Aruba Central - Detailed Review
Networking Tools
Aruba Central - Product Overview
Introduction to Aruba Central
Aruba Central is a powerful cloud-native networking solution developed by Aruba Networks, a part of Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). It serves as the central management and orchestration console for Aruba’s Edge Services Platform (ESP).
Primary Function
Aruba Central’s primary function is to provide a unified point of control for managing all aspects of wired and wireless LANs, WANs, and VPNs. This includes overseeing network infrastructure across various locations such as campuses, branch offices, and remote sites. The platform is built to simplify network management, enhance security, and optimize network performance through advanced automation and analytics.
Target Audience
Aruba Central is designed for a wide range of users, from small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with limited IT personnel to large enterprises. It is particularly beneficial for IT teams that face talent shortages and need efficient tools to manage increasingly complex and distributed networks.
Key Features
Unified Management
Aruba Central offers unified management of wireless, wired, VPN, and SD-WAN networks, simplifying operations and reducing the need for multiple domain-specific tools.
AI-Based Insights
The platform uses AI to provide faster troubleshooting and continuous network optimization. It identifies network issues through event correlation and root cause analysis, reducing trouble tickets.
Advanced Security
Aruba Central includes advanced IDS/IPS threat defense management, integrated topology views, and an advanced security dashboard with threat intelligence data and incident management capabilities.
Network Visibility and Monitoring
It provides enhanced network visibility through a network health summary dashboard, allowing IT operators to quickly assess the state of the network. The platform also offers live upgrades, robust reporting, and powerful monitoring for remote or home office networks.
Integration and Automation
The platform integrates with Aruba UXI to monitor and improve the end-user experience. It also features APIs and webhooks for easy integration with other IT platforms and offers live chat and an AI-based search engine for enhanced support.
Deployment Flexibility
Aruba Central can be deployed via SaaS, on-premises, or managed service options, providing flexibility in consumption and financing models.
SD-Branch Orchestration
The platform simplifies WAN management through Aruba SD-Branch, allowing central management of virtual, headend, and branch gateways, and route traffic over various links.
By combining these features, Aruba Central helps IT teams manage networks more efficiently, ensuring high performance, security, and user experience across diverse network environments.
Aruba Central - User Interface and Experience
User Interface Overview
The user interface of Aruba Central, a cloud-native networking solution, is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, catering to the needs of both enterprise users and managed service providers.Operational Modes
Aruba Central offers two primary operational modes:Standard Enterprise Mode
This mode provides a comprehensive view and control over all devices managed by the Central account. Users have complete access to provision, manage, monitor, and maintain their devices.Managed Service Provider (MSP) Mode
This multi-tenant mode is ideal for managed service providers who need to manage multiple customer networks. Administrators can provision customer accounts, allocate devices, assign licenses, and monitor customer networks while tenants can access only their respective accounts and subscribed features.Interface and Ease of Use
The interface is streamlined to eliminate network silos by providing a common management platform for Aruba wired, wireless, SD-WAN, and VPN infrastructure. Here are some key features that enhance ease of use:Unified Operations
Aruba Central allows IT teams to complete all management tasks from a single user interface, reducing the need for multiple tools and improving staff productivity.Guided Workflows
The platform offers guided, GUI-based workflows and templates to simplify tasks such as modifying settings across multiple devices. This includes zero-touch provisioning for new devices and sites, which accelerates onboarding.Visualizations and Alerts
The interface provides powerful visualizations through dashboards and topology views, allowing users to quickly assess network health and drill down into problematic areas. Intelligent alerts help in detecting network or user-impacting issues promptly.User Experience
The overall user experience is enhanced by several features:Intuitive Contextual Observability
Users can identify and resolve issues quickly due to full-stack correlation of network devices, connectivity links, and applications. Responsive alerts ensure the network remains at peak performance.AI-Powered Automation
