“ProCurve comes with a lifetime warranty”

Paul Whidby, Product Manager, Asia Pacific & Japan, ProCurve Networking, HP, spoke to Dominic K on the trends and technologies in network switching.

Paul Whidby

You are part of the HP family. How is ProCurve doing in India and abroad?

ProCurve is now the runner-up in LAN switches, thanks to our experienced management team and the continuous investments in technology that we have made for the last 25 years. Deloitte has assigned us the number four rank in Japan and the Asia Pacific, which includes India. Our success in India has been possible through our channel partners.

Out latest switches are based on industry standards for superior inter-operability in multi-vendor network environments. They come standard with ProCurve’s industry-leading lifetime warranty which features next-day replacement, free telephone and e-mail support, and free software updates for as long as the customer owns the product.

How does this lifetime warranty work?

The ProCurve lifetime warranty works on the principle of ‘as long as you run the product.’ It is not time-limited. The organisation that bought the device holds the warranty. In case the device does not function properly then we will replace it. Further, in case the product is no longer manufactured then we will offer the closest equivalent that we have in our inventory.

You offer Web-managed switches. Please elaborate on this concept.

A Web-managed switch is a relatively new concept in the market. A managed switch is administered through a Command Line Interface, while a Web-managed switch, as the name suggests, is managed through a Web browser.

The Web-managed ProCurve switch in the 1800 series provides gigabit connectivity with fundamental management and configuration capabilities for administration out-of-the-box. The series offers a simple and intuitive Web interface, making it particularly useful for businesses that do not have a large IT staff or advanced network management requirements.

The 1800 series comes in two models. The 1800-8G is a small, fan-less desktop switch ideal for connecting small workgroups or for extending network connectivity into conference rooms or classrooms. It is best suited for environments that require greater port density, with two optional gigabit fibre uplinks for connecting to a core or distribution switch.

What about your series of fan-less switching products?

The 2510-24 series is a 24-port 10/100 managed Ethernet switch. It combines layer 2 switching with easy installation facilities for administrators. The 2510-24 can be used in a wiring closet or as a desktop switch due to its compact size. It has no fan, providing noiseless operation for installation in open spaces or public areas such as a conference room.

With two built-in dual personality ports, the product offers two 10/100/1000 ports for server connectivity or stacking, and two optional Gigabit Mini-GBIC slots for fibre connectivity for longer distance uplinks. We also offer 1800-8G, which is again a small, fan-less desktop switch for connecting small workgroups and extending connectivity into conference rooms or classrooms.