HP ProCurve Switches (discontinued) vs. HPE Networking Comware / FlexFabric Switches

People with more specialist requirements than myself may have more reason to look elsewhere, but in general, we tend to pick a HPE switch of one model or other for most office deployments we do. The choice of managed, unmanaged, advanced features, etc., means there's something for everyone. We support several offices relying on them, and no disasters yet!

Incentivized

It is very easy to configure and we never had an issue with the device in the 3 years we had it. I configured it once and just let it do its things. Could not be happier with that.

Incentivized

• Quality: The HP switches are built very well. In the 12 years that I have been working with Procurve, I have deployed them in challenging environments. Some of these environments include manufacturing plants, rooms where ventilation is somewhat poor, causing the switch to work at warmer temps, and inside of control panels for various engineering projects located in hot deserts. These switches have lasted me for 10+ years. 6-Months ago I had to replace a switch for a friend that was installed in 2010. The switch was still working when we pulled it from the rack, we just needed to move to a POE model.
• Dependability: Working with HP switches, I have never had issues with lockups, unknown transmission, dead ports, or firmware updates. Once you put one in, it stays up until you are ready to replace it.
• Affordable: My motivation of going with HP is because I don't care for the cost of Cisco or the need for a proprietary training. I am a big fan of the open platform. This means that we are able to deploy these quicker, save money on the expense, and have a greater range of support. We get everything we need from a modern switch, without breaking the bank.

Incentivized

• Provides high density, keeping a small footprint
• Reduces management complexities
• Deliver business resilience and high availability

Incentivized

• The ability to find firmware images or other resources could be a lot easier.
• Nothing else I can think of.

Incentivized

• 3 party Management tools.

Incentivized

We have had very little experience with support and nothing for years really. But when we have needed support we always got what we needed in a timely fashion. Basically good support that you would expect from an enterprise class business. Definitely less hoops to jump through getting help or parts than their desktop or printer divisions.

Incentivized

HPE Networking Switches are basically on the same level as the Cisco Catalyst Switches, although I find the HPE Switches to be much easier to setup and configure. Most Netgear and D-Link switches are unmanaged, so those won't work for our organization, plus the HPE Networking Switches are much faster for packet switching.

Incentivized

Aruba line cannot compete with the HPE FlexFabric, we got nowhere close to the performance when using the Aruba and the Aruba had a couple fan failures.

Incentivized

• Over all the ROI has been high, the hardware is built to last.
• The ROI on technical support has also been high, since so little maintenance is required.
• The ROI for business up time has also been high, our HPE switches keep our networks up.

Incentivized

• It's a robust and rugged eco system so ROI is much higher than any other product.
• To compete the competition, still much more to do.

Incentivized