Aruba Central includes advanced AI models trained on large network telemetry data lakes, which simplify decision-making and reduce the mean time to resolve issues.Deployment Flexibility
The platform can be deployed either on the cloud or on-premises, offering local data handling for enhanced confidentiality, security, and compliance while maintaining cloud-like agility.Additional Features
User Experience Insight (UXI) Sensors
Integration with UXI sensors allows monitoring of network health from an end-user perspective, providing high-level summaries of alerts and facilitating further troubleshooting.Mobile Installer App
An integrated mobile installer app is available for on-the-go operations, making it easier to manage devices in various environments without the need for console cables or laptops. In summary, Aruba Central’s user interface is designed to be straightforward, efficient, and highly intuitive, making it easier for IT teams to manage, monitor, and analyze their networks effectively. Aruba Central - Key Features and Functionality
Aruba Central Overview
Aruba Central, a cloud-based network management and monitoring solution, offers a plethora of features that leverage AI to streamline and optimize network operations. Here are the main features and how they work:Unified Management
Aruba Central provides unified management of wireless, wired, VPN, and SD-WAN networks. This unified approach simplifies operations by allowing IT operators to manage all network components from a single dashboard, reducing the need for disjointed, domain-specific tools.AI-Powered Insights and Troubleshooting
AI Insights
AI Insights is a feature that automatically surfaces and diagnoses common network-impacting issues using dynamic, per-site baselines. These baselines are continuously tuned as network conditions change, eliminating the need for manual setup or adjustment of service level thresholds. This feature highlights the severity and impact of issues, helping IT pinpoint root causes with 95% accuracy.AI Assist
AI Assist uses event-driven automation to collect diagnostics, post them to a shared location, and even notify Aruba’s Technical Assistance Center (TAC) for proactive customer support. This automation reduces the time-consuming analysis typically required for troubleshooting.AI Search
The AI Search feature employs natural language processing (NLP) to provide fast, interactive responses to IT operators. It helps in finding solution guides, troubleshooting tips, and other relevant information quickly, simplifying Day 0 to Day 2 operations.Advanced Monitoring and Visualization
Aruba Central offers 24×7 intelligent monitoring of networks, applications, client devices, and end-user experience. This monitoring is correlated into powerful visualizations and dashboards, providing real-time visibility into network health. The platform includes integrated topology views, monitoring of WAN circuit health, bandwidth availability, and tunnel status for each site.SD-Branch Orchestration
For managing WAN connections, Aruba Central simplifies WAN management through its SD-Branch solution. It allows IT to centrally manage virtual, headend, and branch gateways and route traffic over MPLS, broadband, and cellular links. This includes quality of experience (QoE) scores for SaaS apps and drill-downs for root cause analysis.Security and Threat Defense
Aruba Central includes advanced IDS/IPS threat defense management and an advanced security dashboard with threat intelligence data and correlation with incident management capabilities. This ensures enhanced security and real-time detection of anomalies and potential threats.Simplified Onboarding and Provisioning
The platform accelerates the onboarding, configuring, and provisioning of network devices with an easy setup wizard, flexible configuration options, and zero-touch provisioning. An intuitive mobile installer app further aids this process, allowing IT resources to define access privileges and track the onboarding process.Integration and Deployment Flexibility
Aruba Central supports APIs and webhooks for easy integration with other leading IT platforms. It also offers flexible deployment options, including SaaS, on-premises, and managed service models, ensuring local data handling for enhanced confidentiality, security, and compliance.Third-Party Network Monitoring
In its latest updates, Aruba Central has integrated technology from OpsRamp, enabling monitoring beyond HPE Aruba-based networks. This includes views into networks equipped with competitor gear from vendors like Cisco, Palo Alto, and Juniper, providing a comprehensive view across the entire networking stack.Client and User Experience
Aruba Central integrates with Aruba UXI to proactively monitor and improve the end-user experience. Features like ClientMatch use AI/ML to ensure clients stay connected to the best access points, enhancing roaming within facilities. These features collectively enhance network visibility, streamline operations, and provide proactive AI-driven troubleshooting, making Aruba Central a powerful tool for managing and optimizing network infrastructure. Aruba Central - Performance and Accuracy
