Grouptest: Gigabit Ethernet switches - Hewlett Packard ProCurve 5372xl

for high-end switches

Following in the footsteps of the ProCurve 4108gl, the latest 5300 series of switches from HP offers similarly high levels of expansion but adds basic Layer-3 routing and Layer-4 traffic prioritisation.

The backplane on this eight-slot chassis is powered by the same 200MHz Motorola PowerPC processor and 32Mb of SDRAM memory but capacity has been increased to 76.8Gbps and the expansion modules improved.

Key features are switching, routing and address table look-up functions integrated on to a single chip and each module powered by an ARM7 66MHz processor teamed up with 18Mb of RAMBUS memory.

With all this power under the bonnet you would expect the 5372xl to deliver in the performance stakes, but it failed to return a clean sheet and dropped seven per cent of 64-byte frames at full traffic load. Latency was a different picture altogether as the 5372xl returned some of the fastest switching time across the full range of loads and frame sizes.

The switch was supplied with a triplet of four-port 100/1000BaseT modules but the optional four-port mini-GBIC module allows you to add a mixture of 1000BaseSX, LX and LH fibre connections. The 5372xl supports HP's switch meshing technology so multiple redundant links can be formed with other HP switches and fault tolerance extends to power as there is room for a second, redundant supply at the rear.

Installation is easy, as the 5372xl employs the same web browser interface used across the entire range of ProCurve switches. A switch graphic provides of visual cues as to switch activity and an alert log updates you on problems and offers advice on possible causes and the actions to remedy them.

The 5372xl is a welcome addition to the ProCurve family and offers a powerful switching architecture and plenty of expansion potential. Performance under heavy loads is less than perfect but you will be hard pushed to find Layer 3 and Layer 4 capabilities elsewhere at such a low price.

Installation 5/5
Features 5/5
Build Quality 5/5
Performance 4/5
Value for money 4/5
Overall 5/5

Price £8,026
Web www.hp.com

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