Cisco Catalyst Center vs HPE Aruba Networking Fabric Composer
Cisco Catalyst Center
cisco.comHPE Aruba Networking Fabric Composer
arubanetworking.hpe.comSide by side
| Figure | Cisco Catalyst Center | HPE Aruba Networking Fabric Composer |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | — |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 6 |
| Spec score · Software-Defined Networking Software | 7.8 (#4) | 7.3 (#11) |
| Automation | It supports network discovery, zero-touch provisioning, software image management, configuration compliance checks, and remediation. | Guided workflows automate switch discovery, leaf-spine deployment, VSX, BGP or OSPF underlay, BGP EVPN overlay, VLAN groups, VRF, EVPN, firmware services, and micro-segmentation policy configuration. |
| Founded | 1984 | 2015 |
| Headquarters | San Jose, California, United States | Spring, Texas, United States |
| Integrations | Cisco documents integrations with ISE, ThousandEyes, Webex, Microsoft Teams, ServiceNow, Infoblox, and BlueCat, plus generic APIs for other ITSM and IPAM systems. | Supported integration packs include HPE Aruba Networking NetEdit, HPE iLO Amplifier, ODIM, HPE SimpliVity, Nutanix Prism, Pensando PSM, VMware NSX-T, VMware vSphere and vSAN, and VMware Cloud Foundation SDDC Manager. |
| Purpose | Cisco Catalyst Center is a centralized network controller and management dashboard for enterprise network operations. | Fabric Composer is an intelligent, API-based, software-defined orchestration solution for day-to-day operations across rack-scale compute and storage infrastructure. |
Plans
Cisco Catalyst Center
- Cisco DNA AdvantagePriced on request
- Cisco DNA EssentialsPriced on request
HPE Aruba Networking Fabric Composer
- Device Management Service Tier 3 Switch 1y Subscription E-STUPrice not published
- Device Management Service Tier 3 Switch 3y Subscription E-STUPrice not published
- Device Management Service Tier 3 Switch 5y Subscription E-STUPrice not published
- Device Management Service Tier 4 Switch 1y Subscription E-STUPrice not published
- Device Management Service Tier 4 Switch 3y Subscription E-STUPrice not published
- Device Management Service Tier 4 Switch 5y Subscription E-STUPrice not published
In their own words
Cisco Catalyst Center
Cisco Catalyst Center has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
HPE Aruba Networking Fabric Composer
HPE Aruba Networking Fabric Composer is a paid, API-based orchestration solution for day-to-day operations across rack-scale compute and storage infrastructure. It provides unified network and security management for HPE Aruba Networking CX platforms, including switch configurations and firewall policies. Guided workflows automate discovery, leaf-spine deployment, VSX, BGP or OSPF underlay, BGP EVPN overlay, VLAN groups, VRF, EVPN, firmware services, and micro-segmentation. Version 7.4.0 supports up to 500 switches. Integration packs include NetEdit, HPE iLO Amplifier, ODIM, HPE SimpliVity, Nutanix Prism, Pensando PSM, and VMware environments. Fabric Composer centrally orchestrates segmentation, stateless ACLs, and stateful distributed-firewall policies, with separate NetOps and SecOps roles for Aruba CX 10K switches. It is delivered as an ISO or virtual-machine OVA for virtual or physical hosts, running as one instance or a highly available three-node cluster. Audit logs record actions, users, roles, endpoints, and session details.