Performance of Aruba Central
HPE Aruba Networking Central has made significant strides in performance, particularly with its recent updates and integrations.Speed and Responsiveness
The latest version of Aruba Central has undergone major architectural changes, resulting in faster load times and real-time status updates. This improvement is highlighted in benchmarking tests that showed enhanced performance in client and device connectivity, both wired and wireless.Network Observability
Aruba Central enhances network observability through full-stack correlation of network devices, connectivity links, and applications. This feature allows for quicker identification and resolution of issues, often reducing the time from hours to minutes. The system also provides responsive alerts to ensure the network operates at peak performance.AI-Powered Automation
The integration of AI-powered automation is a key aspect of Aruba Central’s performance. It uses AI models trained on a large network telemetry data lake, which includes data from over 4.6 million devices. These models help in diagnosing and optimizing network performance, reducing the mean time to innocence and resolution. The AI capabilities also include predictive analytics and automated firmware recommendations, which further enhance network efficiency.Deployment Flexibility
Aruba Central offers deployment flexibility, allowing it to be deployed either on cloud or on-premises. This flexibility ensures local data handling for enhanced confidentiality, security, and compliance, while still providing cloud-like agility.Accuracy
AI-Driven Insights
The accuracy of Aruba Central is significantly improved by its AI-driven insights. The system leverages a vast data lake to train and tune its AI models, ensuring high accuracy in identifying and resolving network issues. For instance, Aruba Client Insights can automatically identify each endpoint connecting to the network with up to 99% accuracy.Multi-Vendor Support
The integration of OpsRamp allows Aruba Central to monitor third-party network devices from vendors such as Juniper Networks and Palo Alto Networks. This multi-vendor support enhances the accuracy of network monitoring and management by reducing blind spots in heterogeneous networks.Security Observability
Aruba Central also includes AI-powered security observability and monitoring features, which help in predicting and managing security threats. The system combines network and security insights to provide a comprehensive view, enabling better protection of the network without the need for separate products.Limitations and Areas for Improvement
MSP Functionality
One area that has been highlighted for improvement is the Managed Service Provider (MSP) functionality. Some users have reported that the MSP mode is cumbersome and difficult to navigate, particularly when managing a large number of sites. There have been requests for improvements in this area to make it more efficient and user-friendly.User Interface
While the user interface has been refreshed and made more intuitive, some users still find certain aspects, such as managing multiple customers in different tabs, to be less than ideal. There is a need for further enhancements to improve the overall user experience, especially for MSPs managing a large number of sites.In summary, Aruba Central has demonstrated strong performance and accuracy through its AI-driven features, enhanced network observability, and deployment flexibility. However, there are areas such as MSP functionality and certain user interface aspects that require further improvement to meet the needs of all users effectively.
Aruba Central - Pricing and Plans
The Pricing Structure of HPE Aruba Networking Central
The pricing structure of HPE Aruba Networking Central is structured around several key components, including different subscription tiers, various device types, and flexible term options.Subscription Tiers
Aruba Central subscriptions are available in two main tiers: Foundation and Advanced.Foundation Tier
- This tier provides basic network management features such as network check, CLI commands, and RF management services including Adaptive Radio Management (ARM) and ClientMatch.
- Pricing varies by device type and term length. For example:
- Access Points (APs):
- 1-year subscription: $94.86
- 3-year subscription: $224.54
- 5-year subscription: $319.41
- 7-year subscription: $509.48
- 10-year subscription: $806.93
- Switches:
- Prices differ based on switch models. For instance, a 25xx/4100i/6000/6100/8 to 12 port Switch Foundation subscription can cost:
- 1-year: $126.50
- 3-year: $341.55
- 5-year: $537.61
- 7-year: Available upon request
- 10-year: $1,228.57
- Wireless Gateways:
- 1-year subscription: $108.40
- 3-year subscription: $256.55
- 5-year subscription: $364.96
- 7-year subscription: $509.48
- 10-year subscription: $806.93
Advanced Tier
- This tier includes all the features from the Foundation tier plus additional advanced features such as Live Events for Client and AP, Packet Capture, Presence Analytics, and UCC (Unified Communication and Collaboration).
