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Cisco FabricPath vs. HPE Aruba Networking Switches

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Cisco FabricPath

    Score8.1 out of 10
    N/ACisco's FabricPath is a brand of LAN switch.N/A

    HPE Aruba Networking Switches

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AFor campus, branch, and data centers, HPE's Aruba CX switches are presented as a flexible, programmable, and cloud-native ASIC design solution, boasting the power, precision, and versatility of a microservices-based wired architecture.

    $503.63

    one-time fee

    Pricing
    Cisco FabricPathHPE Aruba Networking Switches
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    HPE Aruba Networking CX 6000 Switch Series
    Starting at $503.63
    one-time fee
    HPE Aruba Networking CX 6100 Switch Series
    Starting at $935.20
    one-time fee
    HPE Aruba Networking CX 6200 Switch Series
    Starting at $1,054.12
    one-time fee
    HPE Aruba Networking CX 6300 Switch Series
    Starting at $4,483.55
    one-time fee
    HPE Aruba Networking CX 5420 Switch Series
    Starting at $3,158.76
    one-time fee
    HPE Aruba Networking 2930F Switch Series
    Starting at $574.72
    one-time fee
    HPE Aruba Networking CX 6400 Switch Series
    Starting at $7,394.82
    one-time fee
    HPE Aruba Networking CX 8100 Switch Series
    Starting at $19,102.26
    one-time fee
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Cisco FabricPathHPE Aruba Networking Switches
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsHPE Aruba Ethernet Switch prices vary significantly based on features, model, and quantity purchased.
    More Pricing Information
    Best Alternatives
    Cisco FabricPathHPE Aruba Networking Switches
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
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    Medium-sized Companies
    Cisco Catalyst Switches
    Score9.3 out of 10
    RUCKUS Ethernet Switches
    Score10 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Cisco Catalyst Switches
    Score9.3 out of 10
    Cisco Ethernet Switches
    Score9.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Cisco FabricPathHPE Aruba Networking Switches
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (13 ratings)
    Usability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.7
    (3 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (6 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Cisco FabricPathHPE Aruba Networking Switches
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Cisco
    Cisco FabricPath seems to be well suited for larger datacenters where you need the scalability and flexibility that's provided. We've been able to provide our customers with much more bandwidth than they previously had throughout our datacenter and with applications generating much more east/west traffic now rather than large volumes of north/south traffic FabricPath and the nexus switches have given us the ability to provide our customers with the bandwidth that's needed to serve today's applications.
    Incentivized
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    Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
    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
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    Pros
    Cisco
    • It scales fairly well.
    • It's been fairly easy for people to learn and work with.
    • It has simplified network administration by utilizing Fabric Extenders which are all configured from the same switch and treated as an extension of the switch rather than as a separate entity.
    Incentivized
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    Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
    • 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
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    Cons
    Cisco
    • We've had a few bugs that have caused random reloads of switches when modifying VLANS.
    • We've had a bug that reloaded an entire fabric at once.
    Incentivized
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    Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
    • 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
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    Usability
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
    I have not had that many issues with these products. Aruba Central has been really helpful. The Integration Capabilities allows us to use Clearpass . For individuals new to enterprise-grade networking, there can still be a learning curve associated with understanding the concepts and the specifics of the Aruba configuration.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Cisco
    No answers on this topic
    Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
    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
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    Alternatives Considered
    Cisco
    In comparison to Cisco ACI, Cisco Catalyst, and Juniper EX Switches the Nexus switches have stood their ground and we've been fairly happy with them. I like that similar to Cisco's ACI and the Juniper EX switches that I've worked with I can manage multiple chassis from one place. ACI can do this on a much larger scale though. I think Juniper limited the number of devices in a single virtual chassis to 10 or less depending on the device type. ACI can do a few hundred leafs plus their fabric extenders so if you're looking for one place to manage all your devices it can scale well beyond either the Cisco FP or Juniper EX series switches, but it also has a much steeper learning curve and completely different interface. The loop prevention built into FP has been a great improvement vs our old Catalyst switches.
    Incentivized
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    Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
    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
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    Return on Investment
    Cisco
    • FabricPath is easy enough to learn that the adoption on the team has been fairly quick. This allows us to quickly troubleshoot and allows us to meet and beat SLAs that demand we maintain 99.99%+ uptime for our paying customers.
    Incentivized
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    Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
    • I really like the idea of paying for the switches one time and just pay for support going forward. The prices are on the high end but I think it is worth it. I wish they would include all the features in one go so we would not have to pay for every new feature.
    Incentivized
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