There’s always space for improvement. Improvements are mainly minor in handling, like the web interface. They make some improvements. In terms of performance, they make a lot of improvements in the backplane. These small improvements could make life easier.
There were some issues in Aruba Switches, specifically Aruba PoE Switches since working with it in our company damaged our network. The timer and the internal battery in Aruba Switches don't work sometimes, and if users want to replace the battery, it is not safe. Sometimes, there is a need to configure and reconfigure Aruba Switches every two or three months to avoid cutting off the power of the product. Considering the need to reconfigure the switches in the controller when it comes to Aruba, I would say that, comparatively, Cisco is a stable product. From an improvement perspective, I want Aruba Switches to have a longer life since it doesn't work properly after five years of use. If a user wants to configure Aruba Switches after using it for five years, there is a need to keep reconfiguring the product, the controller, and access points every three to five months, which is very problematic. Considering the controllers or the access points attached to Cisco at multiple sites in our company, I can say that the switches from Cisco are good when it comes to the setup phase. If I compare the switches and controllers from Aruba and Cisco, I would say that the products that fall under Cisco's side are better. Aruba Switches should have a longer life and not just a product that offers stability for five years. The tool should be able to function properly for around ten years. Considering factors like infrastructure, cost, management, and business decisions, the production is able to offer a long life to users.
The UI could improve, where menus and features or functions could be moved a bit, so it's better for us. For example, the one dealing with uplinks could be grouped into a dropdown or something like that.
Head Of Technical Department at Modern establishment for supply and trading
Real User
Top 5
2023-08-29T11:43:08Z
Aug 29, 2023
If we compare Aruba and Cisco at the data center layer, Cisco has its Nexus switch. Aruba provides the new 10000 series, but it does not compare with the Nexus switch. Aruba is in networks but still not in data centers since their data center switches are not as good as Cisco's. Aruba should enhance its performance and management solution to manage Aruba and non-Aruba switches. Aruba needs better layer management or a software management solution. When we talk about Aruba Central, the integration with the management software is not good enough. When we need to push a configuration in a switch, Aruba Central can manage Aruba access switches only. We work with the Aruba OS for normal management, but the CX switches are for monitoring only. Aruba'a management solution is a weak point. Management solutions are a weak point for other vendors, too, but we need to enhance Aruba to be better than other vendors.
Managing Director at P & P Enterprise Solution Co.,Ltd.
Real User
Top 5
2023-01-30T21:26:01Z
Jan 30, 2023
There is a long delay in receiving Aruba Switches when ordered. There should not be a long delay in receiving the solution. Additionally, there should be a lifetime warranty to compete with other solutions.
The initial setup is relatively complex. There is nothing to improve on in an enterprise environment, however, if you're wanting various functionalities, you need to know how to do these things. It's not straightforward per se. Some training would be ideal for getting the most out of the solution. I had to learn a lot on the job by myself.
Managing Director Technology at Quantum Design and Engineering
Real User
Top 20
2022-10-21T15:05:38Z
Oct 21, 2022
This solution could be improved if it offered long term support on a specific model or product. What we find in the market is that companies bring out too many new models, and if you still have an older model on your project, you do not get support. In a future release, we would like to see MQTT protocols added as well as OPC. We have this functionality on other industrial switches and some of our clients like that feature. Using those two protocols, we can provide cloud based monitoring of their systems.
There are no areas for improvement I can think of, the product supports all the latest features, security is quite good and doesn't bring forward any requirements. Aruba has a single management AirWave and the Aruba Central. It also integrates nicely with ClearPass and Palo Alto firewalls. From my perspective there is not much missing with what is offered.
Network Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
2020-12-29T15:43:48Z
Dec 29, 2020
We had an issue with the hardware where one or two interfaces went down after one and a half years. This issue impacted only one or two interfaces, not the whole hardware.
Head of Technical Support at a real estate/law firm with 51-200 employees
Real User
2020-11-06T19:57:00Z
Nov 6, 2020
The cost of the solution could be improved. Before it became Aruba, it was a cheaper product. When Aruba was acquired by HPE, the prices went up. Most features I would want are there already. It's basically the upgrade, in terms of speed, and the price aspect that are issues for us. Right now we have the new switches, the Pen G features, which are still very expensive. Maybe in two or three years, these switches will be more affordable.
Senior Technical Officer at Sri Lanka Telecom Services
Real User
2020-11-04T15:21:43Z
Nov 4, 2020
I would prefer it if they reduced the cost of the switches and the access points. They are very high for a country like Sri Lanka. It's a good product, but the price is too high. Here, most customers are interested in cheaper, local solutions like Planet Switches. I think Auba is better than the local solutions, but they need to cut the cost down in order for people to switch over to them.
