Tips for expand network infrastructure

[MarcoMarti1979]

Hi to all, my name is Marco and this is my first post here.
l'm writing to ask tips about my network infrastructure.
I have 10 switches hpe 5130 with 24 ports and transceiver for fiber optic (2 of these are for fiber distribution).
Next year i'll change building where i work and will be the moment to update wifi network.
Browsing on the site, i found both access points and switches by ARUBA; and i discovered Aruba Central for manage the whole infrastructure.

Now the question is easy: because i'll have tu buy also new switches other then access points (and the idea should be to buy all aruba stuff), is possible to "update/transform" hpe 5130 in aruba 5130 so i'll can manage old and new material?

Thanks indeed for your time.

Ciao,

Marco

[parnassus]

Hello Marco,

Your actual infrastructure, from the switching standpoint, is made of HPE FlexNetwork 5130 Switch series (you didn't specified if HI or EI but that doesn't matter)...this means that all your switching capabilities are deployed using Comware 7 operating system based switches...that's in contrast with actual HPE Aruba switches (see here for the entire Access/Core switching portfolio) that are - with the exception of latest Aruba 8400/8320 switches (ArubaOS-CX operating system based) - all based on ArubaOS-Switch operating system based (HP ProVision rebranded and feature enriched)...di per sè this means nothing but...it's important to understand each series' positioning before deciding its premature end of life as a networking device (HPE FlexNetwork 5130 HI/EI is well alive and kicking).

The HPE FlexNetwork 5130 Switch seris, to answer your question, can't be converted into an Aruba switch because its hardware and software (Operating System) are different from those used on Aruba switch series.

Only some HP ProCurve (HP ProVision operating system based) can be updated and rebranded (from the software and features standpoints) into HPE Aruba.

The point would be to understand if some native HPE Aruba Hardware (Mobility Controller and APs) and Software (Aurba AirWave for network management, Aruba ClearPass for policy management, Aruba Central for Cloud based wifi networks SaaS management solution and so on...) can be flawlessly integrated into your actual Comware 7 based network switching infrastructure...considering that requirements exists also on native HPE Aruba Switch series - and also on older Aruba MAS series - for deployment of such applications (see, as example, this guide or this page to understand which switch series Aruba Central currently supports and which ArubaOS-Switch operating system software versions those series should run).

Generally one see that HPE FlexNetwork switches are used (with or without using technologies like IRF) at core, ToR or distribution levels...Aruba switches are more campus/access oriented...so, maybe, you can leverage yours 5130 (depending on network topology) to act like core-oriented switches [*] and add some Arubas specifically for the access side.

[*] Consider that HPE 5130 Switch Series is supported by Aruba AirWave 8.2 (see here)...so there a lots of details that you can develop before saying a final word about 5130...

[MarcoMarti1979]

Hello parnassus, thanks indeed for tour reply.
My switches are 5130-24G-SFP-4SFP+ EI and 5130-24G-PoE+-4SFP+ at core with RFI activated and 5130-24G-PoE+-4SFP+ for horizontal distribution. Thanks to your suggestions for the integration between HPE and ARUBA. So i'll try to mix the 2 solutions.

Have a nice day and thanks.

Ciao,

Marco