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Aruba Switches vs Cisco Nexus 9000 Series comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 23, 2025

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
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
87
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Nexus 9000 Series
Ranking in Ethernet Switches
23rd
Average Rating
9.4
Reviews Sentiment
4.3
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Data Center Networking (9th)
 

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

"The solution is easy to use and quick to deploy."
"This is a very stable product with good performance."
"The durability of Aruba Switches is essentially beneficial since, once installed, we can forget about them for years."
"We like that it is very easy to manage the product through the cloud."
"The most valuable feature is the switches are reliable and replaced for free if anything goes wrong."
"We have not had any issues with the product and its functions. It has been stable."
"It's a reliable product that you can depend on."
"The most valuable features are the access point, fire control for clients, majority control, platform control in SSIGF, WiFi networking, and area monitoring."
"Performance has been great with no abnormal behaviors detected, and the network remains stable even in failover scenarios, supporting vast environments with high availability."
"RealPresence works effectively."
"Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is very durable and very reliable, and there has never been any issue with it."
"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."
 

Cons

"A challenge is the process required to reset the switches, which involves using two pins in tiny holes. An easily accessible button for resets would be a better design."
"I would like to see the data center area improving by some added features in the future."
"I have some security issues with Aruba Switches. I need to update the firmware and then the problems might go away."
"The element of security always can be improved. If the solution continues to improve its security functionality, it will continue to be a great product."
"The solution must improve the switch models."
"In my opinion, Aruba's new features, like the new firmware, need to be improved."
"The initial setup is not easy."
"The interface could be more user-friendly and the dashboard could be improved."
"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."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"There is a license required if you want to use wireless controls for micro-segmentation. However, for Aruba Switches there is no license required."
"This is an expensive product, costing about double what most competitors do."
"The pricing was still affordable compared to Cisco, which is usually less affordable for most companies. We are using the solution in a school, we need the price to be affordable."
"This is an affordable solution."
"Aruba's switches are priced lower than Cisco's by about 30%."
"The price is reasonable."
"Aruba Switches has a lifetime warranty on the solution and after five years the solution will be at its end of life."
"Aruba Switches are cost-effective."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Educational Organization
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business49
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise22
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Switches?
Aruba lives up to the expectations of the tech giant hewlett packard enterprise providing excellent networking capabilities at a very affordable price compared to the equivalent from another tech g...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Switches?
The cost of Aruba Switches is based on the price per device. The cost depends on the model. We have 24-port switches, PoE 12-port switches, and bigger switches, so the price varies depending on the...
What needs improvement with Aruba Switches?
Currently, the security integration with Aruba ClearPass is being used for NAC authentication only. Many ACLs and other security features are being managed, but the current security features being ...
What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
After the initial integration, the focus has been on support rather than further development. Cost-wise, Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is very expensive. The pricing could absolutely be improved. So far,...
What is your primary use case for Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
Cisco Nexus 9000 Series serves as a core router and core switch for users, and provides interconnectivity between the core switch and the access switch, as well as remote access switch for smaller ...
What advice do you have for others considering Cisco Nexus 9000 Series?
I am a customer of this solution and also a distributor. Cisco Nexus 9000 Series is usually integrated with other Cisco tools or third-party tools, including 3750, 3850, 3650, and 3750 as access sw...
 

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: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.