HPE Aruba Networking Central vs ONAP

HPE Aruba Networking Central is a web-based network management platform for organizations using a hybrid deployment model. It provides zero-touch device onboarding, device inventory, access policy provisioning, centralized network configuration, monitoring, and troubleshooting. Zero-touch deployment brings devices into service without manual setup at each device, while inventory and policy tools provide a central administrative view. The Foundation plan includes zero-touch device onboarding, centralized configuration, and monitoring and troubleshooting. The Advanced plan adds advanced analytics and AI features to those capabilities. Central also offers API access for connecting management workflows with other systems. HPE lists the product as founded in 2015 and headquartered in Spring, Texas, United States. Its pricing model is paid, with no free plan, and a 90-day trial is listed. Prices for both plans are not provided. The web interface and hybrid model support organizations that need centralized control over network devices, onboarding, policy provisioning, configuration, analytics, and troubleshooting.

ONAP is a free, open-source platform for designing, orchestrating, observing, and automating network and edge services. It supports lifecycle management for physical, virtual, and cloud-native network functions, with real-time, policy-driven orchestration. Design and runtime capabilities include implementation, analytics, monitoring, alarm and event correlation, and closed-loop automation for service optimization. Role-based access through the Portal Framework serves service designers and operations personnel. ONAP is modular, so users can select orchestration functions; its Operations Manager uses Kubernetes to deploy, monitor, and manage component lifecycles. Published blueprints cover 5G, virtual CPE, broadband, VoLTE, and cross-domain VPN services. A full deployment guide lists 224 GB RAM, 160 GB disk, and 112 vCores, while selected components can substantially reduce those requirements. ONAP supports deployment on Kubernetes on bare metal or environments such as OpenStack, Azure, and AWS. It runs across API, Linux, self-hosted, and web contexts. Free introductory training and a paid ONAP Fundamentals course are available.