HPE Aruba Networking Fabric Composer vs Open Virtual Network
HPE Aruba Networking Fabric Composer
arubanetworking.hpe.comOpen Virtual Network
ovn.orgSide by side
| Figure | HPE Aruba Networking Fabric Composer | Open Virtual Network |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 1 |
| Spec score · Software-Defined Networking Software | 7.3 (#11) | 7.3 (#13) |
| Integrations | 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. | The architecture page names OpenStack Neutron’s ml2/ovn plugin and the ovn-kubernetes project as cloud management system examples. |
| Purpose | Fabric Composer is an intelligent, API-based, software-defined orchestration solution for day-to-day operations across rack-scale compute and storage infrastructure. | OVN is a system that supports logical network abstraction in virtual machine and container environments. |
Plans
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
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.
Open Virtual Network
Open Virtual Network (OVN) provides logical networking for virtual machine and container environments, intended for cloud management software. It converts virtual network configurations into OpenFlow and organizes them around logical routers and switches. Listed capabilities include distributed virtual routers and logical switches, access control lists, DHCP, and a DNS server. Tunnels or other encapsulations isolate logical networks from physical and virtual networks, allowing overlapping address spaces. Virtual machines can move between physical machines without network disruption, and gateways connect tunnel-based logical networks to physical networks. Examples of cloud-management integrations include OpenStack Neutron’s ml2/ovn plugin and ovn-kubernetes. OVN runs in userspace, needs no kernel modules, and is written in platform-independent C; its generic build guide covers Linux, FreeBSD, and NetBSD hosts. It is free under the Apache 2 license, with on-premises deployment, a centralized control plane, and a Linux and self-hosted platform listing. OpenSSL libssl is optional but recommended for secure connections to OVN database servers.