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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 108 Cisco Nexus reviews
  • 5,100 Views
  • 3,366 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, Dell Technologies, Arista and others in Data Center Networking.

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    To learn more, read our detailed Data Center Networking Report (Updated: June 2026).
    Buyer's Guide
    Data Center Networking
    June 2026
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    Helped 904,928 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
    7.7
    Number of Reviews
    108
    Ranking in other categories
    LAN Switching (2nd), Data Center Networking (2nd)
    HPE A-Series [EOL]
    Average Rating
    8.0
    Number of Reviews
    1
    Ranking in other categories
    No ranking in other categories
     

    Featured Reviews

    Fakhar Mahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
    Fakhar Mahmood
    Sr. Network Administrator at i2c
    Migration between data centers has strengthened core connectivity and simplified segmentation
    The biggest problems during migration were corporate issues, including dependencies on other devices such as F5, HSMs, and firewalls from Palo Alto. Everything was connected over the core switches, which made this a quite difficult part to manage and to onboard the teams and to understand the impact of the migration. We encountered an issue where we have two data centers, and unknowingly we were configuring the devices with the same VPC number on both devices. By doing that, we were not able to terminate the lease lines over those core switches. According to Cisco, we had to change the VPC number of one of the data center's core switches since they are in a VPC. We are still waiting, and it has been more than five to six years just to change the VPC number and migrate back the lease line. Now we are having cabin switches for the lease line and then the core switch. That VPC number issue was quite surprising for us. However, we have a very frequent issue with Cisco Nexus, particularly with the SFPs. Every time a port or the SFP heats up, it gets faulty. We have almost sixteen Nexus switches per data center. In a year, we experience one or two port issues per annum. We have standard Equinix data centers with standard installations, but somehow the temperature is always maintained and there is no ducting, yet the ports and the SFPs heat up or become faulty. This is a very frequent issue with the SFP-based port.
    Read full review
    Mohamed-Mousa - PeerSpot reviewer
    Mohamed-Mousa
    IT Manager at a media company with 201-500 employees
    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

    "The biggest benefit to this solution is a high port density with high bandwidth."
    "Regarding maintaining infrastructure, we have achieved uniformity."
    "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 return on investment for this solution is very good, as it is very practical and versatile."
    "The VPC feature of Cisco Nexus is great because it provides an active-active way of forwarding the traffic and avoids blocking any of the links."
    "The most valuable feature of Cisco Nexus is modularity; it's like the Swiss Army knife of switches, and if you pay for all the features, you can do almost anything you want to do with it."
    "This solution improves network speed and provides high availability for our users."
    "The best-suited environment for the Cisco Nexus is not a small office, it is used mainly for enterprise networks, providing more throughput and good capabilities, and my customers in the data center are happy with the solution."
    More Cisco Nexus pros
    "Overall, everything related to the interface is very good."
    "The solution is very stable."
     

    Cons

    "The licensing is very complicated. They should work to simplify it."
    "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."
    "They need to understand that when we call them and have an issue, it's our production and sometimes they want us to do repairs that would cause other issues. That's the biggest problem."
    "One of the biggest challenges, which I see is that there's a constant evolution in the product."
    "Customers do not understand the new licenses or subscription very well. Cisco should work on this."
    "In the Nexus 3500, you can't do per-port Jumbo frames, so you have to enable it as a global configuration."
    "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."
    "The interface integration of Cisco Nexus with AI can be improved for better infrastructure management."
    More Cisco Nexus cons
    "Overall, the solution could offer its users better support."
    "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

    "We consider Juniper switches to be more affordable."
    "Every Cisco product is more expensive than competitors on the market, which is just a fact, but from my perspective, it is worth it."
    "Costs more than most, but the reliability pays for the difference."
    "We have a three-year subscription for our licensing fees."
    "Our licensing fees are paid annually."
    "We only have a yearly support contract, as we do not use any of the subscription-based functions at this time."
    "The licensing fees for this solution are approximately $800,000 USD annually."
    "The price of this solution is good when compared to others in the market."
    More Cisco Nexus pricing and cost advice
    Information not available
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    Top Industries

