HPE Ethernet Switches Reviews, Competitors and Pricing

Networking Operations Supervisor with 501-1,000 employees

Jul 1, 2014

HP Networking has the bells and whistles you need to scale while avoiding the complexity that other vendors have.

At DreamWorks Animation, we produce billions of pixels and thousands of assets for each of the ten movies in our production pipeline. Our studio is on a 24/7 production cycle and if performance suffers, it could have serious consequences for our business.

Our previous network was pushed past its limits, making it unpredictable. We were using Spanning Tree for network redundancy and were having issues that we couldn’t fix. This forced us to reboot the core of our network at least once a quarter. Some of our more complex scenes take multiple days to render. If we had an outage 71 hours into a 72-hour render, we didn’t just lose the time the network wasn’t available, we had to start from scratch.

After reviewing our options, we found that an HP Networking solution fulfilled our stability requirements while simplifying and speeding up our network. We are using HP 12518 Network Switches and HP 5800 and 5820 Switch Series from core to edge. The equipment was installed over several months one building floor at a time, and our IT staff successfully deployed the solution to our data center over one weekend. We also utilize HP Intelligent Resilient Framework (IRF) technology which offers us the capability to create and manage a virtual chassis across multiple active switches. And we turned Spanning Tree off and now use Link Aggregation Control Protocol for redundancy.

What surprised us the most, after installing the equipment, was that we didn’t receive any calls from our creative teams. They didn’t seem to notice that anything had happened. Everything worked at every layer which is the best scenario we could have hoped for. Since we put in our HP network, we’ve shaved off a millisecond of latency between our Glendale and Redwood City offices. That’s a very meaningful boost in speed for us when we’re submitting half a million jobs every night for rendering.

It’s been a couple of years since the install and we still haven’t had a significant outage. The HP gear has been the most stable we’ve ever seen in terms of software and patches.

Disclosure: PeerSpot has made contact with the reviewer to validate that the person is a real user. The information in the posting is based upon a vendor-supplied case study, but the reviewer has confirmed the content's accuracy.

Mongezi Njaju

Support Engineer and Helpdesk Administrator at Praxis Computing

Jul 11, 2023

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Easy to configure solution with good stability

Pros and Cons

"The solution is scalable."

"They should release more updates for the solution."

What is most valuable?

The solution has the best performance and stability features. It is easy to configure as well.

What needs improvement?

They should release more updates for the solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using the solution for four to five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable. I rate its stability a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution has good scalability. We have three switches; we use two extensively, while a few users prefer the other.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used Netgear before. Using it, we encountered issues with faulty switches and licensing plans. Also, the warranty support from the company we purchased from needed to be more satisfactory.

How was the initial setup?

The solution's initial setup process is straightforward. It takes less than ten minutes to complete.

What about the implementation team?

We implement the solution in-house most of the time.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution's price is much more reasonable as long as it is not in Cisco's central interface.

What other advice do I have?

The solution is stable enough, user-friendly, and reliable. It is suitable for any size of company. I rate it a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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reviewer1410603

Senior Project Manager, Special Projects at a media company with 51-200 employees

Jan 13, 2021

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Stable, easy to use, has a good buffer and a suitable architecture

Pros and Cons

"We have scaled it without any issues."

"There is a limitation of capability."

What is our primary use case?

We are using the HPE Ethernet Switches in our office to stream and to join the internet.

What is most valuable?

The reason we are using this switch is for the buffer that we have.

It's easy to use.

What needs improvement?

There is a limitation of capability. To move to OpenFlow is very difficult.

Also, there is a limitation with the team protocols.

We had some issues with the dashboard. When we tried changing the PR or some parameters, it was not completely syncing.

We had two different values passing through the dashboard once you pass through the command line.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with HPE Ethernet Switches from 2012 to 2020.

We are using HP version 5830 and 5920.

The 5920 version is a 24 port gig, and the 5830 is a 48 port and a 24 port gig.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's very stable. Since 2012 it has always been in production and it is used on a daily basis, 24 hours per day.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's scalable. We have scaled it without any issues.

We have 10 people in our organization who are using this product.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have a person that we contact through HPE when we have issues. Once they found a solution, we have not any problems.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is complex.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is very good.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend these two versions of switches that we have been using.

When we compared with Cisco, we chose HPE because of the buffer and the architecture is more suitable than Cisco.

