HPE Aruba CX 6100 Series — Key Highlights

Target Use Case:

• Designed for entry-level access switches ideal for enterprise branch offices and small-to-medium business (SMB) networks.

Purpose & Benefits:

• Reliable, simple, and secure wired access.

• Supports IoT, mobile, and cloud applications with wired connectivity.

Architecture & OS:

• Built on HPE Aruba ASIC architecture for high performance.

• Runs programmable AOS-CX OS, consistent across Aruba CX portfolio for easy, efficient management.

Features:

• Fully managed Layer 2 switching.

• High-speed uplinks available, with up to 370W PoE support (across the series) to power devices like security cameras and wireless APs.

• Includes compact, fanless models — great for quiet office environments.

Management Flexibility:

• Multiple management options:

  • Web GUI

  • Command Line Interface (CLI)

  • Cloud-based or on-premises management via HPE Aruba Central

• Enables flexible deployment choices with no need for hardware replacement when management needs evolve.

Security & Performance:

• Enhanced access security.

• Traffic prioritization (QoS).

• Full IPv6 support.

Ownership Advantages:

• Switch software embedded with no subscription required — lowers ongoing costs.

• Comes with a Limited Lifetime Warranty for peace of mind.
  

Standard Features & Product Differentiators

1. AOS-CX Operating System (Modern Software System)

• Modular Linux-based OS, database-driven architecture

• Easy access to all network state information

• REST APIs for programmable network tasks

• Microservices architecture for integration and resiliency

• Near real-time state synchronization for software processes

2. HPE Aruba Networking ASICs (Programmable Innovation)

• Over 30 years of ASIC innovation

• Tight hardware-software integration for optimized performance and capacity

• Low latency, increased buffering, adaptive power consumption

3. Management & Automation Tools

• HPE Aruba Networking Central: Unified cloud/on-prem management for wired, WLAN, SD-WAN, public cloud

• HPE Aruba Networking NetEdit: Automates switch configurations across network; centralized, validated, and audited management (license required)

4. Mobility and IoT Performance

• Non-blocking bandwidth up to 176 Gbps; forwarding rates up to 98.6 Mpps

• Selectable queue configurations for application-specific performance tuning

• Supports Power over Ethernet (PoE) up to 370W (24-port) or 740W (48-port) models

• Fanless, compact models available for quiet environments

5. Simplified Operations

• Colorless ports with local user roles & local MAC authentication (LMA) for dynamic VLAN assignment

• Auto-MDIX for cable type auto-detection

• Support for Energy Efficient Ethernet (802.3az)

• Support for pre-standard PoE devices

6. Enterprise-Class Connectivity

• Fixed 1U models: 24 or 48 ports of 1GbE with 4 built-in 1GbE/10GbE uplinks

• Jumbo frames support (up to 9198 bytes)

• Packet storm protection (broadcast, multicast, unknown unicast)

• Unsupported Transceiver Mode (UTM) support (no warranty on unsupported transceivers)

7. Resiliency & Availability

• Uni-directional Link Detection (UDLD) to avoid loops

• IEEE 802.3ad LACP support (8 LAGs, 8 links per LAG)

• Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP), Rapid Spanning Tree (RSTP), and legacy STP support

• SmartLink for active/standby link redundancy

8. Quality of Service (QoS)

• Strict Priority queuing

• Traffic prioritization (IEEE 802.1p)

• Class of Service (CoS) based on IP, TCP/UDP ports, DiffServ, etc.

• Rate limiting on ingress and queue minimums

• Large buffers for congestion management

9. Management Interfaces & Security

• Web GUI, CLI, REST API, SNMP v1/v2c/v3 support

• sFlow for wire-speed network monitoring

• Secure management via SSHv2, SSL, SNMPv3

• Multiple user privilege levels and access restrictions

• Support for TFTP/SFTP configuration updates

• Debugging utilities (ping, traceroute)

• NTP support for consistent time sync

• LLDP for network device discovery

• Dual flash images and multiple config file support

• UDLD for link health monitoring

10. Layer 2 Switching Features

• VLAN support: 4094 VLAN IDs, 512 active VLANs

• Jumbo packet support (up to 9220 bytes)

• RPVST+, MSTP, RSTP, STP support

• MVRP for VLAN learning and assignment

• BPDU tunneling for transparent STP over WANs

• Port mirroring (4 groups)

• IGMP for multicast control

11. Layer 3 Features

• Static IP routing for IPv4 and IPv6 (dual-stack support)

• ARP with static ARPs

• DNS client and server support

• DHCP client and relay support (DHCPv4)

