Do your campus core switches deserve more?

By: Sue Gillespie, Senior Product Marketing Manager, HPE Aruba Networking.

Creating a secure, high-performance, always-on network that’s designed for operational efficiency and growth begins with a modern infrastructure—and depends on campus core switches to be the beating heart of enterprise connectivity. Because of this key role, campus core switch capabilities directly impact user and device experience, network security, and IT operational efficiency.

What is a campus core switch?

These are typically Ethernet switches that manage traffic coming to and from aggregation switches, the wide area network (WAN), and the internet via router or gateway. Network architectures often deploy either 2-tier collapsed core approaches with a single switch playing the role of both core switch and aggregation (distribution) switch or a 3-tier approach with separate core and aggregation switches.  Here’s an example of a 3-tier network from our ESP Campus Design Validated Solution Guide:

HPE Aruba Networking

Capabilities for more 

Because of their crucial role in delivery of network services, campus core switch capabilities impact what your network can deliver. Does your network need more of one of these three capabilities?

• More high availability—If a campus core switch is down, then so are network services and connectivity. Consider switch features like VSX live upgrade and hot-patching that allow non-disruptive software updates, hot-swappable modules, power supplies, and fans to ensure always-on connectivity.
• More automation and better visibility—Configurations, provisioning, and troubleshooting are time-consuming tasks. Support for intelligent automation tools and analytics improve efficiencies, speed troubleshooting, and further optimize network operations when integrated in unified cloud-based management HPE Aruba Networking Central.
• More security—Creating and enforcing user- and device-based policies across an enterprise is complex and time-consuming. EVPN-VXLAN support in core switches helps create a network fabric that extends layer 2 connectivity as a network overlay over an existing physical network, providing operational simplicity and security that can be quickly enabled using Central NetConductor.

Get more from your network with CX at the core

Take a closer look at our campus core switching solution in the HPE Aruba Networking CX Campus Core Switches At-A-Glance and check out our core switches.  Designing your network? Check out our Validated Solution Guides.