I would rate the HPE Ethernet Switches an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer1262448

Team Lead Networks at a financial services firm with 501-1,000 employees

Nov 15, 2020

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Cost-effective and straightforward to set up

Pros and Cons

"These are the basic access layer switches used for connectivity among users, and they are cost-effective."

"If there is any fluctuation in power then we will face an outage with our POE switches, so this is something that should be improved."

What is our primary use case?

These access layer switches are used by our branches for user LAN connectivity.

What is most valuable?

These are the basic access layer switches used for connectivity among users, and they are cost-effective.

What needs improvement?

We sometimes have issues with the stability of our POE switches. If there is any fluctuation in power then we will face an outage with our POE switches, so this is something that should be improved.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using these switches for between four and five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

These switches are partly stable but we do sometimes face issues with them. We do plan to continue using them in the future.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have these switches deployed in different branches and in many cities.

In our office, we have between 10 and 12 users.

How are customer service and technical support?

We are only using this product for basic purposes, so we do not require technical support from HPE.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We were using Cisco Ethernet switches before we switched to HPE. The HPE switches are almost the same and we switched because they are more cost-effective.

How was the initial setup?

The installation and initial setup are straightforward. The minimum time required is half an hour.

What about the implementation team?

Our in-house team is responsible for deployment. We have five or six team members who are engineers.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There are no licensing costs for this solution.

What other advice do I have?

This is a product that I can recommend.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

reviewer1383066

CIO at a financial services firm with 51-200 employees

Aug 30, 2020

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Extremely stable with good technical support and relatively fair pricing

Pros and Cons

"The solution is very, very stable."

"The installation can be quite complex. However, that may not be the fault of HP and is rather more related to the way our infrastructure is arranged."

What is our primary use case?

We're using all HPE network devices. All the core network infrastructure depends on this one solution.

What is most valuable?

The solution is the backbone of our HPE network devices.

The solution is very, very stable.

Technical support is quite good, although we haven't had any real problems with the solution and therefore do not really need to contact them.

What needs improvement?

We are satisfied with the set of features already on offer through HP. We don't want to improve anything and we don't need any other new features.

The pricing could be better.

The installation can be quite complex. However, that may not be the fault of HPE and is rather more related to the way our infrastructure is arranged.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for over a decade. It's been more than ten years at this point since I first started using it.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is extremely stable, and we haven't had any major issues to contend with. We like to be safe, so we do employ a failover solution. We buy it in pairs to ensure the stability of our infrastructure. It doesn't crash or freeze and there aren't bugs or glitches. It's very, very reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We've been satisfied with the scalability. We'll continue to use the solution as we haven't had any issues with it.

How are customer service and technical support?

We do have technical support access, however, we don't really ever use it as we don't need them. These are very stable products, so we don't have to change the hardware and we don't have any big issues with it. HPE is now providing a level three type of service, so we have a partner who provides us with any technical support we may need and they can solve any problems. That said, we haven't had a big one.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not straightforward at all. We had a project to install these devices, however, our infrastructure is quite difficult. We had to do a lot of customization.

We bought the latest solution in the past three years and we'll use it for three more. It took more than a month to install everything.

We used five team members to handle the deployment process.

What about the implementation team?

We're using integrators who are experts in HPE to assist us in installations due to the unique nature of our infrastructure.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is very reasonable. However, it could still be lower to make it more affordable to mid-range organizations.

What other advice do I have?

We're just a customer. We don't have a business relationship with HP.

I can recommend it to middle size companies due to the fact that it's stable and the prices are quite fair. It's also very popular as a product, so it's easy to find experts to manage it.

Overall, I'd rate the solution nine out of ten. It really isn't lacking, from our point of view, and has never given us any trouble.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user137460

Head of Technical Services with 51-200 employees

Jul 23, 2014

Takes away a lot of the manual labor by allowing us to identify and block threats and enable secure BYOD

Our K-12 school has an extensive campus which hosts 250 faculty and 1500 students, with over 240 students living in boarding houses. Our senior students and faculty members each have a school-provided laptop, while also allowing BYOD access to the network in boarding houses, and throughout the campus for select users.

