ProCurve At The Next Level

"We were just getting our teeth kicked in," she said, adding CAD was losing potential accounts—not only federal, but local government as well—to Cisco Systems Inc. because it offered IPv6 and it appeared ProCurve had it on the back burner. "For us, this has just been an uphill battle since we were in the federal space. If your customers demand it, you need to do it."

Jabbusch said CAD is a longtime ProCurve reseller and is excited that the software updates feature IPv6 support.

"We were really at a crossroads there, saying we'll either not play in the federal space for a while or look for alternatives," she said. "I'd imagine a lot of other partners who sell into that space were doing the same."

The updated software also gives ProCurve's switch line improved Power-Over-Ethernet redundancy and reduced power usage by using new allocation methods, which will also enhance IP telephony applications. Last, the updates enhance network security and uptime by protecting the topology of Spanning Tree networks from misconfiguration or malicious attacks.

Technical benefits include improved network security and diagnostics by allowing Remote Intelligent Mirroring to replicate traffic based on a MAC address in addition to VLAN, port number and Access Control List. The advanced diagnostics can help resolve network issues faster.

ProCurve also increased the size of its event log message and allows events to be selectively reported based on level of severity and functional grouping. The QinQ feature leverages Ethernet simplicity and speed for metro-area networks, meaning multiple buildings on one campus can connect to the same LAN using the same protocols, as opposed to relying on the WAN for connectivity, Ahmed said. Also, the software includes features to easily configure switches in remote locations and automate IP telephony deployments.

Those technical enhancements benefit customers by boosting their Internet communications and helping them meet the pending mandates for IPv6. They also reduce the overall cost of connecting different locations in a metro area, while preventing network attacks and securing high-volume information in security-sensitive environments such as finance, health care, education and government organizations.

Overall, Ahmed said, the updates will increase productivity and allow the network to scale up in a cost-effective way.

The software updates are free for existing ProCurve customers.