Its features are, in principle, quite standard and basic, so I cannot give you any extra information about these features. They integrate nicely with IMC, the management platform.
ICT Infrastructure Manager at a non-profit with 1,001-5,000 employees
It integrates with the IMC management platform. The OS features are not stable.
What is most valuable?
How has it helped my organization?
The benefit is to connect everybody in the office. You cannot imagine working nowadays without being connected to the network for computing, coding, and streaming. This is mandatory.
What needs improvement?
The main one would be to have more basic parameters available on the web interface. There are too many basic parameters that you have to change in the command line. This means you need to train your people regarding the command line, even when it means having to change quite basic parameters. For example, changing the parameter to give priority to voice over data traffic.
The stability is an issue. We have features that lose their configurations, like a port that was configured for VLAN 5 suddenly becomes configured for VLAN 2. It's really very annoying. People lose the connectivity, and nobody knows why, including HPE support specialists.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The OS features lose their configurations from time to time and we have periodic network freezes. Nobody understands why this happens. That's the problem, actually. There are nice features, but they are not very stable.
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HPE Ethernet Switches
May 2025

Learn what your peers think about HPE Ethernet Switches. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Scalability is nice. You can stack several of them, so no problem with scalability.
How are customer service and support?
We use technical support a lot. When we bought these features in early 2015, they were quite new in the HPE offerings, and many re-sellers, consultants, and even HPE support staff didn't know very much about how they work and how to fine-tune and configure them.
We had major HPE-certified consultants on site. We even had HPE specialists connecting, and they couldn't manage to really improve the solution very quickly. Usually we are quite satisfied with HPE support. This is why we continue to buy servers from them and we just bought storage. However, the support was not as good for these specific features that were purchased by HPE, an external company.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were using Nortel until two years ago. We moved to a new building, so we had to switch as there were no active network components available. We had been using Cisco before and we still use Cisco for the wireless infrastructure.
What other advice do I have?
When selecting a vendor of ethernet switches, there are not so many alternatives on the market. We wanted to work with companies we are used to. We had to choose between Cisco and HPE. Because we've always been very happy with HPE and there was a brand new series of advanced features that integrated nicely with IMC, we selected the HPE product.
This solution is a brand new switch series with new firmware. I hope it will be more stable over time. It's a very good solution, but I would advise others to check that aspect carefully.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Head Of. Comm at a consultancy with 5,001-10,000 employees
Reliable and consistent service. Standard network switch functionality. Installation could be easier.
What is most valuable?
The valuable features are:
- Reliability and consistency of service
- Standard core functions you would expect from a network switch
- Demonstration of price against performance.
What needs improvement?
I don't know all the products and all the background, but the issue is the single pane of management. Things like a single window to manage all the devices and better integration make a product or a company competitive. I guess having a competitive edge on that would be good. There is a little bit of routing from the HPE ProCurve switches. All the integration is there and moving it forward to a kind of stable, developed product is still progressing. There are lots of bits to the HPE network picture, so I think that needs to come together more clearly.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have only been there six months of the three years that we’ve had the solution. The feedback I received is that it has become more stable and it has developed as time has gone on.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It scales for the method we have implemented at the moment. We have a large campus, over 500 buildings, so it supports that. We are in the middle of a review, so we are deciding on how we take the network forward as a strategy and then we will go to procurement. It may or may not be HPE in the future.
How is customer service and technical support?
My previous experience has always been good. I have had no direct experience recently, but my team gets the support they need. They are happy with that.
How was the initial setup?
I wasn’t involved in the installation. It was already in place. We are just using it as a rolling refresh for existing hardware. In terms of upgrades, I would say it is relativity straightforward. Probably not as slick as some solutions but it's not as convoluted as others. There is room for improvement.
What other advice do I have?
When choosing a vendor, reliability, performance, obsessively competitive price comes into it, but it is also about supply chains and availability of stock. I had buyers in the past where you can't get equipment when you need it. It is important to have a good support chain. The vendors that we use need to be knowledgeable in the products and work closely with HPE, so that is probably a very important part of that puzzle. HPE has always been strong, I would say, and have had a good reseller and third party support market. I think it is a strong solution.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
HPE Ethernet Switches
May 2025

