Traffic Convergence Made Easy

Scalability and traffic convergence are what Hewlett-Packard Co.'s new ProCurve 2910al switch is all about. We took a look at the 24-port model. The 2910 is targeted toward SMBs that often have data traffic demands as imperative as any enterprise-level organization.

HP offers 10-GB modules that fit directly into the switch. Easy to install, these modules allow VARs and integrators to add more Gigabit uplinks as a network expands. Devices such as servers, SANs and VoIP systems can be connected directly to the switch to give those appliances dedicated and isolated bandwidth streams.

Because the switch supports Power-over-Ethernet devices such as wireless access points, VoIP phones and cutting-edge IP security cameras also can be connected and provided with high levels of power. The PoE ports give 30 watts of power per port.

It was easy to configure the switch to the test network. Using a console cable, a direct connection between a desktop's serial port and the console port on the switch gave the ability to use a terminal emulator (in our case, we used Tera Term, as per the vendor's recommendation). Once the terminal session was established, we were able to configure IP addressing information and an administrator's password.

From that point on, it was easy access to the Web-based interface. The interface opens up to a graphical rendering of the front of the unit, displaying connected ports and utilization.

Port information gets very detailed. In the "Port Counter" view, you can drill down to each port and pull up information, such as amount of packets received and transmitted per port as well as any collisions or packet drops since the last boot. This information comes in very handy when trying to determine where bottlenecks or other traffic issues are occurring.

The feature set in this switch is amazing. Some of the configurable items include Fault Detection, Quality-of-Service application prioritizing, stacking and VLANs.

The 2910 can be displayed in "Device View." This view shows a detailed graphic representation of the switch (as if you were standing in front of it) and ports can be disabled or enabled with a mouse click.

A setup wizard guides users through configuring security on the switch. Restrictions can be set on SNMP; for example, you can restrict SNMPv1 and v2 messages to have read-only access.

Security is further enhanced by the inclusion of an authorized IP address manager list. Specific IP addresses also can be designated as managers or operators, lessening the threat of unwanted access to the switch.

A really nice feature is the extensive help and support access available through the interface. From there, a user is directed to the HP ProCurve site, where a knowledge base, white papers, software updates and other helpful information all can be had in a centralized and easy-to-find manner. For really fast assistance, there is a "Help" link that will display information on the area or feature you are trying to work with.

The 2910 features dual-personality ports that have either 10/100/1,000Base-T RJ-45 or mini-GBIC connectivity. The switch can be connected to a ProCurve Redundant/External Power Supply. There are environmental indicators on the front panel of the switch: LEDs will light in case of potentially damaging temperatures or a problem with the fan.

We ran a few bandwidth tests using Ixia's IxChariot for IP performance benchmark testing. Although the 10-GB modules were installed on the switch, the test lab's bandwidth limitation is 1 GB. High-performance throughput testing gave us an average of 702.617 Mbps of data pushed from one network client to another in 11 seconds. Another IxChariot test emulated the traffic between an end-user computer and an Oracle database application server. The test simulated 30 records, with each record having 100 transactions against it. All of the transactions were completed in 1 minute, 23 seconds.

This is a high-performance yet cost-effective switch. The model we reviewed lists for $3,549. The non-PoE model lists for $2,609 (both are U.S. list prices).