- Pricing is higher compared to the Foundation tier:
- Access Points (APs):
- 1-year subscription: $189.75
- 3-year subscription: $426.94
- 5-year subscription: $616.69
- 7-year subscription: $975.63
- 10-year subscription: Not listed explicitly, but follows the pattern of increasing cost
- Switches and Gateways:
- Similar to the Foundation tier, prices vary by device model and term length. For example, a 62xx or 29xx Switch Advanced subscription can cost:
- 1-year: $221.36
- 3-year: $597.71
- 5-year: $942.41
- 7-year: $1,506.79
- 10-year: $2,149.98
Term Lengths
Subscriptions are available for various term lengths: 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 years. This flexibility allows organizations to choose a term that aligns with their budget and operational needs.Free Trial
Aruba Central offers a 90-day free trial or evaluation license. This trial allows you to manage up to 60 devices and includes a range of features from both the Foundation and Advanced tiers. To start the trial, you need to create an account on HPE GreenLake, add your devices, and assign the evaluation license key.Additional Services
In addition to the subscription tiers, Aruba Central offers other services such as Device Management and Services Management subscriptions, which can be added on top of the main subscription plans. For example:- Device Management Subscription:
- 1-year: $77.59
- 3-year: $155.19
- 5-year: $232.78
- Services Management Subscription:
- 1-year: $19.40
- 3-year: $38.80
- 5-year: $58.20
Aruba Central - Integration and Compatibility
Aruba Central Overview
Aruba Central, a cloud-based network management solution by HPE, integrates seamlessly with a variety of tools and devices, ensuring comprehensive and efficient network management across different platforms.Device Compatibility
Aruba Central supports a wide range of Aruba devices, including Access Points (APs), switches, gateways, and controllers. Specifically, it manages Aruba IAPs, switches, gateways, and controllers, as well as devices running various operating systems such as InstantOS, AOS6, AOS8, AOS-S, and AOS-CX.Integration with Other Tools
Aruba Central enhances its capabilities through integrations with several third-party tools and systems:OpsRamp
This integration allows for monitoring third-party network devices from vendors like Juniper Networks and Palo Alto Networks, improving contextual network observability and reducing blind spots in heterogeneous networks.Cortex XSOAR
By integrating with Cortex XSOAR, Aruba Central can import information about wired and wireless devices, enhancing IoT security by providing more granular endpoint reports and better detection of misconfigurations and anomalies.AI and AIOps
Aruba Central incorporates AI insights and AIOps capabilities, including AI-generated network optimizations, improved network device configuration engines, and expanded network observability. These features help in automating network management, troubleshooting, and optimization.Multi-Vendor Support
Aruba Central is designed to work with multi-vendor tools and solutions. It provides open APIs that allow interactions with various hardware and software components, ensuring compatibility with a broad range of devices and systems. This includes integration with policy managers like ClearPass Policy Manager and support for programmable interfaces across all levels of hardware and software.Cloud and On-Premises Options
Aruba Central offers both cloud-based (SaaS) and on-premises deployment models, providing flexibility based on the organization’s needs. This allows for seamless management of networks whether the infrastructure is cloud-based or on-premises.IoT Integration
Aruba Central simplifies IoT operations by integrating with IoT devices connected to Aruba access points. It provides an integrated dashboard and app store, making it easier to deploy and manage IoT services without specialized components or skills.Remote and Branch Office Management
For remote and branch office environments, Aruba Central supports zero-touch provisioning, allowing devices to be set up without onsite IT involvement. It also offers features like guided workflows, pre-built express configs, and multi-editor options for configuring devices at scale.Conclusion
In summary, Aruba Central’s integration capabilities and compatibility with various devices and tools make it a versatile and powerful solution for managing complex network environments efficiently. Aruba Central - Customer Support and Resources
Aruba Central Customer Support
Customer Support Options
- 24×7 Priority Technical Support: Aruba Central provides around-the-clock priority technical support for troubleshooting, ensuring that any issues are addressed promptly.
- Foundational Care: This support level includes 24×7 access to the Technical Assistance Center (TAC), software updates, upgrades, and prioritized access to security patches. It also offers advanced hardware replacement options, such as next business day or 4-hour onsite repair and replacement.
- Pro Care and Pro Premier Care: These premium support options offer fast access to senior Aruba TAC Engineers, proactive and preventive features, and a designated customer success manager. They include quarterly operational reviews, engagement value reports, and prioritized case handling.