Our IT team faced numerous security challenges associated with allowing unmanaged devices onto the network. We needed a solution that could accurately and reliably prevent and report threats to the network, no matter who the user or what the device is. Despite implementing measures such as installing local antivirus software on the school-owned machines and intrusion prevention on the firewall, our team was still bogged down with hours of manually identifying and eliminating network threats such as botnets, spyware, and malware—issues that were also impacting student and faculty productivity.

When we approached HP with our challenges, HP delivered the Network Protector SDN Application to identify and block network threats and enable secure BYOD. HP Network Protector Security, running on the HP Virtual Application Networks SDN Controller, enables automated network posture assessment and real-time security across OpenFlow-enabled network devices such as switches.

One of the concerns with implementing an SDN solution is knowing where to start. We were able to implement an SDN solution quickly because of our investment in OpenFlow-enabled hardware. We were able to take advantage of the Network Protector SDN solution by downloading a free software upgrade for our existing switches to enable OpenFlow, eliminating the need for a costly rip-and-replace of our network infrastructure.

Network Protector leverages the Virtual Application Networks SDN Controller and OpenFlow to program the network infrastructure with security intelligence from the TippingPoint RepDV Labs database. This effectively turns the entire network infrastructure into security-enforcement devices, providing unprecedented threat protection and visibility.

We installed the solution during a school break, and saw instant results when students and faculty returned. Immediately, thousands of threats were automatically identified and blocked by HP Network Protector, and our IT team was able to proactively address network vulnerabilities.

HP Network Protector takes away a lot of the manual labor that we used to do; we now know exactly where the infections are and how many there are—we can detect threats and respond in a proactive manner. That saves us hours of work every week.

We use Network Protector to help us with challenges around sites like Facebook, which are a distraction during class. With the DNS Blacklist feature, we restrict access to websites like that, which encourages the staff and students to engage more with one another during class. It’s hard for us to measure the return on investment that we’ve had with HP Network Protector, but there’s no doubt that it gives us the power to help staff and students be more productive in the classroom; and at the end of the day, that’s what we’re all about.

reviewer1087356

Gerente de Sistemas at a wholesaler/distributor with 201-500 employees

Dec 9, 2021

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Helpful technical support, programmable, and beneficial analytics

Pros and Cons

"The most valuable feature in HPE Ethernet Switches is programmability and analytics."

"The solution could improve by having more integration options."

What is our primary use case?

We use HPE Ethernet Switches as a small business tool.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature in HPE Ethernet Switches is programmability and analytics.

What needs improvement?

The solution could improve by having more integration options.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using HPE Ethernet Switches for approximately 10 years

How are customer service and support?

The technical support is good.

What other advice do I have?

I rate HPE Ethernet Switches a ten out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user359700

Owner at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Jan 7, 2016

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It's the proper GUI interface that makes them much easier to use. The fans tend to get more and more noisy as they go along.

Valuable Features:

They're reliable -- very reliable, in fact -- and a have a good management interface. They're simple to use and quite easy to understand, and I like that they're not CLI. It's the proper GUI interface that makes them much easier to use rather than just having the CLI which makes some of them very difficult. Cisco, for example, is only CLI, but HP gives you a GUI.

They're also very configurable and they're very good.

Improvements to My Organization:

The main benefit is reliability. The switches don't go down and they tend to last for a long time. They just don't go down.

They also only rarely need rebooting. I can probably count on one hand the number of times we've had to reboot an HP switch.

Room for Improvement:

They are very noisy, though, and the fans tend to get more and more noisy as they go along. The noise is actually a pain because sometimes where we've got multiple floors, we might put a switch on each floor rather than just put them in the comms room, and there the noise is an absolute pain. They are just very noisy.

Stability Issues:

That's why we like them, because they're stable. They're very reliable and they just last. The PO switches are also very good.

Scalability Issues:

You can scale by adding fiber connections to the switches which makes it simpler to join switches together, but we haven't found the need for it because the switch is so configurable.

Other Advice:

They're not Cisco, and big companies want to see a name like Cisco. True, HP isn't Cisco, but that's a bit unfair. Having that said, we've got one very big company now with about 200 users who are getting rid of their Cisco switches and putting in HP's.

They're doing so because of HP's reliability and because they got fed up with paying Cisco prices to get their switches and to configure them when any network administrator can configure an HP switch. With Cisco, you need specialist knowledge and you don't really have to have specialist knowledge just for a switch.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.