Cisco Nexus vs HPE A-Series [EOL] comparison

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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

6,437 Views
4,055 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

HPE A-Series [EOL]

Read 1 HPE A-Series [EOL] review

100% willing to recommend

Cisco Nexus

HPE A-Series [EOL]

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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, Arista, Dell Technologies and others in Data Center Networking.

To learn more, read our detailed Data Center Networking Report (Updated: October 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Data Center Networking

October 2026

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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 (3rd)

HPE A-Series [EOL]

Average Rating

8.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Featured Reviews

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.

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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…

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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

"Given the overall reliability and stability of the Cisco product, it's worth the price over any other switching platform out there."

"We value the combination of performance and experience with Legacy Cisco switching products, including Nexus."

"Cisco Nexus helped us do an entire data center migration in under six months."

"With a beautifully engineered hardware and Android OS, Nexus 7 is definitely a choice worth making."

"We definitely got ROI from Nexus and a pretty short term because the pure redundancy and the uptime is a real value add for us."

"This solution provides our organization with more business continuity and high availability because we can build them in ways with technology, like VPC, to make sure that our network is constantly up and available to our end users."

"The seamless integration of Nexus in the data center provides a scalable and stable solution."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is network visibility; it touches all of the switches, becomes the core switch, and all of the devices connected to it route towards it so we are able to see all of the devices."

More Cisco Nexus pros

"The solution is very stable."

"Overall, everything related to the interface is very good."

Cons

"It would be ideal if there was better integration with various other platforms."

"I would like to see more on-device programmability, as it seems to be lacking in this platform."

"The cost of the support can be improved. We had critical operations, and we needed 24/7 support for 365 days, which was quite expensive. We had to go for a very costly support contract, which was really a concern. The availability of spare parts, especially in a remote location such as Egypt, can also be improved."

"The initial setup was somewhat complex."

"I can't necessarily do that with the costings of a Cisco organization, as they're too expensive."

"I would like to see better collaboration with other, low-end devices."

"The installation process lasted too long, taking 16 to 24 hours for full completion."

"There is room for improvement in the pricing. The solution is expensive. Compared to other vendors, it's costly for similar products."

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

"The solution is expensive."

"All of our costs including subscription, licensing, and support services are bundled together, and the cost is approximately $100,000 USD per year."

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

"This solution should be made more affordable."

"We have a virtual license."

"We consider Juniper switches to be more affordable."

"Cisco Nexus is not a cheaply priced product."

"It's around $160K a year for our license."

More Cisco Nexus pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

15%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Construction Company

10%

Comms Service Provider

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	17
Large Enterprise	83

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Cisco Nexus?

Cisco Nexus switches are generally priced at the higher end of the market, but their performance, scalability, and reliability make them a strong option for enterprise data centers. The overall cos...

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What needs improvement with Cisco Nexus?

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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...

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Comparisons

Cisco Catalyst Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 12% of the time

Juniper QFX Series Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 10% of the time

Arista Networks Platform vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 8% of the time

ExtremeSwitching vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 7% of the time

Arista Campus LAN Switches vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 7% of the time

More Cisco Nexus Competitors

Arista Networks Platform vs HPE A-Series [EOL]

Compared 44% of the time

More HPE A-Series [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus

October 2026

Download Cisco Nexus product report

Buyer's Guide

Data Center Networking

October 2026

Download 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

October 2026

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