Ubiquiti Enterprise 8 PoE vs Cisco Nexus 9300-GX2 (N9K-C9332D-GX2B): Specs & Price Comparison

Ubiquiti Enterprise 8 PoE

★ 4.2 Value Score

Switching Capacity: 80 Gbps
Forwarding Rate: 59.52 Mpps (Ubiquiti tech specs list 60 Mpps)
Non-Blocking Throughput: 40 Gbps
Ports (breakdown): 8 x 2.5GbE RJ45 (all PoE+; 2.5G/1G/100M/10M) + 2 x 10G SFP+ (10G/1G)
PoE Budget: 120W total PoE; 802.3af/at (PoE+) only, up to 32W per port
Layer: L3 (managed)
Stacking Support: Not stated in official specs
Packet Buffer: 1.5 MB
MAC Address Table: 16,000 entries
Power Consumption: 30W excluding PoE; 150W including PoE output
Form Factor: Compact desktop, wall-mount kit included
Dimensions: 200 x 248 x 44 mm
Management Display: 1.3-inch color LCM touchscreen
Product Status: Listed as 'Enterprise 8 PoE (Vintage)' on Ubiquiti's store; no official replacement or EOL announcement found

✔ Pros: Eight 2.5GbE PoE+ ports suit multi-gig Wi-Fi 6 access points and desktop devices; Layer 3 managed feature set at a low price for the class; 80 Gbps switching capacity and 59.52 Mpps forwarding rate cover small-office and branch loads; Two 10G SFP+ uplinks allow 10G backhaul or fiber links; Compact desktop form factor with wall-mount kit and LCM touchscreen for local status; 120W PoE budget is enough for several PoE+ access points or cameras
✘ Cons: Only 802.3af/at PoE+ (max 32W per port), so it cannot power PoE++ devices such as Ubiquiti's U7/E7 access points; Product is listed as Vintage with no official successor named, so long-term availability and firmware support are uncertain; 120W total PoE budget limits how many high-draw devices can be powered at once; Only two SFP+ uplinks and no stacking support, which limits scaling; Price varies widely across resellers ($479 on Ubiquiti's US store, up to about $688 or more at third-party sellers)
Est. Price: $479 - $688

Cisco Nexus 9300-GX2 (N9K-C9332D-GX2B)

★ 3.3 Value Score

Switching Capacity: 25.6 Tbps (per Cisco datasheet c78-743854 and most resellers; some listings show 12.8 Tbps, likely the -M variant or an older revision)
Forwarding Rate: 4.17 Bpps per Cisco datasheet copy (other listings show 5.77 Bpps or 14.4 Bpps; verify against current Cisco PDF)
Ports (breakdown): 32x 400G QSFP-DD (also run as 100G/200G, supports 4x100G breakout); 2x 1/10G SFP+; 1x management; 1x console
PoE Budget: N/A (no PoE)
Layer: L2/L3
Stacking support: No (multi-chassis redundancy via vPC)

✔ Pros: 32x 400G QSFP-DD ports in a 1RU chassis gives very high port density; Flexible 100G/200G/400G operation with 4x100G breakout; Full L2/L3 feature set with VXLAN EVPN and optional Cisco ACI support on NX-OS; Large packet buffer (about 120 MB) suits leaf/spine data center and AI/ML fabrics; Strong value per port compared with modular chassis at similar bandwidth
✘ Cons: No PoE and no campus access role, so it is limited to data center and fabric deployments; Requires QSFP-DD optics or DAC/AOC cables, which add significant cost; No stacking, so redundancy depends on vPC or fabric design; Published switching capacity and forwarding rates conflict across Cisco revisions and resellers; Street prices vary widely (about $25k to $78k) and are often third-party or refurbished
Est. Price: $25,313 - $77,900

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