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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
  • 2,995 Views
  • 2,186 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, Juniper and others in Data Center Networking.

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    To learn more, read our detailed Data Center Networking Report (Updated: March 2026).
    Buyer's Guide
    Data Center Networking
    March 2026
    Download the complete report
    Helped 884,696 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 (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

    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

    "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."
    "This solution improves network speed and provides high availability for our users."
    "The most valuable feature of the 7700 series is probably the multi-context subset VRS, which lets you use multi-VRS, multi-context, and also VPC setup, where you have two logical devices that are still separate in terms of management planes, but have shared, virtual core channels."
    "Nexus provides inner redundancy. It allows us to perform updates on individual switches, while still maintaining reliability and uptime on the server."
    "The seamless integration of Nexus in the data center provides a scalable and stable solution."
    "This solution has given us the ability to use Cisco ISE for security."
    "This is a powerful device and I can get good bandwidth."
    "The most valuable feature of this solution is its speed."
    More Cisco Nexus pros
    "The solution is very stable."
     

    Cons

    "I don't really deal with the pricing but I know that it's not cheap."
    "Nexus switches should be able to support network function virtualization (NFV)."
    "I would like to see a lighter platform."
    "This solution costs a lot."
    "I would like to see better monitoring actions supported in the next release of this solution."
    "One of the biggest challenges, which I see is that there's a constant evolution in the product. For example, our configuration is based on what is known as traditional data center implementation. Today there is the ACI deployment and to implement, to migrate from one technology to another, that's challenging both from a configuration perspective and also from a cost perspective."
    "The initial setup is always complex."
    "If we could get some more automation integrated into it, it would make it easier."
    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

    "Our licensing costs for this solution are approximately $100K a year for the switching part."
    "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."
    "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."
    "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 subscription model and price could be better."
    "I don't like the Smart Licensing models that Cisco uses."
    "Cisco Nexus is not a cheaply priced product."
    "Our licensing fees are approximately $2,000 USD per year."
    More Cisco Nexus pricing and cost advice
    Information not available
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    Top Industries

    By visitors reading reviews
    Marketing Services Firm
    8%
    Manufacturing Company
    8%
    Computer Software Company
    7%
    Financial Services Firm
    6%
    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 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?
    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
    Ask a question
    Earn 20 points
     

    Comparisons

    Juniper QFX Series Switches vs Cisco Nexus Logo
    Juniper QFX Series Switches vs Cisco Nexus
    Compared 19% of the time
    Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Nexus Logo
    Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Nexus
    Compared 12% of the time
    Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Nexus Logo
    Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Nexus
    Compared 10% of the time
    Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Cisco Nexus Logo
    Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Cisco Nexus
    Compared 8% of the time
    Juniper QFabric vs Cisco Nexus Logo
    Juniper QFabric vs Cisco Nexus
    Compared 7% of the time
    More Cisco Nexus Competitors
    No data available
     

    Product Reports

    Buyer's Guide
    Cisco Nexus
    March 2026
    Cisco Nexus reportDownload Cisco Nexus product report
    Buyer's Guide
    Data Center Networking
    March 2026
    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 2026
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