Cisco Ethernet Switches and Aruba Switches are leading competitors in the network switch market. Cisco offers superior reliability and advanced features, while Aruba is known for cost-effectiveness and ease of use, giving Aruba an edge for budget-conscious users.
Features: Cisco Ethernet Switches offer power-saving design, Layer 3 switching capabilities, and advanced security with MACSec encryption. They provide easy management through CDP and Smartports and support configurations like VLAN and QoS. DNA Center aids automated setup and monitoring. Aruba Switches are praised for ease of use with an intuitive GUI and integration with ClearPass. They feature a stable CLI, good security features, and lower licensing requirements, making them user-friendly.
Room for Improvement: Cisco Switches face criticism for their high price and complex setup, necessitating experienced personnel. Their licensing procedures are intricate, and integration support can be challenging with third-party products. Aruba Switches need enhanced integration and visibility. Improvements in their management suite and stability for complex deployments are needed. Simplifying interface part numbers and dashboards could improve user experience.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Cisco Switches demand experienced personnel due to complex setup procedures, though they benefit from a strong support network and comprehensive documentation. Integration support, however, needs enhancement. Aruba Switches are simpler to deploy, with less need for extensive technical support, offering cost-effective options for efficient setups.
Pricing and ROI: Cisco Ethernet Switches are considered expensive, with costs attributed to licensing and support. They provide excellent ROI due to reliability and longevity. Aruba Switches are generally cheaper with low licensing costs, favoring budget-conscious users. Their cost-effectiveness is enhanced by not requiring licensing for certain features, offering significant savings compared to Cisco.
Their tech support is good.
When we talk about performances, Aruba Switches are very good and the technical support is okay as well.
I find that technical support is available, especially during the warranty period.
Cisco support is quick and responsive, often answering within an hour.
Currently, we don't have any technical support because our license doesn't allow for direct support.
It takes two to three days for Cisco support to address issues.
The scalability offered by Aruba Switches is similar to Cisco, demonstrating options for enterprise networking.
I would rate the scalability of the product an eight out of ten.
We can install them in organizations where we have up to three hundred people.
Cisco mainly provides security, patch management, hardware reliability, durability, scalability, and security features supporting my organization's expansion.
The latest products do not allow integration with the earlier environment.
The scalability depends on the model.
I have sites that have been running for many years with no issues.
The stability of Aruba Switches is very good, and I would rate it between eight and nine out of ten.
Once we install Aruba Switches, we can forget about them for years and years.
The switches are very stable, rated ten out of ten.
Improving the distribution network across regions would be beneficial.
There are more centers of knowledge for Cisco than for Aruba here.
The only problem with Aruba Switches is the pricing.
In the data center portion, we need to provide the fiber channel and Nexus switch to use a more reliable solution.
For example, on switches, filtering specific sections isn't supported, whereas, on routers, you can do 'show run' with additional commands to filter.
FortiGate switches are considered more valuable because they have firewall capabilities.
From my experience, the pricing of Aruba Switches is competitive.
A high-end model with Aruba is about five thousand.
The pricing of some products, such as the 6300M switch, is considered a significant cost.
Cisco Ethernet switches are priced at a rating of nine, indicating they are expensive.
We need to pay for the subscription, as there are extra expenses after purchasing the product.
The tool is quite expensive.
One of the most valuable features of Aruba Switches is the security and cybersecurity features they have.
Scalability is significant since you can start from an economical product to a very high-end option, accommodating growth.
The features I find most valuable in Aruba Switches are their flexibility, reliability, and affordability.
The Cisco Ethernet switches are sturdy products that do not require any kind of maintenance.
Cisco Duo is a great tool for increasing security within our company, making resources more protected.
Cisco is mainly known for its security, patch management, hardware reliability, durability, scalability, and security features which support my organization's expansion.
Aruba Switches is a network creation solution that enables users to easily manage every aspect of their networks.
Benefits of Aruba Switches
Some of the benefits of using Aruba switches include:
Reviews from Real Users
Aruba Switches are cutting-edge network creation tools that stand out among their competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are the warranty that guarantees them and the intuitive way in which they are designed. Aruba Switches are protected by lifetime warranties. If a switch malfunctions or is rendered inoperable, it can be quickly replaced. If the line of switches are still available, HPE will send the user the necessary replacement. Aruba Switches are built to be intuitive for users to customize and manipulate. This allows users to make full use of the solution without requiring them to devote a significant level of resources to training.
The head of technical support at a real estate law firm writes, “One valuable feature about HP is the warranty. All switches are very similar when it comes to most functionalities. Most switches provide a one-year warranty, but with HPE switches, if there's a unit that malfunctions, we call them and they replace it the next business day if that line is still available. We had a switch we reported the other day, it was a 25-10, which we procured way back, around 2014, and they replaced it. In general, HP provides a lot of support for its products. We will be doing some tinkering on the VLAN soon, first the layer two, and then connecting the layer three functionalities for some other departments. The advantage of Aruba compared to other switches is their reliability. If the product is trustworthy, I'll continue to use it.”
A network systems engineer at a financial services firm writes, “Their technical support is great. I have used Cisco products, and as compared to Cisco, Aruba's command-line syntax is not as complex. The command-line interface of Aruba switches is quite intuitive. It also has a graphical user interface. With Cisco, using the graphical user interface for configuration can be complex, whereas Aruba simplifies it, and you can easily use the graphical user interface. The configuration is secured. Their graphical user interface is quite robust.”
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