Cisco Cisco Catalyst 9200L vs Aruba (HPE) Aruba 6400 Switch: Specs & Price Comparison

Cisco Cisco Catalyst 9200L

★ 4.3 Value Score

Switching Capacity: 56 Gbps (24P-4G) to 128 Gbps (24-port 4x10G) and 104 Gbps (48P-4G) to 176 Gbps (48P-4X); varies by SKU and source
Forwarding Rate: 83.33 Mpps (24P-4G) to 190.4 Mpps (24P-4X); 154.76 Mpps (48P-4G) to 261.9 Mpps (48P-4X); varies by SKU and source
Ports (breakdown): 24 or 48 x 10/100/1000 downlink ports (PoE+ on P models, non-PoE on T models; some 48-port PXG variants add mGig ports) plus 4 fixed uplinks: 4 x 1G SFP (-4G) or 4 x 10G SFP+ (-4X)
PoE Budget: 24P models: about 370 W default, up to about 740 W with redundant PSU; 48P models: about 740 W default, up to about 1440 W with two PSUs (sources conflict, e.g. 600 W and 1 kW PSU options quoted)
Layer: L2/L3: Network Essentials provides L2 switching with basic L3 features; Network Advantage adds full dynamic L3 routing
Stacking support: Yes, StackWise-80 with 80 Gbps stacking bandwidth, up to 8 switches (requires stacking module/kit)

✔ Pros: Cisco StackWise-80 stacking of up to 8 units with 80 Gbps stacking bandwidth; 4x10G SFP+ uplink option for higher-bandwidth aggregation; Full PoE+ (802.3at) on P models with budgets up to roughly 1440 W with redundant power; Two licensing tiers (Network Essentials and Network Advantage) let buyers pay only for needed L3 features; Lower price point than Catalyst 9300 for standard campus access deployments
✘ Cons: Uplinks are fixed with no modular expansion slots, which limits future upgrade paths; Full dynamic L3 routing requires the more expensive Network Advantage license; Stacking needs a separate stacking module and is capped at 8 units; Switching capacity and PoE budgets differ widely between SKUs, making spec comparison and sizing confusing; Lower forwarding performance and feature depth than Catalyst 9300 for aggregation or core roles
Est. Price: $1,783 - $4,604

Aruba (HPE) Aruba 6400 Switch

★ 3.2 Value Score

Switching Capacity: 14 Tb/s (6405 chassis); 28 Tb/s (6410 chassis), per HPE performance table
Forwarding Rate: 10 Bpps (6405); 20 Bpps (6410) per HPE performance table. QuickSpecs cite 11.4 Bpps for the 6410 family, so this figure is unresolved
Ports: Modular chassis: 6405 has 5 open module slots and 6410 has 10. Modules include 48-port 1GbE/2.5GbE/5GbE PoE (Class 4 and Class 6), 24-port SFP/SFP+/10GBASE-T, and 4-port SFP56 uplink modules. Port count scales with installed modules (6405: 48-240 PoE ports; 6410: 48-480 PoE ports)
PoE Budget: Per-port up to 60W (802.3bt). HPE lists 28,880 W for the 6410 family. Per-chassis PoE budget not confirmed in sources
Layer: L3 (BGP, OSPF, EVPN, VXLAN, VRF)
Stacking support: Not supported. High availability is provided by VSX (Virtual Switching Extension)

✔ Pros: Modular chassis design (5- and 10-slot) lets buyers scale ports and PoE by adding modules; High switching capacity (14-28 Tb/s) for campus core and data center aggregation; Full Layer 3 feature set including BGP, OSPF, EVPN and VXLAN; VSX provides high availability and non-disruptive fast upgrades; Mixed-speed PoE modules (1GbE, 2.5GbE, 5GbE, Class 6 60W) support modern APs and cameras; Gen7 ASIC architecture per reseller listings
✘ Cons: High entry price; chassis plus modules can exceed USD 25,000 once configured; Modular design requires careful module and power planning; Published forwarding-rate and per-chassis PoE budget figures conflict across sources; No stacking, so VSX pairing adds design and licensing complexity; Overkill for small branch or access-only deployments
Est. Price: $12,783 - $25,921

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