We performed a comparison between Aruba Switches and Cisco Ethernet Switches based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.
Comparison Results: Aruba Switches is the winner in this comparison. It is easy to set up, performs well, and has excellent customer support. In addition, it is less expensive than Cisco Ethernet Switches.
"This solution is easy to use."
"The most valuable feature is the security that these switches provide."
"These switches have a good performance, and they are also quickly configurable."
"The advantage I found is that they can be used as both on-premises devices and cloud-managed devices, with the option for an additional license to become cloud devices. This flexibility is very valuable to us."
"We have not had any issues with the product and its functions. It has been stable."
"When it comes to basic L2 switching, we've found that Aruba switches are very user-friendly in terms of configuration and management. I haven't had the opportunity to utilize Aruba Central for managing the switches yet, so I can't speak to that aspect. However, overall, we've found the deployment process for Aruba switches to be very straightforward."
"There is a limited lifetime warranty with the switches, so if we have any problems, the switch is replaced very quickly."
"All of the networking products that we use are Aruba, so we use Aruba Central to manage them."
"The features that I have found most valuable with Cisco switches are that once you get your configuration you can rest assured that it will work. The OS is not going to be failing intermittently or anything like that. Once you get your configuration end-goal right, the firmware and the OS are usually very stable enough to work a long time without support. Support is needed once in a while. My experience is that the Cisco switches are usually rocket."
"These switches help to build the best network, the way we want it."
"Cisco's support is number one in the world."
"The command-line interface is easy to use."
"The queue functionality is the solution's most valuable feature, specifically because we are delivering a lot of Layer 2 services. Layer 2 protocol tunnels work well on Cisco switches."
"The most valuable feature is that we create a network as a villain."
"The most valuable feature is the complete functionality, but the most important thing is support."
"Cisco Ethernet Switches have great enterprise features like Cisco DNA Assurance. Cisco DNA Assurance features advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning. Cisco AI Network Analytics, a capability within Cisco DNA Assurance, allows easy management of all devices and services, prioritizes and resolves network issues, and ensures a better user experience across the network."
"The biggest issue right now is the delivery timeline. It takes too long to get the product."
"They should provide training courses for certification, and have it available on the internet."
"The firmware in this solution has a lot of bugs that become noticeable when you have complex implementations."
"I have some security issues with Aruba Switches. I need to update the firmware and then the problems might go away."
"Aruba Switches' price could improve, if they were less expensive it would be beneficial."
"There are some growing pains with Aruba Central. When you first launch the wireless access points or switches, a lot of updates are needed to get Aruba Central ready, especially on the access points, so the initial deployment time could improve. I would hope that I could just turn it on and leave the updates until later on. The switches themselves probably did okay. I'm primarily referring to the wireless access points. There was a lot of back and forth before everything was in sync. It took hours."
"This solution could be improved if it offered long term support on a specific model or product."
"The need to come up with a bit more flexibility in their range of models."
"The platform's management features need improvement."
"There's are other products that are better for network programmability. Cisco isn't as programmable as some preferred vendors. For example, on iOS 6 products, you have to commit the change directly on the running configuration. If you have a generic product you can do this, so it can improve in programmability."
"The price is an area with a shortcoming in the solution."
"Location of customers to connect clients to the servers and transport the data and VoIP in parallel with QoS and NBAR with 802.1X."
"The GUI is not that easy."
"The NX-API REST is not very good and should be improved."
"From a system integrator's perspective, Cisco must train system integrators, partners, and customers about their services."
"The technical support should be improved."
Aruba Switches is ranked 2nd in Ethernet Switches with 70 reviews while Cisco Ethernet Switches is ranked 1st in Ethernet Switches with 128 reviews. Aruba Switches is rated 8.4, while Cisco Ethernet Switches is rated 8.6. The top reviewer of Aruba Switches writes "As a managed service provider, it's important to have a solution that can manage everything from one console". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Cisco Ethernet Switches writes "It's a solidly stable product from a leader in the field". Aruba Switches is most compared with Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access, Meraki MS Switches, Ubiquiti UniFi Switches, Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches and MikroTik Routers and Switches, whereas Cisco Ethernet Switches is most compared with Fortinet FortiSwitch - Secure Access, D-Link Ethernet Switches, Ubiquiti UniFi Switches, NETGEAR Switches and Juniper EX Series Ethernet Switches. See our Aruba Switches vs. Cisco Ethernet Switches report.
See our list of best Ethernet Switches vendors.
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