• Loopback detection for network reliability

12. Multicast Support

• IGMP snooping and MLD snooping for IPv6 multicast traffic management

• Supports IGMP versions 1, 2, and 3

13. IPv6 Capabilities

• IPv6 host management and dual-stack transition support

• IPv6 ACL and QoS support

• IPv6 static routing

• Security features: RA guard, dynamic IPv6 lockdown, ND snooping

14. Security Features

• Trusted Platform Module (TPM) integrated for boot integrity

• Access Control Lists (ACLs) for IPv4/IPv6 with granular filtering

• RADIUS and TACACS+ for authentication & authorization

• Control Plane Policing (rate limiting for control protocols)

• IEEE 802.1X client authentication, MAC authentication, web auth support

• Secure CLI and GUI access (SSH, SSL, SNMPv3)

• CPU protection against DoS attacks

• ICMP throttling to mitigate DoS attacks

• Identity-driven ACLs for user-based policies

• STP BPDU port protection and root guard

• Dynamic IP lockdown and ARP protection

• DHCP snooping and relay protection

• Port security, MAC address lockout, source-port filtering

• Security banners and MAC pinning

15. Convergence and Power Management

• LLDP-MED support for automatic QoS and VLAN config for IP phones

• PoE power allocation via usage or class, with LLDP and LLDP-MED support

• Auto VLAN for voice via RADIUS and LLDP-MED

Network Protocols and Services

• DNS: RFC 1591 (client), RFC 3596 (DNS Extension for IPv6)

• SSH: SSHv1/SSHv2, RFC 4251, 4252, 4253, 4254, 4419 (Key Exchange for SSH)

• SNTP: RFC 4330 Simple Network Time Protocol v4

• TFTP: RFC 783, RFC 1350 (revision 2)

• BOOTP: RFC 951 (VLAN 1 only), RFC 1542 (BOOTP Extensions, VLAN 1 only)

• DHCP: RFC 2131 DHCP client, RFC 3315 DHCPv6 (client only), DHCP relay support

• ICMP: RFC 792, RFC 4443 (ICMPv6)

• TCP/UDP: RFC 793 (TCP), RFC 768 (UDP), RFC 4113 (UDP MIB partially)

• ARP: RFC 826 (Address Resolution Protocol)

• IPv6: RFC 2460, RFC 3513 (Addressing Architecture), RFC 4861 (Neighbor Discovery), RFC 4862 (Stateless Auto-configuration), IPv6 static routing support

• Path MTU Discovery: RFC 8201

• Remote Operations (Ping): RFC 2925

• Multicast: IGMPv2, IGMPv3, IGMP/MLD Snooping, Multicast Listener Discovery (MLD)

IEEE Network Standards

• Layer 2 & VLAN:

  • IEEE 802.1D (MAC Bridges)

  • IEEE 802.1p (Priority)

  • IEEE 802.1Q (VLAN tagging, up to 4094 VLAN IDs)

  • IEEE 802.1s (Multiple Spanning Trees)

  • IEEE 802.1w (Rapid Spanning Tree)

  • IEEE 802.1AB (Link Layer Discovery Protocol - LLDP)

  • ANSI/TIA-1057 (LLDP-MED)

• Ethernet and Physical Layer:

  • IEEE 802.3 (10BASE-T)

  • IEEE 802.3ab (1000BASE-T)

  • IEEE 802.3ad (Link Aggregation Control Protocol - LACP)

  • IEEE 802.3at (Power over Ethernet)

  • IEEE 802.3az (Energy Efficient Ethernet)

  • IEEE 802.3x (Flow Control)

• Security & Access Control:

  • IEEE 802.1X (Port Based Network Access Control)

Management and Monitoring

• SNMP:

  • RFC 1098 (Simple Network Management Protocol)

  • SNMPv1/v2c/v3 supported

  • RMON groups 1, 2, 3, and 9 (statistics, history, alarm, events) (RFC 2819)

  • MIB Support: RFC 1213, 1493, 2674 (partial), 2737, 2863, 4022 (TCP), 4293 (IP)

• sFlow: RFC 3176

• RADIUS and TACACS+:

  • RFC 2138 (RADIUS Authentication)

  • RFC 2866 (RADIUS Accounting)

  • RFC 1492 (TACACS+)

Quality of Service

• DiffServ:

  • RFC 2474 (DiffServ precedence)

  • RFC 2475 (DiffServ architecture)

  • RFC 2597 (Assured Forwarding)

  • RFC 2598 (Expedited Forwarding)

Security and Encryption

• SSL: Secure Sockets Layer for encrypted web access

• SSH: Secure shell access with encryption

• TACACS+ and RADIUS for secure authentication and authorization

HPE Aruba Networking CX 6100 24G 4SFP+ Switch

Product Number: JL678A

Key Differentiators

• 24 × 10/100/1000BASE-T Ports
• 4 × 1G/10G SFP Ports
• 1 × USB-C Console Port
• 1 × USB Type-A Host Port
• Fixed Power Supply
• Fixed Fans

Hardware Specifications