Additional Resources
- Aruba Central Help Center: This resource provides context-based assistance, including AI-driven search that adjusts query results based on the user’s location within the Aruba Central interface. It also features integrated 24×7 live chat for real-time support and automatic issue notification to Aruba TAC.
- Airheads Community: This community is a valuable resource for connecting with peers, product experts, and industry leaders. It includes discussion forums, expert articles, and cutting-edge content, making it an excellent place to learn and share knowledge about wireless and wired LANs, network security, and more.
- HPE Networking Support Portal: This portal offers one-click access to case management, digital RMA processing, asset management, and software and document downloads. It also includes live chat support in multiple languages.
- Global Technical Assistance Centers (TAC): These centers provide AI-driven 24x7x365 support, offering advice on configuration, administration, interoperability, and best practices beyond just break/fix information.
Professional Services
- Aruba Professional Services: These services include QuickStart Services that provide expert audit, design, deployment, and migration assistance, following Aruba best practices. This is particularly useful for customers migrating from Aruba AirWave to Aruba Central.
By leveraging these support options and resources, users of Aruba Central can ensure their networks are well-managed, secure, and optimized for performance.
Aruba Central - Pros and Cons
Advantages of Aruba Central
Aruba Central offers several significant advantages that make it a compelling choice for network management:Unified Management
Aruba Central provides a single pane of glass for managing wired, wireless, SD-WAN, and VPN networks, simplifying operations and reducing the need for multiple tools.AI-Powered Insights
The platform leverages AI and machine learning to offer real-time visibility into network health, user experience, and application performance. This enables proactive issue resolution and continuous network optimization.Automation
Aruba Central automates many tasks, including firmware updates, configuration management, and zero-touch device provisioning. This reduces manual work, minimizes human error, and speeds up deployment times.Advanced Security
The platform includes advanced IDS/IPS threat defense management, dynamic segmentation to isolate network traffic, and integration with Aruba ClearPass for enforcing security policies. These features enhance network security and protect against threats.Scalability and Flexibility
Aruba Central is built on a cloud-native microservices architecture, allowing for elastic scaling without the need for additional hardware. It offers deployment options including SaaS, on-premises, and managed services, catering to various business needs.Enhanced User Experience
The platform integrates with Aruba UXI to proactively monitor and improve the end-user experience. It also provides real-time monitoring and alerting to ensure SLA adherence from the user to the application.Support and Integration
Aruba Central includes an AI-based search engine and live chat for enhanced support, as well as APIs and webhooks for easy integration with other IT platforms and third-party devices.Disadvantages of Aruba Central
While Aruba Central is a powerful tool, there are some potential drawbacks to consider:Learning Curve
Despite its intuitive interface, the extensive features and capabilities of Aruba Central may require some time for IT teams to fully learn and utilize, especially for those without prior experience with similar platforms.Cost
Implementing and maintaining a comprehensive network management solution like Aruba Central can be costly, especially for smaller organizations. The various deployment options, however, offer some flexibility in managing costs.Dependency on Cloud Connectivity
For the cloud-based deployment option, reliable internet connectivity is essential. Any disruptions in cloud services could impact the management and monitoring of the network.Data Security and Compliance
While Aruba Central offers strong security features, managing sensitive data in a cloud environment can raise concerns about data confidentiality, security, and compliance. On-premises deployment options can help mitigate these concerns.Integration Challenges
Integrating Aruba Central with existing network devices and systems from other vendors might present some challenges, although the platform is designed to support a wide range of vendors and includes features like OpsRamp for third-party device monitoring. In summary, Aruba Central offers a wide range of benefits that can significantly enhance network management, but it also requires careful consideration of the potential costs, learning curve, and integration challenges. Aruba Central - Comparison with Competitors
When comparing HPE Aruba Networking Central with other AI-driven networking tools, several unique features and potential alternatives stand out.
Unique Features of HPE Aruba Networking Central
- Comprehensive AI-Powered Management: Aruba Networking Central offers a unified management solution for wireless, wired, WAN, and IoT networks, leveraging advanced AI tools for automated workflows, improved insights, and enhanced security.