Security & Infrastructure Architect at a consumer goods company with 51-200 employees
Real User
2020-10-30T00:04:33Z
Oct 30, 2020
There are many options with the modular switch and you buy cards for it. If you want 48 ports of one gig, you can buy a card for that, but more options would be better. Right now, there's only eight, an eight-port, 10 gig module and sometimes we need a little denser than eight ports. It would be good if I could get a 24-port, 10 gig module.
Network Architect & Pre-Sales Consultant at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Reseller
2020-09-21T06:34:00Z
Sep 21, 2020
With Aruba, some of the models that are available, you need simple features, but you have to go to very high models, very expensive models. They need to come up with a bit more flexibility in their range of models. I would like to see more flexibility with regard to the models that are available.
Our clients are really very satisfied with the service this product provides. I really see nothing for the moment that needs improvement. There was a new release at the beginning of this year that is currently available, so essentially it is a new product. It has kept up with good development. The only improvement I can really see is that maybe they could get more competitive price-wise. Technically we are satisfied with the product.
Network and Security Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
2020-08-23T08:17:16Z
Aug 23, 2020
They have limited CLI options in the UI and this is something that needs improvement. Aruba should create a line of switches that are suitable for the industrial market.
Team leader technical support at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 20
2020-08-19T07:57:25Z
Aug 19, 2020
The solution is a little less convenient for more simplified management needs. It doesn't use a traditional, classical user interface for small changes. For monitoring, it's fine, but for small changes, less so. It means that our staff who have a less technical background are not able to help out with minor changes - the environment is less suitable for them. I do think the graphical user interface for small changes could use some more love, so to speak. But let me reiterate that it's only required for staff that is less knowledgeable. For larger rollouts, larger deployment, everything ought to be API and program based. And in that department, the environment is quite sufficient.
Visibility needs improvement. We don't have visibility in Aruba Switches and we are thinking of switching to FortiSwitch because it has visibility. Currently, we have visibility and compatibility with the firewall. Through the firewall, we can see the entire network. They are not very active with this solution. There is no followup with the vendors and resellers, they do not contact us to inform us of new technologies as they do with Cisco and Fortinet. Other vendors are more active in the community. In the next release, I would like to see visibility included, as well as better integration with other platforms.
I can't think of any features that need to be added. It works quite well for us as it is. The dashboard could be improved, especially for the CX Switches. It would help to push scripts and configurations via an easy to use dashboard, one which would give us complete visibility of all of our switches in one place. Right now, we have more than one dashboard for Aruba. It would be nice if it was centralized.
I have an opinion about Aruba controllers. Aruba access points do not require any controllers. Aruba controllers have different VLANS and there is no need to configure the access points, rather only the controller. You can put different VLANs on the same controllers. You don’t need to reconfigure it. This is a good feature that would be a good vehicle to use in the next release.
Senior Network Specialist at Al Ghurair Investments
Real User
Top 5
2020-07-19T08:15:00Z
Jul 19, 2020
We would like to see centralized, cloud-based management. If the price were lower then it would be more competitive with other products by vendors such as Cisco and Ruckus.
Overall, it's a very good product. There isn't really a feature that needs to be simplified or improved. The element of security always can be improved. If the solution continues to improve its security functionality, it will continue to be a great product.
Network and Security Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
2019-11-17T06:50:00Z
Nov 17, 2019
I think that the performance is getting better but they need to have more powerful switches on the market so that they can capture medium and large businesses. They don't have any data center switches.
Managing Aruba Switches is not as good as Cisco Controller. The switch needs to be bigger than it is now. Increasing the number of gigabytes in the switch would improve the switch interacting. You can download the DBS or the datasheet to see the switch interacting. The switch interacting is the transfer of data from the port to the switch. They should provide training courses for certification, and have it available on the internet. They need to increase marketing for their products, especially for the solutions that are stable and very hard working. They should plan an event to market this solution. Aruba could consider opening a training center for engineering, or IT students. A suggestion would be to see the unit have a configuration switch like SMTP to send an email to the users if the performance is delayed or down. That would be very useful. In the command line, we can configure in SMTP to send an email alert to the user and the support worldwide, so that they can know about the problem before it happens.
