Cisco IOS XR7 vs. HPE Aruba Networking Operating System

Network operating system Cisco IOS XR7 is well suited for high-volume networks. It works well for those who are yester-generation and are stuck with the CLI command interface. Cisco IOS XR7 is definitely not suited for small businesses due to its high pricing. Additionally, purchasing security on top of this is a complete no-no for small to medium businesses.

Incentivized

Aruba Wireless works quite well and is stable for enterprise. Once it's running, it works. Once you have it set up, you don't normally need to go in and make changes. Aruba is particularly good on pushing clients to use 5ghz (they say they use some kind of a proprietary algorithm). It may not be appropriate for smaller businesses due to cost and complexity

Incentivized

• Flixible.
• Faster times to boot.
• Utilizes less memory.

Incentivized

• Wireless Access
• Security/Role Management
• Firewalling
• Centralized Management

Incentivized

• Graphic User Interface could be improved
• Network Orchestration
• Zero touch config could have more features

Incentivized

• Documentation on Aruba website is very lacking
• Support is hit-or-miss - they may waste a lot of time before you get to someone who has a solution
• Some configuration items are very non-intuitive

Incentivized

Currently, we only use Cisco IOS XR7 in our network even though we have tried other similar OS from other vendors during POC in lab tests. The Junos SW is similar, but it lacks compatibility with different platforms in our network which did not allow us to implement it in our environment.

Incentivized

Aruba does quite a good job with GUI configuration, especially with AOS 8 - something that Cisco struggles with (maybe they came up with something new now). Aruba can also easily scale. While not on the same level, Ubiquiti has a good GUI but is lacking a good standard controller - users have to stand their own.

Incentivized

• Saves man hours with Network Orchestration
• Scalable and cloud managed
• Supports many platforms

Incentivized

• Good return on investment in terms of a working wireless network for thousands of users
• However, troubleshooting and support may be difficult
• Good integration with ClearPass

Incentivized