HPE Ethernet Switches Reviews

Around 90 percent of our clients have no in-house IT staff. We resell solutions and manage the hardware and software for networks and desktops. We're a provider of managed services and security. We spec out the solution they need minus the necessary software for their business. 

HPE's switches get the job done. There are a million to choose from, but this is the one I prefer. You can't have a network without them, so it's hard to say that HPE switches do anything wonderful. So all you're looking at is price point and functionality.

I like that HPE's management functions are GUI-based, so it doesn't rely on command lines.

The GUI still doesn't cover everything. The basic stuff can be done in the GUI, but you still need to use the CLI to implement the advanced features. That's the biggest complaint. Some things still need to be configured in the command line interface. I would rather not use the CLI for anything.

I would also like to see a more centralized private management console for the series of devices. Most solutions are adopting centralized cloud-based management, but my client base believes cloud solutions are too insecure. You've got a few dozen switches, so it would be nice to have the ability to manage them on a "single pane of glass." 

Everybody's doing that in the cloud. They want to charge you for the cloud, and you have no idea who has access to your network. That creates another attack vector because the switches are always phoning home. They can be hijacked, but everybody thinks that's what they want because they can manage it from anywhere. They like the convenience. However, I've been in the business for a long time, so I know it's going to come back to haunt them. It's just a matter of time before it happens.

I have been using HP switches since they bought the technology from the Digital Equipment Corporation in the mid-1980s. 

HPE switches have been rock-solid for many years. They usually outlast the servers. Their useful life is about 10 to 15 years. If you're not making major changes to the network, you never need to touch them. You can go for years without ever rebooting them. A lot of times they're only rebooted when there's a major enough power failure that they finally go down.

The scalability and backbone don't come into play often. I would say HPE switches are as scalable as anything else out there.

HPE customer service is pretty good. I rate their support eight out of 10. At times, they can be too slow to respond if you have an unusual request.  Sometimes, you have a problem that nobody on their team has seen. 

Positive

Typically, our clients haven't used anything else. Many of them have been using HPE for over 10 years, and we usually deployed the first switches, which would've been HPE. For some clients, we've completely replaced everything three times now during that time because things have reached the end of life and need to be replaced.

Deploying HPE switches is straightforward unless you have to enable some advanced features, then you need to go into the command line interface, which makes it more complex than necessary.

Usually, it takes only a few minutes to deploy because most of my clients' networks are pretty flat. The only thing we need to do is configure a few VLANs on the switch. After deployment, maintenance is minimal. 

It's like the janitor. You can't have a business without it, so it's hard to say that you're not going to save money because you put one in. You have to have it, so it's hard to say that there is a return on investment. It's just one of those things you need to do business. It's like saying the ROI for the power bill. You either make money or you don't.

I like HPE switches because you get a perpetual license with the hardware.
The initial cost is about the same as other switches, but it starts beating the competitors after three or four years because you don't have to pay for additional annual licensing costs.

We also pay for a support contract as well. It's optional, but you don't get software updates without the contract.

I rate HPE Ethernet switches a solid eight out of 10. This is the best product to get if you're not doing something special. If you're doing something odd, you should consider going with Cisco.

There are many cheaper options, but they don't have lifetime hardware support. That's one of the reasons I like HPEs better.

We primarily use the solution for the switch mechanisms. 

We actually use these only as the situation calls for it. It depends on if the switches make sense for a company. They are good for IT companies and enterprises. 

The solution is stable and the performance is good.

You can scale the product as needed. 

It is a product that is very easy to set up and deploy.

The pricing is pretty good. 

It's not easy to find the devices. Companies often don't keep them in stock and only get them when there is a demand. 

It would be ideal if the product offered more security.

I've been dealing with HP for years now. It's been a while. 

The stability is good. The solution offers good performance and reliability. 

The solution is scalable and easy to expand. If a company needs to scale, it can do so.

We have maybe 1,000 people using the product in our company right now. 

I've dealt with technical support in the past and never have had issues with their level of service. I'm satisfied with them.

I'm also familiar with Cisco, which is a bit more expensive. 

It is easy to set up the product. It doesn't take long either. Deployment might take an hour. It's not a difficult process at all. A company wouldn't have any issues setting everything up.

The product itself is less expensive than, for example, Cisco. 

I'm just a customer and an end-user. I don't have a business relationship with HP. 

I'm not sure which version of the solution I'm using at this time. 

I'd recommend the solution to other people and other companies. 

I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.

We use the solution for a small network and a small data center.

The solution is very stable and easy to use.

I would like to see more updates for the solution.

I have been using HPE Ethernet Switches for a couple of years.

I rate the solution ten out of ten for stability.

More than 250 users use HPE Ethernet Switches regularly in our organization.

I rate the solution’s scalability ten out of ten.

The solution’s technical support was good.

The solution’s initial setup is very easy.

The solution can be implemented through an in-house team. The solution's deployment process is very easy and includes designing the network and configuring VLAN.

The solution's security features are very good, and I rate them ten out of ten. Two people are needed for the solution's deployment and maintenance. I would recommend the solution to other users. I rate the solution ten out of ten for ease of management and configuration.

Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten.

We use HPE Ethernet Switches to connect access devices. 

We were able to onboard HPE Ethernet Switches easily to the cloud. It was fast and took only five minutes to complete. 

HPE Ethernet Switches must ensure that the updates and patching are done regularly. When we have new software updates, we can resolve issues quickly. 

I have been using the solution for ten years. 

HPE Ethernet Switches is stable. 

The solution is scalable. 

Aruba's technical support is good and cooperative. 

I used Cisco before HPE Ethernet Switches. We chose HPE because of our company's single-vendor policy. 