Sr. Security Network Engineer at Children's Cancer Hospital - Egypt 57357
Real User
2019-11-04T06:14:00Z
Nov 4, 2019
The templates to automate our switches need improvement. We apply a template using Bison or ANSI C to automate our tasks daily. We are using Bison and ANSI C programming language to automate our work for shutting down ports, and if the support has locked our shutdown with port security. Cisco has Nexus Switches for the Data Center solutions. These switches are very powerful. In my research, I haven't found anything that is comparable. In the next release or the near future, I would like similar Data Cente switches included.
CTO at a healthcare company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
2019-10-31T06:27:00Z
Oct 31, 2019
The written documentation, all the available documentation, is often a little bit hard to find. The solution lacks documentation of recent features. We have access directly to Aruba, Germany, so they are always helpful, but if you start, for instance, with something a little bit more complex like zero-touch provisioning, that would require a more comprehensive written piece. The available REST API is invaluable for elegant integration with the core and distribution network. There are some new multicast features coming up, but they are just in the process of preparation by IEEE, and I would like to see them as soon as possible.
We have issues with the stability of this product. The firmware in this solution has a lot of bugs that become noticeable when you have complex implementations. One of the issues with Aruba switches has to do with part numbers. For example, in the 9230F series, there are a lot of part numbers with lots of interface names that make the user confused as to which one he can use for the future. Some switches have only a 1Gbs uplink while others have only a 10Gbs uplink, and there are no clear details which one has which interface. The difference comes when you look at the pricing. Having less confusing part numbers would be an improvement.
Senior Network Specialist at Al Ghurair Investments
Real User
Top 5
2019-10-27T06:19:00Z
Oct 27, 2019
Visibility and controls need to be improved. When I compare the Aruba switch with Meraki, Meraki has more visibility and more controls. HPE Aruba has not done any development and research on the SD LAN. They may have another solution for the SD LAN. Aruba should have SD LAN features to provide more visibility on the network and to be able to control things like the traffic shifting or for voice or data. Currently, Aruba does not have this capability. It may be there, but it's tedious. In the next release or the very near future, I think that it is very important to simplify the dashboard and features similar to Meraki. Meraki has a good dashboard and the way they are presenting the information is very useful. I am forced to consider changing products because other solutions have a better dashboard and a user-friendly interface. Other solutions also have better control and visibility.
In the next release, I would like to see network access control on the switches themselves. I would like to see security functionalities when it comes to monitoring the bit of the wireless section of the switches.
Aruba Switches is a network creation solution that enables users to easily manage every aspect of their networks.
Benefits of Aruba Switches
Some of the benefits of using Aruba switches include:
Easily access and manage every aspect of your networks. Aruba Switches give users a way to control their networks from a centralized location. The simplified control center can be accessed through both the cloud and on-premises devices. Intuitively view and manage every portion of your networks....
The power supplies are generally susceptible to power fluctuations and failure due to these fluctuations.
There’s always space for improvement. Improvements are mainly minor in handling, like the web interface. They make some improvements. In terms of performance, they make a lot of improvements in the backplane. These small improvements could make life easier.
The tool must provide a controller-based architecture. It will enable interaction with northbound applications and southbound fabrics.
The solution must improve the switch models. It has only one type of switch in the CX 4100 series.
There were some issues in Aruba Switches, specifically Aruba PoE Switches since working with it in our company damaged our network. The timer and the internal battery in Aruba Switches don't work sometimes, and if users want to replace the battery, it is not safe. Sometimes, there is a need to configure and reconfigure Aruba Switches every two or three months to avoid cutting off the power of the product. Considering the need to reconfigure the switches in the controller when it comes to Aruba, I would say that, comparatively, Cisco is a stable product. From an improvement perspective, I want Aruba Switches to have a longer life since it doesn't work properly after five years of use. If a user wants to configure Aruba Switches after using it for five years, there is a need to keep reconfiguring the product, the controller, and access points every three to five months, which is very problematic. Considering the controllers or the access points attached to Cisco at multiple sites in our company, I can say that the switches from Cisco are good when it comes to the setup phase. If I compare the switches and controllers from Aruba and Cisco, I would say that the products that fall under Cisco's side are better. Aruba Switches should have a longer life and not just a product that offers stability for five years. The tool should be able to function properly for around ten years. Considering factors like infrastructure, cost, management, and business decisions, the production is able to offer a long life to users.
The UI could improve, where menus and features or functions could be moved a bit, so it's better for us. For example, the one dealing with uplinks could be grouped into a dropdown or something like that.
