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Data center networking · October 2026 Edition

Arista Networks vs HPE Aruba

Two of fourteen models named Arista Networks first on the direct prompt; one named HPE Aruba. Arista Networks was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and HPE Aruba by eight and Arista Networks carries 45 labels and HPE Aruba 12, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Arista Networks

accepted challenger

Named in two categories this edition.

HPE Aruba

accepted challenger

Named in three categories this edition.

First-choice share27%2%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate13%8%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#3A position in a field of 7; printed, not drawn.
Labels4512A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Arista Networks reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Arista Networks vs Cisco · Arista Networks vs Cisco Nexus · Cisco vs HPE Aruba

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the data center networking page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Arista NetworksFirst choices, of fourteen modelsHPE Aruba
Direct211 against Arista Networks
Paraphrase30
Comparative40
Budget-constrained301 against Arista Networks · 1 against HPE Aruba
Scale-constrained40
Negative304 against Arista Networks
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, Arista Networks and HPE Aruba were named in the same answer eighteen times, of the 114 answers naming Arista Networks and the 29 naming HPE Aruba. In those answers HPE Aruba took the first choice zero times and Arista Networks eight.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Arista Networks and HPE Aruba stood in it.
ModelDirectHAParaphraseHAComparativeHABudget-constrainedHAScale-constrainedHANegativeHA
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity SonarHAHA
Grok 4.1 FastHA
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 FlashHAHA
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 FlashHAHA
Kimi K2HA
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5HA
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
Arista NetworksHA HPE Aruba first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Arista Networks on the left and HPE Aruba on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Arista Networks and HPE Aruba stood in it.

Arista Networks first, HPE Aruba not the choice

2 of 14 modelsHPE Aruba was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
GPT-5.4 miniArista Networks alternatives: Cisco Nexus, Juniper QFX
Gemini 3.5 FlashArista Networks alternatives: Dell Technologies, HPE Juniper Networking

HPE Aruba first, Arista Networks not the choice

1 of 14 modelsArista Networks was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
Qwen 3.7 FlashCisco, HPE Aruba alternatives: Juniper EX Series

Neither was the first choice, one was named

3 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Perplexity SonarCisco Nexus alternatives: Arista Networks, HPE Data Center Switches
Mistral SmallCisco alternatives: Arista Networks, Huawei Data Center Networking, Juniper Networks
Muse Glimmer 30BHPE Aruba EdgeConnect alternatives: Arista Networks, Juniper Networks

Neither was named

8 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice
Grok 4.1 FastHPE Aruba Networking CX Series alternatives: Cisco Nexus, Juniper Networks
DeepSeek V4 FlashHPE Aruba CX Series alternatives: Extreme Networks, Juniper QFX Series
Llama 4 Maverickno first choice
Kimi K2HPE Aruba Networking CX Series alternatives: Cisco Nexus 9000, Juniper QFX Series
GLM 4.7 FlashXHPE Aruba Networking CX Series alternatives: Cisco Catalyst 9200/9300 Series, Cisco Nexus 9300 Series, Dell PowerSwitch S Series
MiniMax M2.5no first choice
GPT-6 LunaArista EOS alternatives: Cisco Nexus 9000, CloudVision, HPE Juniper QFX + Apstra

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Arista Networks leads by eleven points.
Arista Networks11%#1 of 9
HPE Aruba0%#– of 9
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Arista Networks leads by twenty-five points.
Arista Networks27%#1 of 7
HPE Aruba2%#3 of 7
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
Arista Networks leads by thirty-four points.
Arista Networks34%#1 of 7
HPE Aruba0%#– of 7
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Arista Networks

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of seven in this category shown.

“Cisco ACI, Nexus 9000 with extensive features enabled, or overly rich SD‑N stacks can introduce configuration‑driven bugs if not fully tested.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · soft negative
“Cons: Premium cost; overkill for basic mid-market unless high-speed uplinks needed.” Grok 4.1 Fast · direct prompt · soft negative
“one-half to one-third what a comparable Cisco Catalyst or Arista switch runs” Muse Glimmer 30B · budget prompt · soft negative
“Arista EOS + CloudVision Portal for a greenfield or data-center-focused shop: mature EVPN/VXLAN, CLI familiar, CloudVision management/telemetry overlay, and lower operational overhead” Muse Glimmer 30B · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Arista is positioned as AI-first with ultra-low-latency AI/ML fabrics, hyperscaler pedigree... AI training clusters favor Arista's buffering and EOS” Muse Glimmer 30B · comparative prompt · first choice
“platforms from Arista (CloudVision), Juniper (Apstra), or Cisco (with careful evaluation) are considered more mature and widely supported” Mistral Small · negative prompt · first choice

What the models said about HPE Aruba

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of four in this category shown.

“HPE Aruba is presented as more budget-friendly, though the result emphasizes campus/edge more than data center.” Perplexity Sonar · budget prompt · soft negative
“HPE Aruba (AOS-CX) and Cisco (Catalyst 9000/Nexus) are generally considered the top two contenders” Qwen 3.7 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
“Good for integrated campus+DC, competitive pricing | Less established in pure data center switching use cases” DeepSeek V4 Flash · scale prompt · alternative
“If you need campus + data center: Consider Aruba for campus and Arista for data center” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · alternative
Also compared
Arista Networks vs CiscoArista Networks vs Cisco NexusCisco vs HPE ArubaHPE Aruba vs Cisco NexusAll six head-to-head pages and the full data center networking standing

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.