Wired Intelligent Edge

hello,

we have the following very basic requirement:

- Layer2 switching for access/office distribution
- vlan
- easy management (no Java etc)
- fully manageable via commandline
Does somebody have experience with 2530 series and would fully recommend them instead of 2920 (which are over the top, imho) for our requirements ?for now, we have V1910 for that, but they suck (mostly because of no full commandline)Any other model to take into consideration?thank you
roland

Hello Roland, welcome onboard.

All the requirements you listed are pretty well covered by both Switch series (Aruba 2530 and Aruba 2920): both series run on ArubaOS-Switch - HP ProVision, rebranded and enhanced - operating system (Aruba 2530: YA/YB branches, Aruba 2920: WB branch) and both series share a lot of common typical switching features (CLI is one of these, as example).

For sure Aruba 2920 is feature richer (and more expensive) than a Aruba 2530 (in a like-for-like comparison considering the same number of fixed ports with or without PoE support): if you verify that, as example, fabric (backplane) stacking for Virtual Switching is not a core option you are going to use now or in future and if all other features that Aruba 2920 does provide and Aruba 2530 doesn't...if those aren't useful or required to your deployment now and in a far/near future (check the latest ArubaOS-Switch Software Feature Support Matrix for 16.04) then the Aruba 2530 switch series is the one to go.

The 2530 series does not have a TPM chip, so things like ZTP via Activate will not be possible. Apart from that we have a load of both 2530 and 2920 switches, and in everyday use I see no difference in performance and reliability.

@TerjeAFK, exactly...ZTP for Activate is supported on 3810M, 3800, 5400R zl2, 2930F, 2920 and 2540 only (not on 2620 and 2530)...that can be found on the Software Feature Support Matrix, clearly it depends on OP requirements to understand which feature(s) are essential and which aren't.

AirWave instead, generally speaking, should be supported - since 8.2.1.1 - also on 2530.

Probably, if I were the OP, I would also consider the Aruba 2540...as a successor of Aruba 2530 (EoS September 2017, those models equipped with SFP+ interfaces):

Make sure you look at the whole solution - create your new network designs for both Layer3 and Layer2, then design your layer1 topology.

Now put in one type of switch to these designs, then create your BoM, then do the same thing with the other.

What you find when you do this instead of just looking at the features each offers, is that you find out what design changes could be required by missing features, which features just aren't needed, or what additional costs are entailed by you using specific features.

For example, we had a customer looking at 2920s, but when we put the design together for them, they found that the cost of the additional 10Gb modules required for the uplinks meant that 5400s were almost the same price.

The only big difference I have found between the 2 switches is that the 2530's have a limit on the number of vlans you can apply to all the ports when running pvst.   If you have a number of vlans and tons of trunk ports stick to the higher power switches.  If your just doing pure Edge Access the 2530's should be sufficent.