- Expanded AI Toolset: It includes AI-generated network optimizations, predictive analytics, and behavioral analytics-based network detection and response (NDR) capabilities. The platform is powered by a large data lake with telemetry from over 4.6 million devices, which significantly enhances its AI-trained models.
- Intuitive Contextual Network Observability: This feature allows for full-stack correlation of network devices, connectivity links, and applications, enabling quick issue resolution and responsive alerts to maintain peak network performance.
- Deployment Flexibility: Aruba Networking Central can be deployed either on cloud or on-premises, offering local data handling for enhanced confidentiality, security, and compliance.
Comparison with Juniper Networks AI-Native Networking Platform
- Unified AI Engine: Juniper’s platform uses a common AI engine and the Mist Marvis Virtual Network Assistant (VNA) to unify campus, branch, and data center networking operations. This results in significant reductions in trouble tickets, OpEx, and incident resolution time.
- Key Difference: While Juniper’s platform focuses on reliability, measurability, and security across all connections, Aruba Networking Central emphasizes comprehensive network visibility, automated workflows, and AI-powered security observability.
Comparison with Nile AI Services Platform
- AI-Based Network Design and Automation: Nile’s platform includes AI applications for automating network design, configuration, and management. It features the Nile Services Cloud, Nile Service Blocks, and Nile Copilot and Autopilot applications for AI-based network monitoring and operations.
- Key Difference: Nile’s platform is more focused on integrated security, cloud-native service delivery, and closed-loop automation, whereas Aruba Networking Central is broader in its scope, covering a wide range of network types and including more advanced AI analytics and observability features.
Comparison with LogicMonitor, Auvik, and NinjaOne
- Predictive Analytics and Anomaly Detection: Tools like LogicMonitor, Auvik, and NinjaOne also use AI for predictive analytics and anomaly detection. They automate tasks such as network mapping, device discovery, and configuration backups, and provide intelligent troubleshooting.
- Key Difference: While these tools are strong in real-time monitoring and proactive issue resolution, Aruba Networking Central stands out with its integrated approach to managing diverse network types (wireless, wired, WAN, IoT) and its extensive use of AI for security observability and NDR capabilities.
Potential Alternatives
- Juniper Networks AI-Native Networking Platform: For organizations looking for a unified AI engine across different network environments and significant reductions in operational costs and incident resolution times.
- Nile AI Services Platform: For enterprises needing integrated security, cloud-native service delivery, and closed-loop automation, particularly in campus and branch IT infrastructures.
- LogicMonitor, Auvik, and NinjaOne: For organizations focusing on real-time network monitoring, predictive analytics, and automated troubleshooting, especially in environments where these specific features are paramount.
Each of these alternatives offers unique strengths, but HPE Aruba Networking Central’s comprehensive AI-powered management, extensive AI toolset, and deployment flexibility make it a strong contender in the AI-driven networking tools category.
Aruba Central - Frequently Asked Questions
What is Aruba Central?
Aruba Central is a unified network management platform that offers AI-based analytics, IoT device security, and comprehensive management for wired, wireless, and SD-WAN networks. It integrates management and infrastructure for WAN, WLAN, and LAN, providing a holistic solution from the access network to the edge with end-to-end security.
How do I get started with Aruba Central?
To get started with Aruba Central, you need to sign up for an account. You can do this by visiting the Aruba Networks website, entering your email address, and completing the registration process. If you are a new user, you will need to provide your first name, last name, address details, and a password. Existing Aruba customers can use their SSO login credentials. After registration, you will receive a verification email to activate your account. Once logged in, you can add devices to your Central account using various methods such as Aruba Activate user credentials, MAC address, and cloud activation key.
What types of subscriptions are available for Aruba Central?
Aruba Central offers several types of subscriptions, including device management subscriptions and cloud service subscriptions. Device management subscriptions allow you to add and manage devices (APs and switches), and include basic services like device configuration, monitoring dashboards, reports, and application analytics. Cloud service subscriptions enable advanced cloud services such as Presence Analytics on capable devices. There are also various duration-based subscriptions (e.g., 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, 7-year, 10-year) for different device types.
