HPE Aruba CX 6400 24-port Smart Rate 1G/2.5G/5G/10G PoE 4x SFP56 50G S1T83A network switch

Purpose and Audience

The HPE Aruba CX 6400 is a managed Layer 3 switch offering 24 Smart Rate ports at 1G, 2.5G, 5G and 10G speeds with Class 8 PoE up to 60W. Four SFP56 ports provide 50G uplinks, and the chassis delivers up to 28 Tbps of non-blocking bandwidth. It is built for enterprise networks that require high-density multi-gigabit access and advanced routing features such as BGP, EVPN, VXLAN, VRF and OSPF.

Fit and Limits

This switch suits organisations that need multi-gigabit connectivity for access points, IoT sensors or workstations while delivering high-power PoE from a single chassis. Redundant power supplies and fans plus VSX support give the high availability that critical infrastructure demands. Buyers who only need basic Layer 2 switching or copper-only ports should look at simpler, lower-cost models. Environments without 50G uplink requirements will not use the SFP56 capacity.

Deciding Specification

The 24-port Smart Rate configuration with 60W PoE per port is the specification that determines whether this chassis matches the deployment. Each port negotiates 1G, 2.5G, 5G or 10G automatically, so cabling and endpoint choices stay flexible. The four 50G SFP56 uplinks then carry the aggregated traffic without oversubscription. If the site needs fewer multi-gigabit ports or lower PoE budgets, a different switch will be more economical.