S4B23A HPE Aruba 8325H 16-Ports QSFP28 Gigabit Ethernet Switch

HPE Aruba 8325 Switch Series: Revolutionizing Data Center

Overview of the HPE S4B23A Aruba 8325H Switch

The HPE S4B23A Aruba 8325H represents a significant advancement in data center switching technology, designed to meet the demanding requirements of modern enterprise networks. This 16-port QSFP28 switch delivers exceptional performance with 40G/100G connectivity options, making it an ideal solution for spine deployments, cloud infrastructure, and high-performance computing environments. With its back-to-front airflow configuration and redundant power supplies, the 8325H ensures optimal thermal management and maximum uptime for mission-critical applications.

Key Specifications

Port Configuration and Capabilities

The Aruba 8325H features 16 QSFP28 ports that support both 40GbE and 100GbE connectivity, providing flexibility for various deployment scenarios. Each port can operate as 100GbE using a single QSFP28 transceiver or can be broken out into multiple 25GbE or 10GbE connections using appropriate splitters. This versatility allows network architects to design infrastructure that precisely matches their current needs while maintaining a clear path for future expansion.

Performance and Throughput

With a switching capacity of 3.2 Tbps and forwarding rate of 2.38 billion packets per second (Bpps), the 8325H delivers the performance necessary for data-intensive applications. The switch utilizes a non-blocking architecture that ensures full line-rate performance across all ports simultaneously, eliminating bottlenecks in high-traffic environments. Advanced buffer management techniques prevent packet loss during congestion periods, maintaining application performance even under peak loads.

Advanced Switching Architecture

ArubaOS-CX Network Operating System

At the heart of the 8325H switch lies ArubaOS-CX, a modern, programmable operating system that brings automation and analytics to the network infrastructure. This intuitive OS features a REST-based API that enables seamless integration with existing management tools and orchestration platforms. The built-in Network Analytics Engine provides real-time visibility into network performance, helping administrators quickly identify and resolve potential issues before they impact users.

Programmable Infrastructure

ArubaOS-CX supports Python scripting, allowing network operators to automate routine tasks and create custom solutions for specific operational challenges. The switch includes a built-in Python interpreter that can access the switch's configuration and operational state, enabling the development of sophisticated automation scripts. This programmability reduces operational overhead while increasing network reliability and consistency across the infrastructure.

High Availability Features

The 8325H is engineered for maximum reliability with multiple high-availability features. The switch supports hitless patching, allowing software upgrades to be performed without disrupting network services. Stateful switchover (SSO) capabilities ensure that active sessions remain intact during control plane failures, while graceful routing protocol restart minimizes convergence times following a switchover event.

Redundant Components Design

This switch model includes two hot-swappable power supplies and four fan modules arranged in a redundant configuration. The modular design allows failed components to be replaced without powering down the switch, maintaining continuous operation. Environmental monitoring circuits track temperature, voltage, and fan performance, providing early warning of potential component failures.

Data Center Deployment Scenarios

Spine Leaf Architecture Implementation

The Aruba 8325H excels as a spine switch in modern leaf-spine architectures, providing the high-bandwidth interconnects necessary for East-West traffic patterns common in virtualized and cloud environments. With its high port density and low latency characteristics, the switch can efficiently handle the traffic between leaf switches while maintaining consistent performance across the entire fabric.

Scalability Considerations

When deployed in spine roles, multiple 8325H switches can be interconnected to create scalable fabrics supporting hundreds of leaf switches and thousands of server connections. The switch supports large routing tables and multiple routing protocols, ensuring that the network can grow without encountering scalability limitations. Advanced features like Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing distribute traffic evenly across available paths, optimizing bandwidth utilization.

High-Performance Computing Applications

In HPC environments, the 8325H provides the low-latency, high-throughput connectivity required for computational clusters and storage networks. The switch's cut-through switching capability reduces forwarding latency to sub-microsecond levels, while support for jumbo frames improves efficiency for large data transfers common in scientific computing and big data analytics workloads.

RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE)

The switch includes comprehensive support for RoCE v2, enabling remote direct memory access across Ethernet networks. This capability is essential for distributed computing applications where low latency and CPU offloading are critical for performance. Advanced traffic management features ensure that RoCE traffic receives appropriate priority across the network, maintaining the low-latency characteristics required by these applications.

Advanced Networking Features

Comprehensive Routing Protocol

The 8325H supports a full suite of IPv4 and IPv6 routing protocols, including BGP, OSPFv2/v3, and IS-IS for large-scale data center interconnects. Protocol-independent routing features provide flexibility in designing network architectures, while MP-BGP EVPN forms the foundation for modern VXLAN-based overlay networks. The switch maintains full routing tables from multiple protocols simultaneously, enabling complex network designs with multiple redundancy paths.

