Cisco Nexus vs HPE A-Series [EOL] comparison

Why PeerSpot?

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

6,017 Views
3,851 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]

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.

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

Buyer's Guide

Data Center Networking

September 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 (2nd)

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

"When it comes to data centers, Cisco Nexus is the best."

"Technical support has been very, very helpful and they offer good SLAs."

"The most valuable feature is the Bluetooth console."

"It's easy to use."

"Cisco Nexus has good overall reliability and configuration options. It is fairly straightforward to access the switching platforms."

"The initial setup is easy."

"Nexus has improved my organization in the way that it provided enhanced security in a point in the network that was critical."

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

More Cisco Nexus pros

"The solution is very stable."

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

Cons

"Our only complaint is about the licensing because it can always be a little more cost-effective."

"Nothing is perfect."

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

"We lag on the configuration. The changes make a difference in troubleshooting."

"I would like to see more granularity."

"The price could be better."

"Ease-of-use and making things more human-readable is most important."

"I would like to see a central management solution in order to have all of the equipment in one place."

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."

"Overall, the solution could offer its users better support."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"The Nexus 9000 is very competitively priced."

"Our licensing costs for this solution are approximately $100K a year for the switching part."

"This is a very expensive product."

"Our licensing fees are paid annually."

"The license on a yearly basis is $200,000."

"We have a three-year subscription for our licensing fees."

"It's worth the money we're paying for Nexus."

More Cisco Nexus pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

14%

Construction Company

10%

Manufacturing Company

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?

We are a reseller, and we sell products to our customers.

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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

Dell PowerEdge R-Series vs Cisco Nexus

Compared 7% of the time

More Cisco Nexus Competitors

Arista Networks Platform vs HPE A-Series [EOL]

Compared 37% of the time

More HPE A-Series [EOL] Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Cisco Nexus

September 2026

Download Cisco Nexus product report

Buyer's Guide

Data Center Networking

September 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

September 2026

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