The tool's deployment is straightforward and takes less than five minutes. To deploy the solution, you need to know the site's size and number of users. This is important since you need to know the model that needs to be purchased. 

I rate HPE Ethernet Switches a ten out of ten. You must understand the product well so you won't waste money. You need to know the deployment to purchase the suitable model. There are different products which can result in high costs. 

We primarily use it for switches. We use it to interconnect all the LAN, and WAN switches. It's great for creating an interconnected network. 

It's stable and performing well.

The solution is simple to set up.

We've been using old models for the longest time now. They're reliable and function well even after all this time. The wear factor is very low, and they're still reliable. If the bandwidth is not an issue, a company can use it for a very long time.

Some of the older versions have lower bandwidth. 

The scalability is limited. 

We've used the solution for the longest time right now.

The solution is stable and the performance is good. There are no bugs or glitches. It does not crash or freeze on us. It is reliable. 

The solution can only scale so much. There are limitations in terms of the number of ports.

While we have one group using the switches, everyone is benefiting from them as we are using them to connect our networks.

We have about 3,000 users on the solution right now. 

I'm not sure if we have plans to increase usage. We're still coming out of the pandemic. 

Our vendor usually provides support. We're satisfied with the level of service we have. 

The initial setup is simple. It's straightforward. It's not complex or difficult. 

My colleague implemented it with other switches. 

The vendors who are bringing the switches to our company, or the vendors who are selling the switches, will provide the staff to help install the solution. Usually, there are around five persons at a maximum helping to assist.

We've seen an ROI. With some switches, they are still with us, they're still operational. We've only had to upgrade a bit which is the only reason why we're replacing them. If we didn't replace them for the upgrade they'd still be working. They last a very long time. You get your money's worth.

I can't speak to the exact licensing costs. 

I'm not familiar with which version we're using. 

I'd recommend the solution to others. 

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. 

The on-prem deployment is usually used for SAN storage.

The devices are scalable and they have good performance.

It's straightforward to set up.

The product could always use better technical support. 

We've been dealing with the solution for two years. 

The performance is good and they are reliable. There are no bugs or glitches and it doesn't crash or freeze. 

It's a product that can scale well. It's easy to expand as necessary.

We have two clients that use these switches. 

Technical support could be faster. 

The initial setup is simple. It's not overly complex or difficult. 

The deployment only takes a few days. It's pretty quick to set up. 

One engineer is enough in order to handle deployment and maintenance. 

We have seen an ROI. Usually, there is a part of a combined solution, so the switches don't stand on their own. The switches are part of whatever you're trying to do in terms of server consolidation or if you're trying to convert your data center to a software-defined data center so you need good storage switches. They play their part in that solution. It's difficult to pick out the particular return on investment, however, they play their part in the whole infrastructure.

I don't handle the actual licensing. I can't speak to the exact costs. 

We provide the solution to clients. 

I've implemented the product enough to know it's a good solution. If it fits a company's needs, they should go ahead.

I'd rate it an eight out of ten. Our experience has been largely positive. 

We use HPE Ethernet Switches for access control or access switches.

HPE Ethernet Switches have helped us build ACLs and VLANs.

They are effective. 

We have some fairly simple requirements, we can do the things that we need to do, it gets the job done. The interfaces are more user-friendly than they were ten years ago. 

It is simple to operate, and they have the feature sets that we require.

It's fairly lightweight, they don't require a lot of maintenance.

In general, the web GUI, or web interface, requires improvement.

Interface, and the ability to do things that are only possible through the command line, which seems pointless because there is no reason to have a command line for many of the functions.

The ability to stack, as well as a unified operating system, would be extremely beneficial. It isn't there. They are budget switches.

I have been using HPE Ethernet Switches for 15 years.

We use several versions of this solution, ranging from the most recent to some that are over ten years old. We have a full spectrum of switches.

We have no issues with the stability of HPE Ethernet Switches. It is stable and it works.

Scalability is determined by a pricing decision. HPEs are not at all a Juniper or anything like that, but for a budget shop like ours, they are adequate.

Our company has 250 users who use this product extensively.

I have never contacted technical support.

Previously, we had not used another solution. We started with HPE Ethernet switches.

The initial setup is relatively straightforward.

It took a couple of hours to get it set up and configured.

I am responsible for the maintenance of the product.

We did not use a consultant or integrator to assist us with the configuration, we did it ourselves.

There are no licensing fees, the price of the product is all that is required.

It is what it is and can be used by anyone; no expertise or prior knowledge is required.

I would rate HPE Ethernet Switches a seven out of ten.

The solution's interface is helpful, and you can see the traffic. HPE Ethernet Switches is a reliable solution.

The solution lacks certain protocols and has a limited warranty. You have to pay extra to get more warranty on it.

I have been using HPE Ethernet Switches for ten years.

HPE Ethernet Switches is a stable solution, but it depends on your requirements.

I rate the solution a nine out of ten for stability.

The solution is scalable to a certain extent. You won't be able to do advanced networking on it. Around 100 users are using the solution in our organization.

The solution's technical support team will arrange for things to be changed or replaced.

The solution’s initial setup is straightforward.

We implemented the solution through an in-house team. To deploy the solution, you need to log on to the interface and configure whatever you need to configure. The solution can be deployed within minutes. The solution has a plug-and-play deployment process.

HPE Ethernet Switches is a fairly cheap solution. The solution does the job well for its price. You have to pay a lot more money for higher features, but then you are probably better off looking at higher-end switches. HPE Ethernet Switches are designed for smaller size businesses.

The solution can be deployed on-premises and on the cloud. Integrating the solution with our existing network infrastructure was very easy.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.