New Procurve Switches On Tap

Procurve's 2650 is a stackable 1U switch with 48 10/100 ports and two of what HP calls its "dual-personality" ports, said Leanne Leon, Procurve product manager.

The dual-personality ports, nicknamed "Sybil" ports by solution providers, are Gigabit ports that function as either autosensing 10/100/1000 ports or as mini GigaBit Interface Converters (GBICs), Leon said.

Solution providers said they have been waiting for the 2650. "HP has needed a 48-port switch with a 1U footprint for quite a while," said Chris Simon, president and CEO of WAN/LAN Solutions, Roseville, Calif. "And the price is just killer." The 2650, list-priced at $1,999, comes in at less than $40 per port, he said.

Joe Walsh, vice president of sales at Certified Networks, St. Louis, said the 2650, along with Procurve's introduction of the 5300 switches in May, rounds out the Procurve line and makes it more competitive in the enterprise space.

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"Until recently, we had the low end and the very high end," Walsh said. "Now we have the middle ground."

Procurve also is introducing the 6108, a 1U stackable aggregator with six 10/100/1000 ports and two of the dual-personality ports, Leon said. The 6108 is list-priced at about $271 per port, she said.

In an effort to push Gigabit-to-the-desktop into the mainstream, Procurve this week also plans to unveil two unmanaged stackable Gigabit switches: the 2724, featuring 24 10/100/1000 ports, and the 2708, featuring eight 10/100/1000 ports. The 2708 and 2724 each lists for about $109 per port, Leon said.

While Procurve pricing is aggressive, its lifetime warranty and free support are what's catching the attention of enterprise customers, said John Barker, president of Versatile Communications, Marlborough, Mass.

"People's pocketbooks have gotten a lot lighter, so total cost of ownership is a lot more important," Barker said. "The fact that Procurve support is free is very well-received."

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