Meet the Aruba Instant On 1830 Cloud Managed Switches

Aruba Instant On 1830 Family

This new family is included just one step below Aruba Instant On 1930 in terms of hardware, the main objective of this family is to bring management in the Cloud to cheaper equipment but with excellent performance, since all these models have Gigabit Ethernet ports with PoE or without PoE. Next, we are going to explain in detail the hardware characteristics of each model, and all the software options that are common to all the equipment.

hardware features

The new Aruba Instant On 1830 family is made up of a total of 6 switch models, some with PoE ports to power WiFi access points, IP cameras or any other device, and we also have other models without PoE ports, to only provide connectivity to network.

The model JL810A It has 8 Gigabit Ethernet ports for the LAN without PoE, it has an ARM Cortex processor at 800MHz speed, 512MB of RAM, 256MB of flash memory and a 1.5MB buffer. It has a switching capacity of 16Gbps, with a throughput of 11.90Mpps and allows us up to 8K MAC address entries. This model does not have a fan so it is completely silent. The dimensions are 157mm deep x 173mm wide x 39mm high, with a weight of 0.77Kg. This switch supports mounting on a table, under the table and on the wall. A very interesting feature of this model is that it can be powered through LAN port 1 with another PoE switch, in this way, we will power it in those environments where we do not have a plug, ideal for home or office environments.

The model JL811A It has 8 Gigabit Ethernet ports for the LAN, the first four Gigabit ports are PoE/PoE+ with the 802.3af/802.3at standard, so it is capable of providing us with up to 30W per port. The PoE Budget of this small size switch is 65W. It has an ARM Cortex processor at 800MHz speed, 512MB of RAM, 256MB of flash memory and a 1.5MB buffer, 16Gbps switching capacity, with a throughput of 11.9Mpps and up to 8K MAC address entries. This switch also does not have a fan, the cooling is completely passive, so it is completely silent. The dimensions are 195mm deep x 245mm wide x 43.9mm high, with a weight of 1.54Kg. This switch supports mounting on a table, under the table, on the wall and also in a rack cabinet, since all the necessary accessories come in the box.

The model JL812A It has 24 Gigabit Ethernet ports for the LAN without PoE, it also incorporates a total of 2 SFP ports at Gigabit Ethernet speed. Other features are that it has an ARM Cortex processor at 800MHz speed, 512MB of RAM, 256MB of flash memory and a 1.5MB buffer. It has a switching capacity of 52Gbps, with a throughput of 38.68Mpps and allows us up to 16K MAC address entries. This model does not have a fan so it is completely silent. The dimensions are 215.9mm deep x 443mm wide x 43.9mm high, with a weight of 2.49Kg. This switch supports mounting on a table, under the table and on the wall, although you can also install it directly in a 19-inch rack cabinet, as usual.

The model JL813A It has 24 Gigabit Ethernet ports for the LAN, the first 12 Gigabit ports are PoE/PoE+ with the 802.3af/802.3at standard, so it is capable of providing up to 30W per port. The PoE Budget of this switch is 195W. This equipment also incorporates a total of 2 SFP ports at Gigabit speed. It has an ARM Cortex processor at 800MHz speed, 512MB of RAM, 256MB of flash memory and a 1.5MB buffer, 52Gbps switching capacity, with a throughput of 38.68Mpps and up to 16K MAC address entries. This switch does have fans to adequately cool the equipment, depending on the use of PoE we will have more or less noise, since it has intelligent fans. The dimensions are 253mm deep x 443mm wide x 43.9mm high, with a weight of 3.47Kg. This switch supports mounting on a table, under the table, on the wall and also in a rack cabinet, since all the necessary accessories come in the box.

