HP network group digs in its heels

New LAN and WAN gear from HP, and a recent acquisition of 10G Ethernet technology, are new signals that the enterprise computing giant is serious about becoming the alternative to Cisco for corporate network executives.

HP last week refreshed its ProCurve line of LAN switches and wireless LAN (WLAN) switches and access points. The company added high-density Gigabit Ethernet and Power over Ethernet (PoE) blades for its 5300 series switches, and security, virtual LAN and multi-cast software enhancements for its 9300 series backbone switch. Also released was new software for improving security on ProCurve Secure Access 700wl series WLAN switches and new indoor/outdoor antennas for the 420 and 520 WLAN access points.

These announcements came a week after HP announced the $28 million purchase of Ethernet technology from metropolitan Ethernet vendor Riverstone Networks (a former Cabletron company). HP bought the hardware designs and software technology of Riverstone's XGS 10G Ethernet product line, aimed at corporations. (Riverstone introduced the products last year, but stopped developing them to refocus on carrier customers.)

The XGS technology will be the base for new switches, due out by year-end, that will be used to link HP ProCurve 5300 and stackable switches at the edge with 10G Ethernet links. In this blueprint, HP switches at the edge would be the primary point of switching and routing intelligence, with large pipes hooking the edge boxes back to a 10G central switch. With this topology, network services such as VoIP, wireless and policy-based networking will be easier to deploy for users, says Brice Clark, worldwide director for strategy and business planning, ProCurve Networking at HP.

Observers say the continuing stream of new LAN and WLAN ProCurve products, and the addition of 10G Ethernet intellectual property, are signs that HP is serious about competing with market-leader Cisco in the campus switching, data center and WLAN markets.

HP grew its total LAN switch revenue and port shipment market share by 30% in 2003, according to Synergy Research Group, while top competitors such as 3Com, Cisco, Nortel, Extreme and Enterasys all saw their revenues shrink from the previous year. (Only Foundry and Dell grew more than HP, at 31% and 38%, respectively).

In the overall Ethernet LAN market, HP was fourth in terms of port shipments last year, behind Cisco, 3Com and Netgear. The company is strongest in fixed-configuration Layer 2 switches, and the company held 7% of the market for those port shipments in 2004, behind Cisco with 55% and 3Com with 10.5%.

While HP does not break out the profit from its ProCurve business group, LAN switch revenue numbers for HP from analysts show that the business unit accounted for less than 1% of HP's $73 billion in sales last year.

Two factors that should help the ProCurve push further into enterprise networks are low prices (HP's Ethernet gear averages about $90 less than Cisco) and HP's presence in enterprise data center computers.