If we compare Aruba and Cisco at the data center layer, Cisco has its Nexus switch. Aruba provides the new 10000 series, but it does not compare with the Nexus switch. Aruba is in networks but still not in data centers since their data center switches are not as good as Cisco's. Aruba should enhance its performance and management solution to manage Aruba and non-Aruba switches. Aruba needs better layer management or a software management solution. When we talk about Aruba Central, the integration with the management software is not good enough. When we need to push a configuration in a switch, Aruba Central can manage Aruba access switches only. We work with the Aruba OS for normal management, but the CX switches are for monitoring only. Aruba'a management solution is a weak point. Management solutions are a weak point for other vendors, too, but we need to enhance Aruba to be better than other vendors.
There is room for improvement in the customer service and support team.
The endpoint capabilities could be improved. There are no missing features at this time. It was a bit expensive.
Aruba does not have local support in our region of Kerala. The support is from Bangalore and support can be delayed.
Aruba's switches are older so I'd like to see more upgrades. The newer ones may have that built-in. The product could be more user-friendly.
There is a long delay in receiving Aruba Switches when ordered. There should not be a long delay in receiving the solution. Additionally, there should be a lifetime warranty to compete with other solutions.
I would like to see something like a Cisco Prime, an application controlling the entire system, switches, and access points.
The initial setup is relatively complex. There is nothing to improve on in an enterprise environment, however, if you're wanting various functionalities, you need to know how to do these things. It's not straightforward per se. Some training would be ideal for getting the most out of the solution. I had to learn a lot on the job by myself.
This solution could be improved if it offered long term support on a specific model or product. What we find in the market is that companies bring out too many new models, and if you still have an older model on your project, you do not get support. In a future release, we would like to see MQTT protocols added as well as OPC. We have this functionality on other industrial switches and some of our clients like that feature. Using those two protocols, we can provide cloud based monitoring of their systems.
I would like to see a lower price for the device.
There are no areas for improvement I can think of, the product supports all the latest features, security is quite good and doesn't bring forward any requirements. Aruba has a single management AirWave and the Aruba Central. It also integrates nicely with ClearPass and Palo Alto firewalls. From my perspective there is not much missing with what is offered.
The biggest issue right now is the delivery timeline. It takes too long to get the product.
Aruba Switches' price could improve, if they were less expensive it would be beneficial.
The migration from older to newer products could be improved.
The software materials could be improved.
Aruba's management suite has some room for improvement.
We have needed to upgrade software to fix some challenges we experienced. After downloading the latest version of Aruba, these were fixed.
There is an issue with Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), but it is escaping me. We aren't using this feature yet, but it is something we are considering.
What I'd like to see in Aruba Switches in the next release would be more security features.
The log viewer should be improved. All required features already exist.
We had an issue with the hardware where one or two interfaces went down after one and a half years. This issue impacted only one or two interfaces, not the whole hardware.
The command-line interface could be easier to use, perhaps having voice control.
It would be better and easier for us to buy if the price were reduced.
The cost of the solution could be improved. Before it became Aruba, it was a cheaper product. When Aruba was acquired by HPE, the prices went up. Most features I would want are there already. It's basically the upgrade, in terms of speed, and the price aspect that are issues for us. Right now we have the new switches, the Pen G features, which are still very expensive. Maybe in two or three years, these switches will be more affordable.
I would prefer it if they reduced the cost of the switches and the access points. They are very high for a country like Sri Lanka. It's a good product, but the price is too high. Here, most customers are interested in cheaper, local solutions like Planet Switches. I think Auba is better than the local solutions, but they need to cut the cost down in order for people to switch over to them.
There are many options with the modular switch and you buy cards for it. If you want 48 ports of one gig, you can buy a card for that, but more options would be better. Right now, there's only eight, an eight-port, 10 gig module and sometimes we need a little denser than eight ports. It would be good if I could get a 24-port, 10 gig module.
With Aruba, some of the models that are available, you need simple features, but you have to go to very high models, very expensive models. They need to come up with a bit more flexibility in their range of models. I would like to see more flexibility with regard to the models that are available.
Our clients are really very satisfied with the service this product provides. I really see nothing for the moment that needs improvement. There was a new release at the beginning of this year that is currently available, so essentially it is a new product. It has kept up with good development. The only improvement I can really see is that maybe they could get more competitive price-wise. Technically we are satisfied with the product.
They have limited CLI options in the UI and this is something that needs improvement. Aruba should create a line of switches that are suitable for the industrial market.
The solution is a little less convenient for more simplified management needs. It doesn't use a traditional, classical user interface for small changes. For monitoring, it's fine, but for small changes, less so. It means that our staff who have a less technical background are not able to help out with minor changes - the environment is less suitable for them. I do think the graphical user interface for small changes could use some more love, so to speak. But let me reiterate that it's only required for staff that is less knowledgeable. For larger rollouts, larger deployment, everything ought to be API and program based. And in that department, the environment is quite sufficient.