    By visitors reading reviews
    Construction Company
    10%
    Manufacturing Company
    9%
    Financial Services Firm
    9%
    Outsourcing Company
    9%
    No data available
     

    Company Size

    By reviewers
    Large Enterprise
    Midsize Enterprise
    Small Business
    By reviewers
    Company SizeCount
    Small Business19
    Midsize Enterprise17
    Large Enterprise83
    No data available
     

    Questions from the Community

    What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Nexus?
    We are a reseller, and we sell products to our customers.
    See all answers
    What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?
    The biggest problems during migration were corporate issues, including dependencies on other devices such as F5, HSMs, and firewalls from Palo Alto. Everything was connected over the core switches,...
    See all answers
    What is your primary use case for Cisco Nexus?
    Cisco Nexus is used in data centers with a simple Nexus OS deployment model. In our environment, we do not use programmability with Cisco Nexus. The switches are used very basically in our infrastr...
    See all answers
    Ask a question
    Earn 20 points
     

    Comparisons

    Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Nexus Logo
    Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Nexus
    Compared 12% of the time
    Juniper QFX Series Switches vs Cisco Nexus Logo
    Juniper QFX Series Switches vs Cisco Nexus
    Compared 11% of the time
    Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Nexus Logo
    Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Nexus
    Compared 8% of the time
    ExtremeSwitching vs Cisco Nexus Logo
    ExtremeSwitching vs Cisco Nexus
    Compared 7% of the time
    Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Cisco Nexus Logo
    Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Cisco Nexus
    Compared 7% of the time
    More Cisco Nexus Competitors
    No data available
     

    Product Reports

    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Nexus
    July 2026
    Cisco Nexus reportDownload Cisco Nexus product report
    Buyer's Guide
    Data Center Networking
    June 2026
    HPE A-Series [EOL] reportDownload HPE A-Series [EOL] product report
     

    Also Known As

    No data available
    A-Series, HP A-Series
     

    Overview

    Cisco Nexus delivers flexibility, scalability, and performance for data centers, offering stability and ease of management. The integration with third-party security and high port density support are key features, making it ideal for core network infrastructures.

    Cisco Nexus stands out in data centers for backbone switching and network management, known for its modularity and Virtual Port Channels. Organizations value its capacity for handling large data volumes and automation capabilities. The system's redundancy features enhance reliability in complex network environments. Despite its strengths, technical support, licensing complexity, and integration require improvement. Users benefit from features like Active/Active FEX connectivity and wish for enhancements in routing support, interface usability, and documentation. Cost concerns and port overheating issues are noted, with calls for better training and simplified configurations.

    What are the key features of Cisco Nexus?
    • Modularity: Enables customization and upgradability.
    • Virtual Port Channels (VPCs): Offers resilience and high availability.
    • Virtual Routing and Forwarding (VRF): Supports routing domains within a network device.
    • High Port Density: Allows connection of multiple devices in a compact space.
    • Automation: Simplifies network management and operations.
    • Redundancy Features: Provides network reliability and uptime.
    What benefits and ROI should users expect from Cisco Nexus?
    • Scalability: Supports growing network demands.
    • Stability: Offers a reliable operational environment.
    • Efficiency: Enhances data center connectivity and management.
    • Security Integration: Works seamlessly with third-party security solutions.
    • High Performance: Optimizes data handling and throughput.

    In enterprise settings, Cisco Nexus is essential for switching, routing, and server connection aggregation. It's integral in spine-and-leaf architectures for scalability in multi-tenant environments, often integrated with hyper-converged technology to ensure reliable, secure server connectivity. Implementations span industries, each leveraging its strength for improved network efficiency.

    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
    June 2026
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