How does Aruba Central handle guest access?
Aruba Central allows you to manage guest access with a secure guest Wi-Fi experience. You can create guest sponsor roles and social logins for your guest networks. Additionally, you can design your guest landing page with custom logos, colors, and banner text. This feature helps in providing a controlled and secure environment for your visitors.
What is Presence Analytics in Aruba Central?
Presence Analytics is a value-added service offered by Aruba Central for Instant AP-based networks. It provides insights into user presence and loyalty by allowing you to view the presence of users at a specific site and the frequency of user visits at a given location. This data can help you make business decisions to improve customer engagement.
How does Aruba Central support network monitoring and troubleshooting?
Aruba Central provides comprehensive network monitoring and troubleshooting capabilities. It offers data-driven dashboards, alerts, reports, and troubleshooting workflows to help you monitor, identify, and address network issues. The platform also utilizes Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) to monitor, analyze, and block traffic based on application categories, application types, web categories, and website reputation.
What are the operational modes of Aruba Central?
Aruba Central operates in two main modes: Standard Enterprise Mode and Managed Service Provider Mode. The Standard Enterprise Mode is intended for users who manage their accounts end-to-end, allowing complete access to account management, device provisioning, and subscriptions. The Managed Service Provider Mode provides a consolidated view of customer networks, enabling service providers to manage devices and subscriptions associated with their customer accounts.
What browsers are compatible with Aruba Central?
To view the Aruba Central UI, you need to use a compatible web browser with JavaScript enabled. Supported browsers include Google Chrome 39.0.2171.65 or later, Mozilla Firefox 34.0.5 or later, Safari 7 or later, and Microsoft Edge version 79 or later.
Does Aruba Central offer an evaluation subscription?
Yes, Aruba Central offers a 90-day evaluation subscription for customers who want to try the Aruba cloud solution for managing their Wi-Fi networks. This evaluation subscription is automatically assigned when you sign up, unless you have purchased a paid subscription.
How does Aruba Central support zero-touch provisioning?
Aruba Central supports zero-touch provisioning of devices, which allows devices to be automatically retrieved and added to your Central account based on your subscription. You can also manually add devices using methods such as Aruba Activate user credentials, MAC address, and cloud activation key.
Aruba Central - Conclusion and Recommendation
Final Assessment of Aruba Central
Aruba Central is a comprehensive and AI-driven cloud networking solution that offers a unified management platform for wired, wireless, WAN, and VPN networks. Here’s a detailed assessment of its benefits and who would most benefit from using it.Key Benefits
Unified Management
Aruba Central provides a single point of control for overseeing all aspects of network infrastructure, including wireless, wired, WAN, and VPN networks across campus, branch, and remote office locations.
AI-Powered Analytics
The platform includes AI-based insights that enable faster troubleshooting and continuous network optimization. This feature is particularly useful for identifying and resolving issues quickly, enhancing overall network performance.
Streamlined Operations
The solution simplifies network operations by eliminating the need for disjointed, domain-specific network management tools. It offers a network health summary dashboard, guided setup wizard, and zero-touch provisioning, which significantly reduce the time and effort required for onboarding and managing network devices.
Advanced Security
Aruba Central includes advanced IDS/IPS threat defense management and secure cloud-based platforms with HTTPS connections and certificate-based authentication, ensuring high levels of security for network data.
Flexibility and Scalability
The platform can be deployed either on the cloud or on-premises, providing flexibility in data handling and compliance. This makes it suitable for both small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and large enterprises.
Who Would Benefit Most
Aruba Central is highly beneficial for several types of organizations:SMBs
Small and medium-sized businesses with limited IT personnel can greatly benefit from the intuitive workflows and dashboards that simplify network management. This allows IT teams to focus more on creating value for the business rather than managing network infrastructure.
Enterprise Organizations
Large enterprises with multiple locations can leverage the unified management capabilities, AI-powered analytics, and advanced security features to streamline their network operations and improve overall efficiency.
IT Teams with Limited Resources
Organizations facing talent shortages in their IT departments can use Aruba Central’s automated features and AI-driven analytics to manage complex, distributed networks more effectively.