BGP Enhancements for Data Center

Specific BGP enhancements tailored for data center environments include additional path selection criteria, graceful restart capabilities, and support for large-scale route reflector deployments. These features ensure stable routing even during network reconvergence events, maintaining application performance during maintenance activities or component failures.

Network Virtualization with VXLAN

VXLAN support enables the creation of overlay networks that span physical boundaries, providing the foundation for multi-tenant environments and workload mobility. The 8325H can function as both a VXLAN gateway and transit device, supporting both flood-and-learn and EVPN-based control planes. Hardware-accelerated VXLAN processing ensures that encapsulation and decapsulation operations don't impact switching performance.

EVPN Control Plane Integration

EVPN provides a standards-based control plane for VXLAN networks, offering improved scalability and operational simplicity compared to traditional flood-and-learn approaches. The 8325H implements full EVPN functionality, including support for distributed anycast gateway capabilities that simplify stretched layer-2 deployments across multiple data centers.

Security and Access Control

Comprehensive Security Framework

The 8325H incorporates multiple security layers to protect against unauthorized access and malicious activity. Role-based access control (RBAC) provides granular management privileges, while MACsec encryption secures data in transit across vulnerable links. Dynamic segmentation capabilities enable micro-segmentation policies that follow workloads as they move across the infrastructure, maintaining consistent security posture regardless of physical location.

Network Access Control Integration

Integration with Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager enables dynamic policy enforcement based on user identity, device type, and other contextual factors. This integration allows the switch to automatically apply appropriate access controls and QoS policies when devices connect to the network. Built-in support for 802.1X authentication provides a standards-based framework for port-based access control.

Visibility and Threat Detection

Advanced monitoring capabilities help identify potential security threats through analysis of network traffic patterns. The switch can mirror traffic to security appliances for deep packet inspection, while built-in sFlow generation provides visibility into traffic flows without impacting switching performance. Management access can be restricted to specific protocols and source addresses, reducing the attack surface for management interfaces.

Automated Security Policy Enforcement

Through integration with Aruba Network Analytics Engine, the switch can automatically respond to security events by applying predefined mitigation policies. Suspicious activity can trigger automatic port shutdown, ACL application, or traffic redirection to security services for further analysis. These automated responses reduce the time between threat detection and mitigation, limiting potential damage from security incidents.

Power and Cooling Design

Back-to-Front Airflow Configuration

The 8325H utilizes a back-to-front airflow design that aligns with modern data center hot aisle/cold aisle configurations. This orientation ensures that cool air is drawn from the cold aisle across critical components before being exhausted into the hot aisle. The optimized airflow path maintains component temperatures within specified operating ranges, even under maximum load conditions.

Fan Module Redundancy

Four hot-swappable fan modules provide both redundant operation and variable speed control based on temperature sensors distributed throughout the switch chassis. If a fan module fails, the remaining modules automatically increase speed to compensate, maintaining adequate cooling until the failed unit can be replaced. The modular design allows fan replacement without tools, further reducing maintenance time.

Power Supply Options and Efficiency

The switch supports multiple power supply options with varying capacity levels to match different deployment requirements. All power supplies feature high efficiency ratings, typically exceeding 90% across most load ranges. This high efficiency reduces operational costs and heat generation, contributing to overall data center power usage effectiveness (PUE) improvements.

Compatibility and Integration

Transceiver and Cable Options

The switch supports a wide range of QSFP28 transceivers for various reach requirements, from short-range multimode to long-range single-mode applications. Both official HPE branded optics and third-party transceivers are supported, though using genuine HPE optics ensures full compatibility and support. Direct attach copper cables provide cost-effective connectivity options for shorter distances within racks or between adjacent racks.

Breakout Cable Configurations

Each QSFP28 port can be used with breakout cables to connect multiple lower-speed devices. A single 100GbE port can be split into four 25GbE connections using appropriate breakout cables, providing flexibility in connecting to servers with 25GbE network interfaces. Similarly, 40GbE ports can be split into four 10GbE connections, supporting legacy server connectivity while maintaining a migration path to higher speeds.

Software-Defined Networking Integration

The 8325H supports multiple SDN interfaces, including OpenFlow and REST APIs, enabling integration with broader SDN controller platforms. This capability allows the switch to participate in software-defined architectures where control plane functions are centralized while data plane operations remain distributed. Support for common southbound protocols ensures compatibility with major SDN controller implementations.

Cloud Management Platform Integration

Through its comprehensive API set, the switch can integrate with cloud management platforms including OpenStack, VMware vCenter, and Microsoft System Center. These integrations enable coordinated provisioning of compute, storage, and network resources, streamlining the deployment of complete application environments. Pre-built plugins and integration scripts are available for popular cloud platforms, reducing implementation complexity.