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Aruba Instant On Switches vs Cisco Nexus comparison

 

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 Instant On Switches
Ranking in LAN Switching
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
29
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 - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
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 And they were running outdated software.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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The tool's best part is the commercials. Its pricing is lower compared to other enterprise products. We pitch the product to customers who have budget constraints. Its implementation is plug-and-play."
"The dashboard for clients is very nice."
"The solution provides GUI control, making it particularly suitable for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and small office/home office (SOHO) networks."
"The best thing about Aruba Instant On Switches is their cost."
"It is straightforward to set up."
"Aruba's management solutions, like Aruba Central are valuable."
"The product's initial setup phase is very simple."
"The solution is suitable for small businesses and small offices."
"The most valuable feature of Cisco Nexus is speed compared to what you would get from a Catalyst Series switch."
"From a data center implementation, with respect to competition from your data, there isn't really a product recovery for the different tests other than Cisco Nexus. For example, if you take Multi-tenancy for the data center, it's something which, I think, only Cisco has. There are some implementation from HP, but I think it's limited there."
"It's easy to use."
"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."
"We got increased bandwidth, faster performance, and newer software which has improved our organization."
"The interface is easy to use. It is not much different from iOS, but you can use it on a larger scale in data centers."
"We leverage Cisco DCNM a lot, which allows us to automate."
"The most valuable feature is its reliability."
 

Cons

"The price has room for improvement."
"Improvements are required in the product's price. I want it to be cheaper."
"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."
"You cannot use many VLANs, like VLAN 10, VLAN 20, VLAN 30, and VLAN 100 on Aruba Instant On AP."
"Instant On Switches' layer 3 and visibility could be improved."
"It could have an MSP portal version."
"Some models need enhancement of the web interface to make management and monitoring easier."
"They don't have a lot of diagnostics tools, which could be an area for improvement."
"The interface integration of Cisco Nexus with AI can be improved for better infrastructure management."
"They could improve on having different technologies between product models."
"Areas in which the solution have room for improvement are the interface, management, and reporting."
"In the Nexus 3500, you can't do per-port Jumbo frames, so you have to enable it as a global configuration."
"The product could be updated more frequently for other phone model support."
"I would like to see more granularity."
"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."
"They should make it easier to update the code on it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If one is very bad, and ten is a very good price, I rate the tool's price as a six."
"The product has good pricing."
"We pay an annual licensing fee."
"Pricing is competitive, and there are no supplementary fees."
"Aruba Instant On Switches is not expensive."
"Aruba Instant On Switches is cheaper than Cisco and expensive compared to some Chinese brand products."
"Aruba Instant On Switches is slightly cheaper than Cisco."
"The pricing is quite low compared to other products, which is good for the customer."
"The Nexus 9000 is very competitively priced."
"Our licensing costs for this solution are approximately $100K a year for the switching part."
"Cisco Nexus is not a cheaply priced product."
"The subscription model and price could be better."
"We consider Juniper switches to be more affordable."
"Costs more than most, but the reliability pays for the difference."
"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."
"Our licensing fees are paid annually."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Educational Organization
6%
Computer Software Company
25%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
5%
 

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.
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...
What do you like most about Cisco Nexus?
The product's initial setup phase is very easy.
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.
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...
 

Also Known As

Aruba Instant On 1930 Switches
No data available
 

Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about Aruba Instant On Switches vs. Cisco Nexus and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,388 professionals have used our research since 2012.