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Aruba Switches vs Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Switches
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
88
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco N9300 Series Smart Sw...
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
26th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Aneesh K - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Solution Analyst II at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Has supported dynamic user segmentation and centralized management across campus networks
The best features of Aruba Switches are their stability and reliability. Hardware failures are rare because the switches have been running for years, and it is uncommon to encounter hardware issues or impacting bugs. From an operational perspective, Aruba Switches are stable and easy to configure through centralized management solutions. Initially managed through AirWave and now through Central, the configuration can be managed easily with audit records and visibility to switch health and other parameters. Another advantage is that Aruba Switches work seamlessly with ClearPass as a NAC server. This integration allows for dynamic policies, dynamic downloadable user roles, and enables seamless segmentation of users for network security. The real-time analytics provided by Aruba Switches for network efficiency are valuable when needed. All information visible in the analytics dashboard is truly helpful. With Aruba Central's migration to AI capability, additional value is being provided, offering more information and making troubleshooting easier with user-friendly features where you can search for anything and receive relevant results.
Thu Al-Faqar Salah - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer at V2X
Modern data center fabric has delivered zero packet drops and simplified traffic control
Regarding improvements for Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches, I think the only issue that could prevent users from using these devices is the smart licensing, as the license model could be much simpler and more cost-effective. Managing Cisco licensing and tiered subscriptions involves unnecessary operational overhead for deployment and renewal. Also, if you are planning to use ACI mode, most of the concepts such as VRF, EPG, and tenant will change. When deploying in ACI mode, the architecture has a steep learning curve, as the policy-driven model requires expensive and specialized training, and many concepts will change for traditional network engineers, requiring them to adapt and learn. Additionally, most of the issues I faced are related to hardware cost specifically, so if we could get a model that is less costly and more cost-effective with simpler licensing, it would be much better. Regarding further improvements, I remember something about the upgrade process. When we did the upgrade for the N9300, changing the image took us around 12 to 15 minutes, which was really a long time. This happened for more than one switch, so I do not know if it is a bug or if this is something normal, but I think they need to address it.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution is very reliable and it's easy to use with other solutions."
"The solution's stability is really great. We found it very solid."
"Licensing costs are competitive with other solutions on the market."
"The initial setup is quite easy."
"It is a very good device for our company. It is stable and very scalable."
"The pricing of Aruba Switches is good compared to Cisco."
"The initial installation of Aruba Switches is easy."
"What I like about the product is its open architecture, the API based line of thought, so to speak, with plenty of options and possibilities for automation and programming, which we see as the way forward for networking as a whole."
"The integration is very good, and there is very low CPU utilization, so multiple users can work without any problem."
"Cisco products are very strong and stable."
"When you buy a Cisco device, you are going to forget about it after plugging it in because the device is powerful."
"Performance-wise, Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches is a great machine to work with."
 

Cons

"The endpoint capabilities could be improved."
"I rate Aruba Switches a six out of ten."
"The migration from older to newer products could be improved."
"The dashboard could be improved, especially for the CX Switches. It would help to push scripts and configurations via an easy to use dashboard, one which would give us complete visibility of all of our switches in one place. Right now, we have more than one dashboard for Aruba. It would be nice if it was centralized."
"I would prefer it if they reduced the cost of the switches and the access points."
"The written documentation, all the available documentation, is often a little bit hard to find. The solution lacks documentation, especially on recent features. We have access directly to Aruba, Germany, so they are always helpful, but if you start, for instance, with something a little bit more complex like zero-touch provisioning, that would require a more comprehensive written piece."
"The only improvement I can really see is that maybe they could get more competitive price-wise."
"In the next release, I would like to see network access control on the switches themselves. I would like to see security functionalities when it comes to monitoring the bit of the wireless section of the switches."
"It is expensive. Compared to Aruba and Dell, it is a little bit costly."
"Regarding improvements for Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches, I think the only issue that could prevent users from using these devices is the smart licensing, as the license model could be much simpler and more cost-effective."
"The price is something negative for Cisco that I see."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There are no licensing costs for the Aruba Switches."
"Pricing for this product is reasonable."
"Aruba switches cost between $500 and $600 more than similar products by Huawei, as well as many other brands."
"There is not a switch that I would give more than six out of ten for pricing because, over the last year, the prices have been increasing very high."
"There is a license to use the solution."
"Aruba Switches are less expensive than Cisco."
"Cost-wise, you get some good savings as compared to Cisco."
"This is an expensive product, costing about double what most competitors do."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business50
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise22
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Switches?
In terms of pricing for Aruba Switches, I would rate it a five. They are quite expensive devices.
What needs improvement with Aruba Switches?
Technology is constantly advancing, and although more security is always needed, our networks are still old, so we mostly need to modernize our installations. Regarding integration capabilities, th...
What is your primary use case for Aruba Switches?
Aruba Switches are used in our organization for a straightforward purpose. We started with the HP line, and when Aruba came into the picture, we began using them for our network infrastructure. The...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches?
Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches is expensive. Compared with Aruba and Dell, it is a little bit costly.
What needs improvement with Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches?
As for any negative points, I think there is nothing significant. The only thing that Cisco may focus on commercially is the SmartNet. From my experience, I have worked with many MNCs where SmartNe...
What is your primary use case for Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches?
The major use case that we have with Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches is that our current switches are old and getting into end of life from Cisco. This is the reason we started looking for the ri...
 

Also Known As

8400 Series, 8320 Series, 5400R Series, 3810 Series, 2930M Series, 2930F Series, 2920 Series, 2540 Series, 2530 Series
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Purdue University
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Switches vs. Cisco N9300 Series Smart Switches and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,341 professionals have used our research since 2012.