Fortinet FortiSwitch 648F vs Aruba (HPE) Aruba CX 6200: Specs & Price Comparison

Fortinet FortiSwitch 648F

★ 3.2 Value Score

Switching Capacity: 720 Gbps
Forwarding Rate: 1,071 Mpps
Ports (breakdown): 32x 2.5GbE RJ45 (multi-gig); 16x 5GbE RJ45; 8x 25GbE SFP28 uplinks (SFP28 also accepts 10G SFP+); 56 ports total, 1RU
PoE Budget: None on the base 648F (data-only). The 648F-FPOE variant adds 802.3bt PoE on 48 ports with an 1800 W budget
Layer: L2/L3
Stacking support: Not listed. Managed through FortiLink by a FortiGate (switch controller model, not stacking)
MAC Address Table: 64K entries
VLANs: 4,000
Link Aggregation Groups: 56
IPv4 Routes: 16,000
Packet Buffer: 8 MB
Memory: 4 GB DDR4
Security: Hardware MACsec
Form Factor: 1RU rack-mountable, approx. 43.2 x 439.4 x 350.5 mm, 7.15 kg
Operating Temperature: 0-45 u00b0C
Redundancy: Dual redundant PSU

✔ Pros: Very high port density for a 1RU switch (56 ports, mixing 2.5G, 5G and 25G); 720 Gbps switching capacity suits multi-gig access and aggregation; Hardware MACsec encryption on all ports; FortiLink integration lets a FortiGate manage it centrally; Dual redundant PSUs; 25G SFP28 uplinks, with backward compatibility for 10G SFP+
✘ Cons: Data-only base model with no PoE, so it cannot power APs or cameras; The FPOE variant costs substantially more; Requires a FortiGate for central management, which adds to total cost of ownership; Pricing and warranty terms vary across resellers (one lists a limited lifetime warranty, another a one-year hardware warranty); Official fortinet.com datasheet could not be retrieved, so specs come from reseller listings and should be verified; One reseller listing gives conflicting figures (1.44 Tbps, 40GbE uplinks) and was disregarded
Est. Price: $6,210 - $7,817

Aruba (HPE) Aruba CX 6200

★ 4.2 Value Score

Switching Capacity: 128 Gbps (24-port models); 176 Gbps (48-port models)
Forwarding Rate: 95.2 Mpps (24-port models); 130.9 Mpps (48-port models)
Ports (breakdown): 24x or 48x 10/100/1000BASE-T (PoE+ on PoE SKUs) + 4x SFP/SFP+ uplinks (1GbE/10GbE); 6200M models add 4x SFP+ uplinks
PoE Budget: 370W Class 4 (24G and 48G 370W SKUs); 740W Class 4 (48-port 6200F PoE SKU); up to 1440W Class 6 (60W per port) on 6200M PoE SKUs. Varies by SKU
Layer: L2/L3 (Layer 3 static routing; dynamic routing depends on software license)
Stacking support: Yes, VSF virtual stacking up to 8 members (single logical device); VSX redundancy also supported

✔ Pros: Fixed-port, Layer 2/3 managed access switch in a compact 1U form factor; Wide range of PoE and non-PoE SKUs (370W, 740W, and 1440W class 6 PoE options) for IP phones, cameras, and APs; VSF stacking of up to 8 members simplifies management as one logical device; Full Aruba CX OS features with REST API, network analytics, and automation support via Aruba Central; Solid mid-range pricing compared with enterprise-class core switches; 10GbE SFP+ uplinks support aggregation and campus backbone links
✘ Cons: Model and SKU naming (6200F vs 6200M, 24G vs 48G, PoE vs non-PoE) is confusing and specs differ significantly between variants; Public spec sources conflict on some figures (for example, 6200F throughput and uplink types), so exact datasheet values should be verified per SKU; Dynamic routing and advanced L3 features require additional licensing; Power budget is limited on 370W and 740W SKUs, so high-draw PoE devices may not all be supported at full load; Pricing is in USD only for 6200F SKUs. European 6200M pricing was found only in EUR and GBP, and no official HPE list price was confirmed
Est. Price: $4,261 - $8,663

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