HP Launches High-performance FlexNetwork Solutions for Video and Mobile Computing

HP today introduced solutions based on the new HP FlexNetwork architecture, including the HP A-series 10500 campus core switch, which delivers industry-leading throughput, latency and performance for the delivery of media-rich applications.⁽¹⁾A new HP FlexManagement solution converges physical and virtual network management in a single pane of glass, and a new virtual- and cloud-optimized network intrusion prevention system (IPS) increases security in data centers.

These solutions are based on the HP FlexNetwork architecture, the industry’s only unified architecture for the data center, campus and branch enabling enterprises to fully harness the power of media-rich content, virtualization, mobility and cloud computing.⁽¹⁾

A core component of the HP Converged Infrastructure, the HP FlexNetwork architecture unifies network silos by ensuring industry-standard protocols are implemented consistently across all networked devices throughout an enterprise. As a result, clients are able to simplify and speed service delivery across the data center, campus and branch, driving increased agility and innovation.

“Customers are looking for vendors driving a systemic change in networking to eliminate complexity, improve agility and increase performance,” said Subhodeep Bhattacharya, Director- India, HP Networking. “HP’s new modular campus switches outperform Cisco’s in-class products head-to-head in each category, while HP’s single-pane-of-glass management tool alone does what it takes Cisco 30 different tools to do.”

New HP A10500 outperforms Cisco’s flagship Catalyst switch

The campus switch segment, the largest segment of the worldwide Ethernet switch market, is forecast to reach $13.7 billion in 2011, growing from $12 billion in 2010.⁽²⁾ Clients have long required advancement in campus architectures with fewer network tiers, lower latency and significantly higher throughput to deliver on the expanding amount of multimedia content.

The HP A10500 line of campus core switches meets these needs by delivering multimedia services, such as high-definition video. It delivers 3 microsecond latency, which is 75 percent lower than Cisco’s Catalyst 6509, and it delivers 128 wire-speed 10GbE ports, which is 270 percent higher performance than the 6509.⁽³⁾

For large campuses, a super core with 208 wire-speed 10GbE ports can be delivered with two HP A10500 switches using the HP Intelligent Resilient Framework, an HP innovation that allows multiple switches to be virtualized and operate as a single switch. The A10500 will support 100GbE with the addition of new line cards.

At the access layer of the FlexCampus, the new line cards for the HP E5400 and E8200 switches deliver up to 90 percent lower latency and 600 percent higher throughput than the Cisco Catalyst 4506.⁽⁴⁾ Also, the high-speed HP E-MSM460 and E-MSM466 wireless access points deliver wire-like performance of 15 high-definition video series streams per access point, which is 50 percent more than Cisco 1140 and 3500 series access points. These new HP access points also provide higher performance over greater distances.⁽¹⁾

Unifying physical and virtual network management

Faced with IT sprawl, the complexity of multitier deployments and increasing demand for virtualization, clients can turn to the HP FlexNetwork architecture to simplify their networks and prepare their organizations for demanding, service-oriented computing models such as cloud, mobile computing and virtualization.

While Cisco can require 30 separate management tools for data center,⁽⁵⁾ campus and branch networks, HP delivers single-pane-of-glass management with the HP Intelligent Management Center (IMC) across all the modular building blocks of the HP FlexNetwork architecture.

The new HP IMC version 5 manages the entire HP Networking portfolio as well as more than 2,600 network devices from over 35 vendors, more than 1,000 of those devices are from Cisco. HP IMC helps clients mitigate the risk of migration from proprietary legacy networks to the open, standards-based HP FlexNetwork architecture.

HP IMC version 5 provides a unified view into the virtual and physical data center network to accelerate service delivery, simplify operations and boost network availability. It automatically discovers virtual machines, virtual switches and their relationship to the physical network, overcoming the challenges of administrating increasingly virtualized service-oriented data centers.

An upcoming version of HP IMC is planned to add automatic synchronization of network connectivity information with HP Virtual Connect technology for server blades and further automate the process of creating a server profile, moving a step closer to one-button cloud provisioning.

For customers who want to extend single-pane-of-glass management beyond the network to the entire enterprise infrastructure in a heterogeneous environment, HP Network Management Center 9.1, part of the HP Business Service Management software portfolio, delivers the highest levels of automation, compliance and scalability to reduce operational expenses by more than 90 percent.⁽⁶⁾

Advancing security for virtual and cloud environments

Data center application workloads are increasingly virtualized, and many legacy security solutions only protect physical environments supporting single workloads. The new HP TippingPoint S6100N IPS appliance provides organizations a single, scalable network security framework that automatically and consistently builds in protection as virtual machines are created or moved across an enterprise.

The appliance scales the HP Secure Virtual Framework to provide a single solution for physical, virtual and cloud environments. Providing up to 60 percent higher performance than the previous generation,⁽⁷⁾ the HP TippingPoint S6100N IPS can inspect up to 16 Gbps of high-bandwidth application traffic in real time to improve availability of mission-critical services.

HP at Interop Las Vegas 2011

Dave Donatelli, executive vice president and general manager, Enterprise Servers, Storage and Networking, HP, and Haas will lead a live press conference at 11 a.m. PT today. Watch the conference and access a replay of it at www.hp.com/go/change2flex.

HP will be demonstrating its networking products and services at Interop Las Vegas 2011, May 10-12 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in booth 1327. HP Networking is powering the InteropNet, a multivendor, high-speed network that serves the exhibitors, conference rooms and attendees at the event.

Donatelli will deliver the show’s opening keynote address at 8 a.m. PT on Tuesday, May 10, at Mandalay Bay H. Watch the live webcast at http://tv.interop.com/.

More information about HP Networking solutions is available at www.hp.com/networking.

HP Converged Infrastructure is key to an Instant-On Enterprise. In a world of continuous connectivity, the Instant-On Enterprise embeds technology in everything it does to serve customers, employees, partners and citizens with whatever they need, instantly.

HP’s premier client event, HP DISCOVER, takes place June 6 - 10 in Las Vegas and Nov. 29 - Dec. 1 in Vienna, Austria. The event showcases how organizations can get started on their Instant-On Enterprise journeys.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

(1) Based on HP internal testing and publicly available information.

(2) “Worldwide Enterprise Network Forecast, 2011-2015,” IDC, #227416, March 2011.

(3) Based on HP internal testing and publicly available information for the Cisco Catalyst 6509 with the Supervisor 720.

(4) “HP E5400 zl and E8200 zl Switch Series: Competitive Performance, Power Consumption and TCO Evaluation Versus Cisco Catalyst 3750-X and 4500 Series,” Tolly Group, November 2010.

(5) Cisco’s website.

(6) Based on actual results of a large HP enterprise customer.

(7) Internal tests comparing HP S6100N IPS to HP S5100N IPS.

(8) Estimated U.S. list prices. Actual prices may vary.