great asset because of their redundancy and throughput that enables us to support WiFi 5 and eventually WiFi 6.
  • Dual supervisors and up to 6 power supplies keep them running continuously.
  • Multigig ports and a high throughput backplane keeps the data flowing as fast as users need.
  • Currently, only half of the uplink ports on the supervisor cards can be used. This is supposed to be remedied in a future software release.
  • Version 16.10 is full of catastrophic bugs, use another version.
They aren't cheap, and I mean that to describe both their price tag and construction quality. These aren't for small businesses, but when your enterprise needs speed and reliability Catalyst 9000 switches are for you.
February 12, 2019

Easy and fast

Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use Cisco Catalyst Switches for our infrastructure and to enable our business to perform better in various aspects.
  • Fast and flexible.
  • Stability.
  • Support.
  • Security issues.
  • Cost.
  • Skill level.
If you are looking for a simple and secure solution for an IT infrastructure, you will be able to make great use of the product Cisco Catalyst Switches. The high performance and stability guarantee a good foundation for your business.
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We are using Catalyst Switches as the basic access through distribution to the core layer. It is our base for connecting users to the company network. In some cases, we use small versions like 2960C to the biggest once like 9400. It depends on the current needs. Sometimes we even use older ones like 3560 or 4500.
  • Stable connection to the corporate network
  • Basic security functionality with ISE
  • Uninterupted connection with full bandwidth
  • Size variations (short versions with 48 ports and full PoE)
  • Port density - for example version with 2U and 96 ports
  • Stacking over fiber optics (without dedicated cables with fixed lengths)
I simply don't use any other switches in professional usage. I prefer a homogeneous environment - especially when using other Cisco features like ISE. Deployment of 802.1X with Catalyst switches is rather simple. With a mixed environment with other vendors, it is painful. The scenario in which Catalyst Switches are not suitable is a very simple network with one or two switches - the functionalities simply are not used then.
June 13, 2018

Cisco is worth it

Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
We use them as a collapsed core design at all of our remote offices. They allow us to perform all the requirements of a medium to small office without having too many pieces of equipment. The security and management are there along with the speed.
  • Reliability - they keep going.
  • Features - no other switch can meet as many diverse needs.
  • Supportable - it’s relatively easy to find people who can setup run and operate.
  • Cost, but even as I say that I do not want quality to go down.
Not suited for the data center. I love using them in our user focused environments
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