J9729A (2920 48P POE+) vs. JL322A (2930M 48P POE+)

[sd219]

Hi!

I am facing the decision to replace a whole network cabinet with new switches - so bascially the question is, do i choose the 2920 or the 2930M? I know that the 2920 is already a few years old but are there any important differences between the newer 2930m i have to consider? The 2930m is much more expensive. 

[parnassus]

Hi! with regard to HP/HPE/Aruba 2920 have a look at this HPE End of Sale (EoS) Announcement. Apart from that (and its impact on near/far future of Aruba 2920 software release development <- it apparently undergoes normally, as far as I can see) the choice depends on the features you're going to implement/need into your network in the medium/long term. I believe Aruba 2920 currently can handle most of the network scenarios without issues but this is just my personal opinion (you have to understand if you need - and be prepared to pay for - a newer platform like the Aruba 2930M Switch series which is more future-proof).

Back in the days (2017) an HPE professional community member wrote:

• The Aruba 2920 switch series stacks up to 4 switches using dedicated backplane stacking hardware and cables, similar to the Cisco 2960-X.
• The Aruba 2930F, released last year [2016, I add], comes in 24 and 48 port models (POE and non-POE) as well as an 8 port POE model.  The 2930F Switch Series uses our frontplane stacking technology called Virtual Switching Framework (VSF), with that, we can stack up to 4 members.
• The newly released Aruba 2930M (last month) [2017 I add], uses dedicated backplane stacking, similar to the 2920, and can stack up to 10 members.

Clearly there are other differences - as example the stacking throughput is a little bit higher on Aruba 2930M but the difference is, let me say, minimal - (in any case grab datashees to do a like-for-like comparison about main features that for you are important) but for basic things like VLAN, IP Routing, ACLs and (Backplane) Virtual Stacking the Aruba 2920 and Aruba 2930M are quite similar (not identical, just similar).

[Ivan_B]

Hi @sd219 !

The most important difference is that J9729A has been discontinued and is not for sale by HPE in any region.

Another differentiator that JL322A has uplink module slot and you can install 10G or even 40G module there.

Detailed specs can be found here - https://h20195.www2.hpe.com/v2/getdocument.aspx?docname=a00004551enw

Hope this helps!

[parnassus]

Yeah, that's quite important but OP wasn't too specific about his/her purchasing options.

Apart from that, Aruba 2920 has two Module Slots too (2 SFP+ ports per Module, no QSFP+), these two slots are in addition to the Stacking Module slot...and, to be honest, the Aruba 2920 supports just one (field replaceable) Power Supply unit (Aruba 2930M supports two).

[faceplate]

The stacking hardware module J9733A for the 2920 is no longer available to purchase unless you can find used.