HP ProCurve Rolls Out New 10/100 Switches

Hewlett-Packard’s ProCurve networking division on Monday took a swipe at rival Cisco with the rollout of four new 10/100-based switches touted to simplify overall management from core to the edge.

The new offerings reside in HP ProCurve’s 3500 family of form-factor switches, accommodating customers with 10/100 Ethernet networks, while providing them with the benefits of a single software platform from which to manage every tier of switch in their network, core to edge, according to Sreeram Krishnamachari, HP ProCurve technical product marketing manager.

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“Even though the industry is moving to Gigabit Ethernet, there is still a big installed base for 10/100,” Krishnamachari said. “But these customers, despite the difference in throughput, want the same software and security as enterprise-class. They want the management features, but not the Gigabit throughput in all deployments.”

Krishnamachari pointed to the unified software management platform – one console to manage and monitor ProCurve switches from edge of network to the core – as a differentiator to Cisco’s 10/100 family of 3560 switches. The 3500 switches from ProCurve can also be deployed in heterogeneous environments, he added.

HP ProCurve’s got a long way to go to eat away at marketshare, however it has made headway. Based on IDC numbers for the first quarter 2009, HP has amassed a market share of 5.2 percent for the total worldwide Ethernet switch market, compared to Cisco's 69 percent. Nearly all of the other companies in the space were below 4 percent share.

The 3500 switches, available July 1, include 24- or 48-port options, as well as Power over Ethernet (PoE) or non-PoE versions. The switches range in price from $2,449 to $5, 299.