Cisco 350X Series Stackable Managed Switches vs. HPE Aruba Ethernet Switches

Well Suited : For Medium to Large Organization networks where Scalability, Advanced features, efficient management of different network segments and robust security is required. Less Suited : For small offices where simple and unmanaged switch is enough and in temporary and frequently network setup reconfigured.

Incentivized

These devices are rock solid, you will se them up once and not have to mess with them for years. They are work horses that don't die. We use them in an office environment and have only ever had 1 fail due to a PSU issue, we got a replacement next day and it's been working great.

Incentivized

• Scalability
• Redundancy and High Availability
• Easy and User friendly Web based management interface
• High Performance , it provides fast and reliable data transfer
• Inter-Vlan routing is very good.

Incentivized

• REST API capability
• Wired & Wireless 802.1x configuration easiness
• Wireless Access Points (APs) zero touch provisioning
• Its high-end family (running the AOS-CX firmware) supports a virtualization technology called VSX (Virtual Switching Extension) which allows 2 switches to present itself as one virtualized switch under Layer 2, and as 2 separate routers under Layer 3; thereby providing high availability.

Incentivized

• Process of firmware Update
• Need Cloud Management Capabilities
• Enhanced Reporting
• Find difficulty in process of VLAN configuration so need simplified

Incentivized

• I have had issues finding monitoring software that natively supports Provision/Aruba OS. Most are designed primarily with Cisco in mind.
• HPE/Aruba switches have historically had issues with corrupt flash. This seems to be less common in more recent models.
• HPE/Aruba's switching portfolio can be confusing. Some models run on the Aruba OS while some others run on Comware. There is some overlap in these model lines so at times is can be tough to tell which switch is right.

Incentivized

I preferred the OS running on the 2530 series switches, but the ArubaOS is very usable. It's similar to the Cisco OS command line interface, but somehow more understandable. It takes a bit of getting used to, but the documentation is great and it makes sense after a while of using it.

Incentivized

HPE Support is very easy to reach. A knowledgable rep can be reached in a few minutes. After some basic troubleshooting if the failure is due to hardware I can receive a replacement within a day or even in a few hours.

Incentivized

It provide the best reliability and redundancy which is most important. We choose this product because of comprehensive feature set, Interoperability, scalability and quality of service.

Incentivized

We used to have a lot of Cisco switches which are great, but
the support contracts and other expenses mount up quickly; one of the main
reasons for switching to HP for networking was the cost, but the hardware and
software have gotten so much better over the years.

I can’t see us changing network hardware unless the price increases dramatically.

Incentivized

• Positive : Increase Scalability
• Positive : Increase Performance
• Positive : enhanced security
• Negative : Initial investment cost
• Negative : Potential downtime during implementation

Incentivized

• When comparing Aruba to Cisco and Dell there is no comparison in cost. Aruba is a better value and will not require additional licensing like it often the case with Cisco.
• The Aruba OS is very simple to use and understand. A user with very little networking experience can understand the config of an Aruba switch.
• Aruba's hardware warranty assures me that even my oldest switches are covered due to hardware failure.
• In the 11 years I have worked with HPE/Aruba and with over 55 switches I have had a hardware failure less than a handful of times.

Incentivized