HP refreshes enterprise switch line

5400R feature twice the switching capacity of predecessor thanks to new ASIC.

HP this week is refreshing its 5400 series switch line with new chassis that features double the switching capacity of its predecessor.

HP's next-generation 5400R zl2 switch series features a 2Tbps HP-developed ASIC and support for OpenFlow 1.3. HP is a strong proponent of SDNs architecture to the OpenFlow model of decoupled control and forwarding planes.

The previous generation 5400 also supports OpenFlow 1.3 through a software upgrade, but has a 1Tbps switching fabric and performance of 585.6 million packet/sec. The throughput of the new 5400R is 785.7 million packet/sec.

+MORE ON NETWORK WORLD:HP clarifies views on OpenDaylight, open source+

The new HP 5400R zl2 and the 5400 series predecessor form the foundation of midsize core and access layer switches for enterprises and small to midsize businesses. They are aimed at Cisco's Catalyst 4500 series with the Supervisor 8 engine, and HP which calls the new generation 5400R a Catalyst 4500 "killer" claims the new switches offer 43% better total cost of ownership over the Cisco switches.

HP also claims the 5400R, with the 2Tbps ProVision ASIC, is 3X faster than the Catalyst 4500 and provides 58% lower latency. HP is offering trade-in incentives to Catalyst 4500 customers through its existing Catalyst for Change program.

The HP switches come in six-slot and 12-slot chassis form factor, and can run the same line card modules as the previous generation 5400. It can support up to 96 ports of 10G in both SFP+ and 10GBASE-T, up to 288 1G ports and up to 288 ports of PoE+.

The previous generation 5400 also supported up to 288 wire-speed 10/100/1000 PoE-enabled ports or 96 10G ports.

The 5400R features license-free software with Layer 2 and 3 feature sets, including IPv6, IPv4 BGP, policy based routing, OSPF and QoS.

HP says it has no plans at this time to end-of-life the previous generation 5400.

The HP 5406R zl2 and HP 5412R zl2 switches are available worldwide for $2,419 and $4,599, respectively.

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