Ports (breakdown): 24x 10/100/1000BASE-T RJ-45 + 4x 1G SFP (non-PoE R8N88A; PoE variant R8N87A has the same port layout)
PoE Budget: None on R8N88A; R8N87A PoE variant: 370W Class 4 PoE+
Layer: L2/L3 managed (Layer 3 lite)
Stacking Support: Not supported
Curation Review
✔ Pros:Low-cost entry point into managed Aruba CX switching; 24 Gigabit copper ports plus 4 SFP uplinks in a compact 1U chassis; Layer 3 capable with managed features for small branch or SMB networks; PoE+ variant (R8N87A, 370W) available for powering access points and cameras; Supports Aruba CX management tools including Aruba Central cloud management
✘ Cons:The non-PoE R8N88A cannot power devices, so PoE needs the separate R8N87A SKU; SFP uplinks are 1G only with no 10G option; 56 Gbps switching capacity is modest compared with newer Aruba CX 6100/6200F models; Stacking is not supported, which limits scalability; Only 28 total ports limits density for larger deployments; Published forwarding and PoE figures for the PoE variant conflict across retailer listings, so they should be verified against HPE QuickSpecs