Visibility needs improvement. We don't have visibility in Aruba Switches and we are thinking of switching to FortiSwitch because it has visibility. Currently, we have visibility and compatibility with the firewall. Through the firewall, we can see the entire network. They are not very active with this solution. There is no followup with the vendors and resellers, they do not contact us to inform us of new technologies as they do with Cisco and Fortinet. Other vendors are more active in the community. In the next release, I would like to see visibility included, as well as better integration with other platforms.
I can't think of any features that need to be added. It works quite well for us as it is. The dashboard could be improved, especially for the CX Switches. It would help to push scripts and configurations via an easy to use dashboard, one which would give us complete visibility of all of our switches in one place. Right now, we have more than one dashboard for Aruba. It would be nice if it was centralized.
I have an opinion about Aruba controllers. Aruba access points do not require any controllers. Aruba controllers have different VLANS and there is no need to configure the access points, rather only the controller. You can put different VLANs on the same controllers. You don’t need to reconfigure it. This is a good feature that would be a good vehicle to use in the next release.
We would like to see centralized, cloud-based management. If the price were lower then it would be more competitive with other products by vendors such as Cisco and Ruckus.
Overall, it's a very good product. There isn't really a feature that needs to be simplified or improved. The element of security always can be improved. If the solution continues to improve its security functionality, it will continue to be a great product.
I would say that the customization of the switches could be easier to configure.
The pricing could be adjusted. The interface could be more user-friendly and the dashboard could be improved.
I think that the performance is getting better but they need to have more powerful switches on the market so that they can capture medium and large businesses. They don't have any data center switches.
I think that the environment for our clients should be simplified. Technical support response time could be better.
I would like to see the data center area improving by some added features in the future.
Managing Aruba Switches is not as good as Cisco Controller. The switch needs to be bigger than it is now. Increasing the number of gigabytes in the switch would improve the switch interacting. You can download the DBS or the datasheet to see the switch interacting. The switch interacting is the transfer of data from the port to the switch. They should provide training courses for certification, and have it available on the internet. They need to increase marketing for their products, especially for the solutions that are stable and very hard working. They should plan an event to market this solution. Aruba could consider opening a training center for engineering, or IT students. A suggestion would be to see the unit have a configuration switch like SMTP to send an email to the users if the performance is delayed or down. That would be very useful. In the command line, we can configure in SMTP to send an email alert to the user and the support worldwide, so that they can know about the problem before it happens.
The templates to automate our switches need improvement. We apply a template using Bison or ANSI C to automate our tasks daily. We are using Bison and ANSI C programming language to automate our work for shutting down ports, and if the support has locked our shutdown with port security. Cisco has Nexus Switches for the Data Center solutions. These switches are very powerful. In my research, I haven't found anything that is comparable. In the next release or the near future, I would like similar Data Cente switches included.
The written documentation, all the available documentation, is often a little bit hard to find. The solution lacks documentation of recent features. We have access directly to Aruba, Germany, so they are always helpful, but if you start, for instance, with something a little bit more complex like zero-touch provisioning, that would require a more comprehensive written piece. The available REST API is invaluable for elegant integration with the core and distribution network. There are some new multicast features coming up, but they are just in the process of preparation by IEEE, and I would like to see them as soon as possible.
We have issues with the stability of this product. The firmware in this solution has a lot of bugs that become noticeable when you have complex implementations. One of the issues with Aruba switches has to do with part numbers. For example, in the 9230F series, there are a lot of part numbers with lots of interface names that make the user confused as to which one he can use for the future. Some switches have only a 1Gbs uplink while others have only a 10Gbs uplink, and there are no clear details which one has which interface. The difference comes when you look at the pricing. Having less confusing part numbers would be an improvement.
Visibility and controls need to be improved. When I compare the Aruba switch with Meraki, Meraki has more visibility and more controls. HPE Aruba has not done any development and research on the SD LAN. They may have another solution for the SD LAN. Aruba should have SD LAN features to provide more visibility on the network and to be able to control things like the traffic shifting or for voice or data. Currently, Aruba does not have this capability. It may be there, but it's tedious. In the next release or the very near future, I think that it is very important to simplify the dashboard and features similar to Meraki. Meraki has a good dashboard and the way they are presenting the information is very useful. I am forced to consider changing products because other solutions have a better dashboard and a user-friendly interface. Other solutions also have better control and visibility.
In the next release, I would like to see network access control on the switches themselves. I would like to see security functionalities when it comes to monitoring the bit of the wireless section of the switches.