The HPE Aruba Networking CX 8100 Switch Series serves the needs of modern campus core and aggregation as well as dynamic top-of-rack (ToR) data center environments, offering a flexible and innovative approach to addressing the application, security, and scalability demands of the mobile, cloud, and IoT.

The HPE CX 8100 Switches are based on AOS-CX, a modern software system that automates and simplifies critical network tasks, offers programmability with REST APIs and Python scripts, and delivers enhanced fault tolerance and zero-service disruption during planned or unplanned control-plane events. Real-time, network-wide visibility and analytics are also available in every switch.

The series includes industry-leading line rate ports with 1/10GbE (SFP/SFP+) and 40/100GbE (QSFP+/QSFP28) connectivity in a compact 1U form factor. 4x10Gbps and 4x25Gbps break out from 40/100G. These switches are great for customers needing 1GbE/10GbE with a mix of fiber and copper ports.

Features

Modular Cloud-Native Architecture
- HPE Aruba Networking CX 8100 Switch Series features AOS-CX which simplify the complexities of managing data center networks with automation options to match your IT organization’s operating model.
- Proactively detect issues and speed troubleshooting with actionable insights provided by an analytics engine embedded in every switch. Always-on infrastructure designed for resiliency and upgrades with zero downtime.
- REST APIs and Python scripting provide fine-grained microservices architecture enabling full integration with other workflow systems and services.
- Continual state synchronization provides superior fault tolerance and high availability. Always-on infrastructure designed for resiliency and upgrades with zero downtime.

Aruba Network Analytics Engine
- HPE Aruba Networking CX 8100 Switch Series utilizes the Aruba Network Analytics Engine (NAE) for advanced telemetry and automation to provide industry-first monitoring and troubleshooting systems that greatly improving network operations.
- Customers can use data from the Time Series Database (TSDB) to store configuration and operational state to write software modules to troubleshoot problems. This data may also be used to analyze trends, identify anomalies, and predict future capacity requirements.

High Availability and Resiliency
- All software processes in the HPE Aruba Networking CX 8100 Switch Series run as microservices that communicate via the state database of the switch; there is no direct communication between microservices. Should a software process crash, the impact of that failure will be limited.
- The ability of AOS-CX to maintain synchronous state across dual control planes allows a unique high availability solution called Aruba Virtual Switching Extension (VSX).
- Aruba VSX provides a robust, yet simple solution for high availability with a unique design for control plane synchronization and an architecture that is redundant in both hardware and software by deploying two chassis with an inter-switch link, maintaining its independent control.

Software-Defined Automation
- The HPE Aruba Networking CX 8100 Switch Series is supported by Aruba Fabric Composer, a software-defined orchestration solution that simplifies and accelerates leaf-spine network provisioning and day-to-day operations across rack-scale compute and storage infrastructure.
- Orchestrate a discrete set of switches as a single networking fabric to simplify operations and troubleshooting. This infrastructure and application-aware solution also automates various configuration and lifecycle events.