Aruba Instant On Switches vs Cisco Nexus comparison

Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Cisco are both solutions in the LAN Switching category. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.2, while Cisco is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.7. Hewlett Packard Enterprise holds a 10.3% mindshare in LS, compared to Cisco’s 8.5% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Hewlett Packard Enterprise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

Aruba Instant On Switches

Read 29 Aruba Instant On Switches reviews

2,012 Views
1,024 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Cisco Nexus

Read 105 Cisco Nexus reviews

1,672 Views
1,179 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Aruba Instant On Switches

Cisco Nexus

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Aruba Instant On Switches and Cisco Nexus based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two LAN Switching solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Aruba Instant On Switches vs. Cisco Nexus Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Instant On Switches vs. Cisco Nexus

March 2025

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Helped 841,431 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

Aruba Instant On Switches

Ranking in LAN Switching

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Cisco Nexus

Ranking in LAN Switching

3rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

105

Ranking in other categories

Data Center Networking (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Aruba Instant On Switches is 10.3%, up from 8.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Nexus is 8.5%, down from 11.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

LAN Switching

Featured Reviews

MashukThakur

Senior Wireless Engineer at FASTtelco

A centrally managed switches ideal for small and medium businesses but does not have any console access

The solution does not have any console access. For example, if you do not have internet access on your side and you need to configure anything, you should at least have CLI access to do something or manage the solution to put to some IP. It will only work if we have a TSCT on the network. We can port and configure the initial settings before we get the Instant On Switches. I am not working deeply on Instant On devices. I have only installed it in a couple of accommodation sites. Even today, one customer has ordered to install 80 pieces of Instant On. I’ve to order additional 94 access points. I was confused about whether to go with Aruba Instant On or AP-505. Instant On has limited accessibility but AP-505 have cloud or local access on normal infrastructure. This would be better and easier to configure. So, there are further improvements in regard to console access and some limitations with access.

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Joe Benítez

Systems Engineer at GAD Municipal de Guayaquil

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.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution provides GUI control, making it particularly suitable for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and small office/home office (SOHO) networks."

"Aruba's management solutions, like Aruba Central are valuable."

"The product's initial setup phase is very simple."

"The solution's most beneficial feature is that you obtain A-class equipment for the lowest price."

"The solution is suitable for small businesses and small offices."

"The solution has a simple deployment and zero border."

"Setup is easy."

"Its customer service is good."

More Aruba Instant On Switches pros

"It has improved our organization because we have aggregated ports, we're able to put multiple agencies on the multiple different interfaces that we have going there. We're able to separate them out with the use of VLANs and whatnot."

"The most valuable features are the solution is robust, you are able to use it for fabric architecture as well as SPAN on exit with the controller."

"This product has improved the way our organization functions through the ability to do things in a maintenance window while allowing other teams to continue to work."

"Cisco technical support is a good backup team when you have issues with anything. If you open a case they are very good at following up and making sure that the issue's resolved according to the needs of our network."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is to segregate the network."

"The consolidation of all of the layer two ports into one rack is very valuable."

"The redundancy and the vPC are the most valuable features. We can integrate two switches together for file transfers; that is, we can operate two switches as one. This is because the network can be shared via a vPC trunk, particularly for devices that are not critical for redundancy."

"The flexibility, how accurately the VPCs operate as well as the redundancy built into it with the VPCs are the most valuable features."

More Cisco Nexus pros

Cons

"We are interested in acquiring a firewall that provides a comprehensive solution. In other words, we're seeking a firewall that encompasses multiple aspects, such as exceptional switches and active phone functionalities."

"The product's startup speed is very bad, as it is very slow."

"The difficulty with the tool is in the area of troubleshooting."

"It is not a very scalable solution."

"Some L3 features could be included in the solution."

"Some customers have made complaints about Aruba Instant On Switches' stability."

"If Aruba can provide guidance on features through sessions or explanations, it would be helpful. We have to search and work online."

"The solution’s initial setup is very complex."

More Aruba Instant On Switches cons

"There's a couple of really bad incidents lately. Probably luck of the draw."

"The implementation process could be easier, which is something that should be improved."

"Nexus is a costly solution."

"My only complaint is that not all of the ports on it are enabled from the start."

"There may be many bugs which remain unresolved."

"The price could be better."

"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."

"The initial setup is always complex."

More Cisco Nexus cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing is competitive, and there are no supplementary fees."

"The pricing is cheap."

"The product has good pricing."

"The product is not cheaply priced, especially when compared to the other vendors in the market."

"If one is very bad, and ten is a very good price, I rate the tool's price as a six."

"Aruba Instant On Switches is slightly cheaper than Cisco."

"The license for Instant On Switches is free."

"Aruba Instant On Switches is cheaper than Cisco and expensive compared to some Chinese brand products."

More Aruba Instant On Switches pricing and cost advice

"It's worth the money we're paying for Nexus."

"The license for Cisco Nexus is one year to three years, in this case for the SMARTnet. It is a price per unit, in terms of this specific appliance."

"The price of the product is reasonable."

"It is very expensive. Its licensing is on a yearly basis."

"We only have a yearly support contract, as we do not use any of the subscription-based functions at this time."

"I don't like the Smart Licensing models that Cisco uses."

"We consider Juniper switches to be more affordable."

"The Nexus 9000 is very competitively priced."

More Cisco Nexus pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

19%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Government

Computer Software Company

25%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Aruba Instant On Switches?

The solution has a simple deployment and zero border.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Instant On Switches?

I think the pricing for the switches is reasonable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Aruba Instant On Switches?

I have run into a couple of problems with the switches. Recently, one of the newer stacks stopped working and had to be rebooted individually. They don't have a lot of diagnostics tools, which coul...

See all answers

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?

Cisco pricing is at the same level as many competitors, however, due to competition, they sometimes lower prices and offer large discounts.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?

Cisco's security features are in line with other OEMs, however, for data center security in terms of layer seven security, we prefer to have different OEMs rather than relying solely on Cisco.

See all answers

Comparisons

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Aruba Instant On Switches

Compared 43% of the time

HPE ProCurve vs Aruba Instant On Switches

Compared 42% of the time

NETGEAR Switches vs Aruba Instant On Switches

Compared 14% of the time

More Aruba Instant On Switches Competitors

Juniper QFX Series Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 46% of the time

Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 21% of the time

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 14% of the time

ExtremeSwitching vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 5% of the time

VMware NSX vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 4% of the time

More Cisco Nexus Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Instant On Switches

March 2025

Download Aruba Instant On Switches product report

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus

March 2025

Download Cisco Nexus product report

Also Known As

Aruba Instant On 1930 Switches

No data available

Overview

The Aruba Instant On 1930 switches features advanced, smart-managed, fixed configuration Gigabit switches designed for small businesses that are easy-to-deploy and affordable. They’re made to handle today’s bandwidth-heavy applications like voice and video conferencing, enabling consistent connectivity to enhance performance. Using either the Instant On mobile app or the cloud-based web portal, you can quickly set up, monitor and manage the 1930 switch series from anywhere at any time. What’s more, up to 30 W PoE power delivery is available out-of-the-box for your class 4 PoE devices, like access points, surveillance cameras and VoIP phones, all easily managed from the same platform.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

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

Sample Customers

KEMET, Vestavia Hills City Schools, Dropbox

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

Buyer's Guide

Aruba Instant On Switches vs. Cisco Nexus

March 2025

Free Report: Aruba Instant On Switches vs. Cisco Nexus

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