The model JL814A It has 48 Gigabit Ethernet ports for the LAN without PoE, it also incorporates a total of 4 SFP ports at Gigabit Ethernet speed. The processor, RAM, flash and buffer are exactly the same as previous models. In this case, we have a switching capacity of 104Gbps, with a performance of 77.37Mpps and it allows us up to 16K MAC address entries. This switch does have fans to properly cool the internal components. The dimensions are 253mm deep x 443mm wide x 43.9mm high, with a weight of 3.54Kg. This switch supports mounting on a table, under the table, and on the wall, although you can also install it directly in a 19-inch rack cabinet, as usual.

Lastly, the model JL815A It has 48 Gigabit Ethernet ports for the LAN, the first 24 ports are with PoE/PoE+ so it is capable of providing up to 30W per port. This model has a PoE Budget of up to 370W. This equipment also has 4 SFP ports at Gigabit Ethernet speed. The processor, RAM, flash and buffer are the same as previous models. In this case, we have a switching capacity of 104Gbps, with a performance of 77.37Mpps and it allows us up to 16K MAC address entries. This switch also has fans to properly cool the internal components. The dimensions are 351mm deep x 443mm wide x 43.9mm high, with a weight of 4.94Kg. This switch supports mounting on a table, under the table and on the wall, although you can also install it directly in a 19-inch rack cabinet, as usual.

software features

These new switches are managed centrally from the cloud, we will have both the graphical interface via the web and also a dedicated application for smartphones and tablets, from where we will be able to carry out all the installation, configuration and administration. Our recommendation is to carry out the configuration via the web, and later in the app make certain minor changes and monitor the wired and wireless network. These switches also allow us to access a local web graphical user interface, that is, without management in the Cloud. The firmware allows us up to 5 HTTP or HTTPS sessions simultaneously, in addition, the graphic interface is very intuitive, suitable for all users.

All switches have exactly the same configuration options, although logically, something will vary due to the number of Gigabit ports and whether or not they are PoE, but the rest of the configurations are the same. Below, you can see the main options available:

• Class of Service (CoS) to prioritize certain data packets, such as VoIP or video packets against other traffic.
• Flow control
• Management VLAN to put this switch separate from the data VLAN, improves security at the network level.
• VLANs to adequately segment the local network at the L2 level.
• SNTP protocol for automatic date and time synchronization in the switches.
• STP/RSTP protocol to avoid loops, it also has BPDU filtering to improve security.
• IGMP Snooping V1/V2 to correctly manage Multicast traffic.
• Link Aggregation with LACP to create link aggregation. It allows creating up to 16 groups of 8 ports each, but it depends on the switch model.
• LLDP Protocol
• Protection against DoS attacks of different types.
• Port Mirroring to forward incoming and outgoing traffic from one or more ports to another, in order to capture network traffic.
• Automatic or on-demand firmware update.
• Complete PoE management, allows us to assign PoE power, program the turning on and off of the PoE ports, etc.

Other features are that it supports HTTPS connections via local web and uses SSL/TLS to communicate with the Cloud, it has a dual firmware image to avoid image corruption problems when updating the firmware, it also supports SNMPv1/v2 read-only, to detect and monitor the device on a server that uses this protocol. Other options are everything related to event logs, logins, the possibility of sending the logs to a local or remote syslog server, and it even incorporates tools such as ping to make quick diagnoses. Of course, these switches also support the 802.3az standard for energy saving, efficient cooling, etc.

As you can see, we are facing a very complete family of switches at the software level. Now we are going to show you what the 8-port PoE model is like, the Aruba Instant On 1830 JL811A.

Unboxing and first impressions of the JL811A

At RedesZone we have had the opportunity to thoroughly test the Aruba Instant On 1830 JL811A model, an 8-port Gigabit device with PoE up to 65W. This model is ideal for home and small business environments, where we need to power various equipment through PoE, such as various WiFi access points and even professional IP cameras for video surveillance. This equipment is managed locally or in the cloud, in this way, we will be able to monitor at all times which clients we have connected, whether they are wired or wireless.

Next, you can see our video with the unboxing of the box, you will be able to see both the managed switch itself with Cloud management, as well as the included accessories such as the power cable, the documentation, the supports to rack the switch in a cabinet and also all the necessary screws for it.