Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Aruba Instant On Switches vs Cisco Nexus comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Aruba Instant On Switches
Ranking in LAN Switching
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
27
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Cisco Nexus
Ranking in LAN Switching
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
103
Ranking in other categories
Data Center Networking (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the LAN Switching category, the mindshare of Aruba Instant On Switches is 9.9%, up from 8.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cisco Nexus is 9.5%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
LAN Switching
 

Featured Reviews

NassifKaleny - PeerSpot reviewer
A very stable tool that needs to offer better startup speed
Speed is an area of the product with certain shortcomings where improvements are required. The product's startup speed is very bad, as it is very slow. It takes around eight minutes to start up the firmware. The tool has to be easy to configure, especially when compared with NETGEAR, Cisco, and HPE. There is an easy way to configure with vendors other than Aruba.
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 And they were running outdated software.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 best thing about Aruba Instant On Switches is their cost."
"Aruba's management solutions, like Aruba Central are valuable."
"The product's initial setup phase is very simple."
"The solution has a simple deployment and zero border."
"The solution is plug-and-play and auto-configured."
"The online monitoring tool and the configuration of the application with the tool are valuable features."
"It is straightforward to set up."
"The solution's pricing is slightly cheaper than that of Cisco."
"Cisco Nexus is very safe and stable. I've been here 8 months. We have some devices that have been out for 11 years."
"Cisco Nexus has good overall reliability and configuration options. It is fairly straightforward to access the switching platforms."
"I like the fact that they are a well-supported product."
"The initial setup is easy."
"This solution provides all of the routing and searching features that we need."
"The setup is straightforward. I'd like to see the firmware and code upgradability to be slightly more intuitive."
"The most valuable feature is its reliability."
"The initial setup is pretty easy."
 

Cons

"Some customers have made complaints about Aruba Instant On Switches' stability."
"The solution’s GUI should be improved a bit."
"Improvements are required in the product's price. I want it to be cheaper."
"The product must be integrated with Aruba Central for better management."
"We would like to see more documentation."
"In the next version, they should add a firewall from a single source."
"The solution’s initial setup is very complex."
"It is not a very scalable solution."
"There is some room for improvement when it comes to the frequency on the network."
"If I call during a high volume, I might get someone that just doesn't know as much or it takes a little bit of time and they put us on hold more. Otherwise, it's good."
"The additional features I would like to see included in the next release is the ability to integrate routing and switching features."
"Cisco Nexus needs to add the SDN capability and lower the price."
"Technical support could be better."
"There is room for improvement in the pricing. The solution is expensive. Compared to other vendors, it's costly for similar products."
"The initial setup was pretty complex, mostly because of our environment, having to do multi-context. That's where you have a lot of different logical routes that are in one physical device, and it can get kind of complex trying to think about how to set all that up. You really have to whiteboard it out a lot."
"Our only complaint is about the licensing because it can always be a little more cost-effective."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product has good pricing."
"The pricing is cheap."
"Pricing is competitive, and there are no supplementary fees."
"Aruba Instant On Switches is cheaper than Cisco and expensive compared to some Chinese brand products."
"We pay an annual licensing fee."
"I give the price seven out of ten."
"The license for Instant On Switches is free."
"The solution is the cheapest A-class switch."
"Every Cisco product is more expensive than competitors on the market, which is just a fact, but from my perspective, it is worth it."
"The license on a yearly basis is $200,000."
"We consider Juniper switches to be more affordable."
"It is very expensive. Its licensing is on a yearly basis."
"Licensing is annual or every three years. We were one of the big customers, and we used to get good prices, but the cost of the support can be improved."
"Costs more than most, but the reliability pays for the difference."
"This is a very expensive product."
"All of our costs including subscription, licensing, and support services are bundled together, and the cost is approximately $100,000 USD per year."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which LAN Switching solutions are best for your needs.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
7%
University
6%
Computer Software Company
26%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Government
6%
 

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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Aruba Instant On Switches?
If one is very bad, and ten is a very good price, I rate the tool's price as a six.
What needs improvement with Aruba Instant On Switches?
The difficulty with the tool is in the area of troubleshooting. The problem that we have in our company is that the switches don't get connected properly. In the future, I want to see AI in the too...
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?
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. If you want to upgrade to iO...
What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?
In my company, we encountered some challenges since the network was not stable. The network is unstable, making it an area where improvements are required. If you do some kind of configuration on t...
 

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: October 2024.
816,406 professionals have used our research since 2012.