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Cisco Nexus vs HPE A-Series [EOL] comparison

Cisco and Hewlett Packard Enterprise are both solutions in the Data Center Networking category. Additionally, 96% of Cisco users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users who would recommend it.
Cisco Nexus
Read 105 Cisco Nexus reviews
  • 2,789 Views
  • 1,949 Comparison Views
96% willing to recommend
HPE A-Series [EOL]
Read 1 HPE A-Series [EOL] review
    100% willing to recommend
     

    Comparison Buyer's Guide

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    Executive Summary
    We performed a comparison between Cisco Nexus and HPE A-Series [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

    Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Arista, Dell Technologies and others in Data Center Networking.

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    To learn more, read our detailed Data Center Networking Report (Updated: March 2025).
    Buyer's Guide
    Data Center Networking
    March 2025
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    Helped 849,686 peers since 2012

    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

    Cisco Nexus
    Average Rating
    8.4
    Reviews Sentiment
    7.6
    Number of Reviews
    105
    Ranking in other categories
    LAN Switching (3rd), Data Center Networking (3rd)
    HPE A-Series [EOL]
    Average Rating
    8.0
    Number of Reviews
    1
    Ranking in other categories
    No ranking in other categories
     

    Featured Reviews

    Joe Benítez - PeerSpot reviewer
    Offer high performance capabilities and enables efficient data transmission and processing
    Before Nexus, I used to have Catalyst 6500 switches. Those 6500 series chassis gave us a lot of problems. Too many problems, actually. And we had a Cisco ASA firewall blade within those chassis. And they were running outdated software. So, in fact, it was the firewall blade that caused us too many problems instead of the chassis. The chassis itself was working well and performing fine, but the firewall card was not suitable for our needs. That was one aspect. Additionally, those chassis had been in operation for more than five years. As we are a local government, we have a policy to renew hardware every five years. That's because we need to maintain all the hardware and software in the latest versions and keep up with the technology lifecycle of the technology we use.
    Read full review
    Mohamed-Mousa - PeerSpot reviewer
    Stable and scalable with a good user interface
    Overall, everything related to the interface is very good Some follow up from our user-partners would be useful. Letting users know what is up and coming or providing better documentation would be helpful. Overall, the solution could offer its users better support. I've been using the solution…
    Read full review

    Quotes from Members

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

    Pros

    "Cisco Nexus and Cisco Catalyst have processing power and offer good utilization of Cisco devices."
    "Technical support has been very, very helpful and they offer good SLAs."
    "This solution has saved us both time and money because we now have the ability to control all of these telephony devices that are deployed nationwide."
    "The ability to tenant-out the traffic and segment it, without having to get into separate physical hardware or trying to figure out VDCs manually, has been really powerful and extremely useful for us."
    "The most valuable features are the access layer security, OpenConfig, and OpenFlow."
    "In terms of stability, this solution is rock solid."
    "The setup was very easy, but managing it in operations was very complex."
    "The most valuable features are the great performance, high availability and easy administration."
    More Cisco Nexus pros
    "The solution is very stable."
     

    Cons

    "I would love to see Active/Active FEX connectivity, which is enhanced vPC, where we could also do a vPC from a server in that type of configuration."
    "I am looking for a GUI that goes alongside them and more SD-WAN built to their core switches."
    "Initially, the codes I received through ACI were quite unstable, causing me to frequently replace them, which led to significant issues."
    "The installation process lasted too long, taking 16 to 24 hours for full completion."
    "I would like to see some development into the SAE world where you can virtualize. That would be the only thing I would like to see because I need to start virtualizing my infrastructure gear at some of the other data centers that I have."
    "I would like to see better monitoring actions supported in the next release of this solution."
    "Overall, I wish it was a more intuitive OS."
    "There's been a little bit of bugginess in the code, but that happens."
    More Cisco Nexus cons
    "Some follow up from our user-partners would be useful. Letting users know what is up and coming or providing better documentation would be helpful. Overall, the solution could offer its users better support."
     

    Pricing and Cost Advice

    "The Nexus 9000 is very competitively priced."
    "Costs more than most, but the reliability pays for the difference."
    "We use a local distributor for support, which is very expensive."
    "Our licensing costs for this solution are approximately $200 USD per month."
    "Cisco Nexus is not cheap compared to Fortinet, Palo Alto, and Check Point."
    "In most cases, there is a need to secure perpetual licenses to be able to use the product. When I set up the product, there isn't just a one-time cost that is involved."
    "The subscription model and price could be better."
    "Our licensing fees are paid annually."
    More Cisco Nexus pricing and cost advice
    Information not available
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    Top Industries

    By visitors reading reviews
    Computer Software Company
    24%
    Financial Services Firm
    10%
    Manufacturing Company
    8%
    Government
    6%
    No data available
     

    Company Size

    By reviewers
    Large Enterprise
    Midsize Enterprise
    Small Business
    No data available
     

    Questions from the Community

    What do you like most about Cisco Nexus?
    The product's initial setup phase is very easy.
    See all answers
    What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Nexus?
    The price of Cisco Nexus is on the higher side due to the premium services Cisco offers. Despite the cost, it offers valuable features and services.
    See all answers
    What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?
    When I talk about data centers, which are critical infrastructure and centralized application hubs, the Nexus platforms should be highly stable. Initially, the codes I received through ACI were qui...
    See all answers
    Ask a question
    Earn 20 points
     

    Comparisons

    Juniper QFX Series Switches vs Cisco Nexus Logo
    Juniper QFX Series Switches vs Cisco Nexus
    Compared 44% of the time
    Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Nexus Logo
    Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Nexus
    Compared 20% of the time
    Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Nexus Logo
    Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Nexus
    Compared 11% of the time
    ExtremeSwitching vs Cisco Nexus Logo
    ExtremeSwitching vs Cisco Nexus
    Compared 5% of the time
    Juniper QFabric vs Cisco Nexus Logo
    Juniper QFabric vs Cisco Nexus
    Compared 4% of the time
    More Cisco Nexus Competitors
    No data available
     

    Product Reports

    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Nexus
    April 2025
    Cisco Nexus reportDownload Cisco Nexus product report
    Buyer's Guide
    Data Center Networking
    March 2025
    HPE A-Series [EOL] reportDownload HPE A-Series [EOL] product report
     

    Also Known As

    No data available
    A-Series, HP A-Series
     

    Overview

    The Cisco Nexus family of switches is designed to meet the stringent requirements of the next-generation data center. Not simply bigger or faster, these switches offer the following characteristics: infrastructure that can be scaled cost-effectively and that helps you increase energy, budget, and resource efficiency, transport that can navigate the transition to 10 Gigabit Ethernet and unified fabric and can also handle architectural changes such as virtualization, Web 2.0 applications, and cloud computing and operational continuity to meet your need for an environment where system availability is assumed and maintenance windows are rare if not totally extinct.
    Cisco
    Information not available
    Hewlett Packard Enterprise
     

    Sample Customers

    Advanced Medical Transport, Banco de Guayaquil, Baylor Scott & White Health, BH Telecom, Bowling Green State University, Calligaris, Children's Hospital Colorado, City of Biel, Del Papa Distributing, Department of Justice, Dimension Data, Dualtec Cloud Builders, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Grupo Industrial Saltillo (GIS), Hertz, K&L Gates , LightEdge, Lone Star College System, Management Science Associates, Mindtree, NBC Olympics, Quest, Sony Corporation, The Department of Education in Western Australia, Valley Proteins
    SEED Infotech, Weta Digital, BlueShore Financial
    Buyer's Guide
    Data Center Networking
    March 2025
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