HP adds switches as part of larger offerings

HP’s ProCurve Networking business unit this week unveiled several switch products to support several new bundles of hardware, software and support.

The switches include the ProCurve Switch 5304xl-32G, with 28 ports of 10/100/1000M bit/sec Ethernet, and the ProCurve Switch 5308xl-48G, with 42 ports of 10/100/1000M bit/sec Ethernet. Two ProCurve Switch xl modules for the 5300 switch series were also announced, one with 16 ports of 10/100/1000 and the other supporting Power over Ethernet on 24 ports of Fast Ethernet.

HP also unveiled ProCurve Manager and ProCurve Manager Plus 1.5 network management software, with e-mail and pager alerts, sFlow support, better management of access points, more schedulable activities and better group configuration features, the company says.

Interestingly, HP also indicated that a new generation of products is coming, one using network technology acquired from Riverstone Networks last week. The ProCurve Edge Fabric is to be a family of Ethernet devices for interconnecting intelligent edge devices.

This week’s products are intended to fill out HP’s product line and back up three “solutions,” or bundles, that HP has put together. The bundles focus on three different technology areas – access control, mobility infrastructure and IP telephony. HP says the exact makeup and configuration of the bundle will vary depending on customer needs.

Products in the access control security solution ensure that only authorized users are allowed onto a wired or wireless network, through centralized policy control. The mobility infrastructure solution includes hardware, software, services and support for deploying wireless LANs. And the IP telephony solution focuses on adding voice to a user’s current network.