Learn what your peers think about HPE Ethernet Switches. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
855,156 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Consultant at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
The ProVisions are actually very simple to use and are a very good, solid switch. It doesn't have all the advanced features, but they're coming.
Valuable Features:
The ProVisions are actually very simple to use and are a very good, solid switch. It doesn't have all the advanced features, but they're coming. Now, they also have a DHT server running on them.
Room for Improvement:
It needs more routing and more VPN ports. These are included with the Comware-based switches, but not yet in the ProVisions.
Use of Solution:
We're using ProVision in the K15 v16, v17, and v18 software range.
Deployment Issues:
We've deployed them with no issues.
Stability Issues:
They have been very stable for us.
Scalability Issues:
We can scale them just fine.
Other Advice:
Just do it.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Administrator at AUTO GAMES PLUS, a.s.
The most valuable features are full command line support, VLANs, protocols for trunking, and the lifetime warranty.
Valuable Features
The most valuable features are full command line support, VLANs, protocols for trunking, and the lifetime warranty. These switches are really good hardware with good stability.
Improvements to My Organization
It's given us a stable solution for our network.
Room for Improvement
Stacking of switches
Deployment Issues
We've deployed is without problems.
Stability Issues
It's been stable.
Scalability Issues
We have about a hundred users.
Customer Service and Technical Support
I've used technical support only once. We needed support for a transceiver that was not supported, so technical support didn't help me. We chose another transceiver and everything worked as we expected.
Initial Setup
Console port speed autodetect feature not work as we expected and create some problems with connecting to switch. I think that better option is set up one port speed and write it to manuals.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Director Of Communications at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Enrollment onto our network works and there's no stability issues as we grow our workforce.
Valuable Features
The two biggest benefits of these switches is the performance for the price and the quality of service we get from them. They're competitively prices, especially given their performance, and the service is flawless.
Improvements to My Organization
We're able to extend our capabilities because of the reliability of these switches. We don't need to worry about this part of our network because we know that we can depend on them working consistently.
Use of Solution
We've been using it for four to five years.
Stability Issues
It's quite stable after several years of use.
Scalability Issues
The scalability is very nice, especially with new products coming out. Enrollment onto our network works and there's no stability issues as we grow our workforce.
Customer Service and Technical Support
I'm the assigned tech guy within our company on these switches. We had a few hiccups at first that HP technical support helped us with, but we've been pleased since.
Initial Setup
The initial setup was fairly straightforward since I was already familiar with the CLI.
Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing
It depends on which model, but it's not really more expensive than other solutions.
Other Solutions Considered
We didn't really evaluate other options.
Other Advice
Test the specific features you’re looking for with performance, and verify that you're get the best pricing.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Architect, freelance VMware virtualization consultant at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees
The time it takes to implement them helps us work much more efficiently and customers are happy because because of the lower turnaround time to get their networks up and running.
Valuable Features
These switches are great because they're very easy to set up and to implement as part of network infrastructures. Most importantly, it covers all the areas that we need.
Improvements to My Organization
We install these switches for most of our customers at their premises. The time it takes to implement them is so much less than other vendors' switches. This helps us work much more efficiently and customers are happy because because of the lower turnaround time to get their networks up and running.
Room for Improvement
The interoperability with LDAP could use some improvement.
Deployment Issues
These switches deploy usually without any issue.
Stability Issues
They are incredibly stable. We're able to use them for very challenging projects.
Scalability Issues
They scale very easily.
Customer Service and Technical Support
Technical support provides us with quick answers whenever we use them.
Initial Setup
The initial setup of these is very straightforward.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Infrastructure/Applications at a educational organization with 51-200 employees
The most valuable feature for us is that it naturally works well with other HP products.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature for us is that it naturally works well with other HP products. Our headquarters uses HP products, and it only makes sense that we also do so in our office. Not only do we use HP switches, but we also use their APs and our entire wireless solution relies on HP products so that our infrastructure works together and has consistency.
What needs improvement?
I think that Cisco's switches are more stable, so HP's switches could really be improved more with stability. HP switches are also more expensive than 3COM switches, as we've spent close to two $2 million. It would be great if it were less expensive.
For how long have I used the solution?
We purchased them in 2008, but haven't upgraded since.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
It deploys with no issues.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We don't really have any issues with stability. If and when something goes wrong, we just restart them. Most of the problems we have are on the server side, which seems to be more sensitive for us.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have four sites with more than 1,400 employees and more than 300 or 400 switches -- and there have been no scalability issues.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used 3COM and then moved to Cisco, which was more stable. And then we moved to HP.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We looked at Cisco again, but they're expensive yet have a good reputation.
What other advice do I have?
HP switches are probably the best quality product for the price. That's the most important thing someone should look for when deciding which solution to use.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Founder & CTO at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
They support both fiber-optic and copper modules. They should enable certain features on certain frequencies.
Valuable Features:
5400r are the core switches. These are recently launched and they are the newer version of the old 5400 series of switches, and we use them extensively in most of our projects as core switches. They're very, very robust, and we know if there's any major problems on these kind of switches here.
Improvements to My Organization:
They support different types of modules: fibre-optic and copper modules. They offer very good value for the price, and they come with some excellent XP support platforms on the background: the warranties, the care-packs, and all of that. People like these controllers compared to some of the competing products.
With the 5400R, it's a very competitive price, and the product is very stable. We've seen a lot of people buying these products. Frankly, we've not seen any migrations, but people are buying it because of the good price and stability. It has got the right features for the kind of markets we are targeting.
Room for Improvement:
They should enable certain features on certain frequencies.
Deployment Issues:
We had no issues with deployment.
Stability Issues:
There are more than 50 of such switches we have deployed, and we are hardly facing any problems with these switches. Again, they're very stable.
Scalability Issues:
If a client wants to start with a lower number of modules, they can do that. And if they want to add more modules, they can do that as well and still use the same modules.
Initial Setup:
The 5400 is fairly simple, not very complex. But it needs proper training and certification otherwise. We've seen people deploying this product, some of the companies in Dubai, and they didn't do it the proper way.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

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