HP switches and routers vs. Cisco switches and routers

---

My employer uses HP switches and routers. I didn't realize companies other than Cisco made switches and routers. What is the advantage of a HP switch or router over a Cisco device? Does HP have a similar certification?

I also learned by buying a HP switch that a Cisco console cable will not work on an HP switch. An HP switch of course uses a totally different operating system.

I have written up a Word document on my HP switch which I will share with you by email if you email me at dadamsjr@live.com

David,

HP has what different websites report has being an equivalent to the CCNA called: HP ATA

Not only do different websites report it but it appears as if HP recognizes the CCNA as a substitute for HP ATA in the
certification progress toward the HP ATA - Cloud Certification.

If I remember correctly, the HP requires a standard RS-232 cable and not the cisco console cable which is a rollover cable. You may also need to apply a gender adapter too (though this may be from my old NetScreen (Juniper) 5XP firewall).

Cordially,
Ronnie Wong
Host, ITProTV

David,

Thanks for writing in. I've worked with HP switches in a number of environments and I can say they are great switches. I have not worked with their routers.

The primary difference between the two is price. The HP switches are typically half the price of their Cisco equivalents. For access switches, where you need high port density, that equals a huge cost savings. However, HP switches are less expensive because they don't have the robust feature set a Cisco switch has. So if you need advanced routing, like policy-based routing, you would want to go Cisco.

A common deployment that I have designed for many companies is to use Cisco switches in the distribution/core layers and HP switches in the access layer.

There's plenty of other great switch and router vendors out there. Extreme networks makes some very flexible layer 3 switches. Juniper makes amazing ISP grade routers and has a full line of enterprise grade switches. 3com, Adtran, and Brocade are also big players in the enterprise switch/router market.

Hope that helps,

Don Pezet
Host, ITProTV

I found the HP cable at Diablo Cable. The switch I bought off of Ebay and still had the user name and password . . . But HP's site had the PDF's on how to clear that and then how to set up web access. Had to install then configure Java first. But it was fun and challenging - now back to the Cisco switches.