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Aruba Switches vs Cisco Nexus 9000 Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 1, 2026

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 Nexus 9000 Series
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
16th
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
4.6
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
Data Center Networking (7th)
 

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.
Fakhar Mahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Network Administrator at i2c
Has consistently supported high availability with reliable performance and minimal disruption
Cisco Nexus 9000 Series and the routers are good, but the FMC or FTDs still need some improvement. We have Palo Alto firewalls and Next-Generation Firewalls in our environment. In comparison to the main firewall, we moved from Cisco FTDs to Palo Alto. We still have FTDs in our environment, but the majority of the firewalls have been moved to Palo Alto. They are more user-friendly, give more visibility, and are more efficient. The performance is better than Cisco. With the new features, Cisco is having some improvement for the FTD. I am currently evaluating the FTDs. The new version has better features like the encrypted visibility engine and user-based changes in FMCs, and other things are quite useful for us. FTDs do have limitations and other issues. We communicated that limitation and feature support to the Cisco account manager. We do have support for the devices. We currently have a weekly call with Cisco and they are making progress regarding new versions of the FMCs and introducing new features. The performance of deployment has improved quite a bit compared to four or five years ago.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is slightly more price effective than Juniper and it has a slightly larger range."
"This product is very stable and very reliable."
"The technical support is fantastic! Absolutely fantastic."
"Aruba Switches are definitely stable."
"Aruba is very easy to use, the GUI is very good and the command line is quite similar to Cisco, so it is very easy to configure."
"Aruba is more stable than Netgear."
"The most valuable feature is the lifetime warranty."
"The initial installation of Aruba Switches is easy."
"Performance has been great with no abnormal behaviors detected, and the network remains stable even in failover scenarios, supporting vast environments with high availability."
"We are using the core capabilities of Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Ethernet switches, and it is performing well."
"Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is quite a complex machine, but we are using a very simple configuration with basic Nexus switching, and we don't have many issues with Cisco Nexus 9000 Series at the moment in our present infrastructure."
"The stability and reliability of Cisco Nexus 9000 Series are robust, and once you put it on, it does not just fail; that takes a long time, maybe even years."
"Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is very durable and very reliable, and there has never been any issue with it."
"RealPresence works effectively."
 

Cons

"The need to come up with a bit more flexibility in their range of models."
"Aruba's website should be localized to support the Indonesian language. The content of their website and the help desk should be in the Indonesian language."
"I would say that the customization of the switches could be easier to configure."
"It takes a long time to import Aruba switches to Ecuador."
"This solution could be improved if it offered long term support on a specific model or product."
"Aruba Switches could improve the monitoring and increase the scope of their online portal to cover cloud and on-premise deployments."
"The software materials could be improved."
"I am forced to consider changing products because other solutions have a better dashboard and a user-friendly interface."
"I would rate the technical support for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series an eight out of ten. This rating is not because of their lack of expertise, but just the assignment period."
"We find that Cisco has been left behind by the other vendors. The other vendors have adopted new technology, and we find Cisco lagging behind."
"Cost-wise, Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is very expensive."
"The SFP modules we are using have had issues. We have Cisco modules, but they frequently heat up or there are packet error issues."
"For Cisco Nexus 9000 Series switches, I think we need to work on the HSRP. Whenever it flaps or something happens, it creates an issue."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is perfect."
"Aruba Switches have good stability."
"Aruba Switches are less expensive than Cisco."
"The price point was a big consideration for us and it is reasonable enough that we're able to standardize on Aruba for the networking pieces in our organization."
"The tool is a little expensive for customers from other countries."
"There is a license required if you want to use wireless controls for micro-segmentation. However, for Aruba Switches there is no license required."
"Comparing with Cisco, and some other solutions, it's a cheap product."
"Pricing for this product is reasonable."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Construction Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
26%
Construction Company
15%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

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 needs improvement with Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
At this point, not much could be improved about Cisco Nexus 9000 Series. Automation GUI based is not the core of the 9000, so this is a different device or a different solution. I do not find anyth...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
My usual use cases for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series involve various companies, particularly when they are in need of a new automation solution or just an upgrade of the data center.
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
I am very satisfied with this solution. However, it is more about whether it is actually possible to do the solutions, and normally people already know what they want. They only need to have 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 Nexus 9000 Series and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,988 professionals have used our research since 2012.