Hp Procurve and 3COM systems

DevilWAH

I don't seem to be able to find out much about this on line at all.

from what I can see, 3COM (now part of HP) and Procurve seems to used a number of different OS on there switches/routers

there is

Comware,
3COM OS v3
3COM OS v5

but what hardware runs what I am at a loss.

and I don't seem to be able to find out much about the Procurve at all just some version numbers...

seems compared to CISCO that they really could do with tidying up there OS in to something that makes some sense.

I want a cheap pro-curve/3com device to get hands on with there CLI, with cisco you can pretty much buy any device you want, but no so with HP it seems.

meadIT

3Com used to be a completely separate compnay that HP purchased. They've mixed and matched the product lines. They End of Life'd competing products. They kept models from each line. The Procurves are going to be HP hardware, whereas the ones labeled 4210, 4800, 5500, etc are usually 3Coms. The syntax of the Procurves is more similar to Cisco syntax. The 3Com syntax is completely different. For example, to see the config in HP/Cisco it's 'show running-configuration'. In 3Com, its 'display current-configuration' (my full command may be off a little, I usually use the abbreviated forms.

it_consultant

DevilWAH wrote: »

I don't seem to be able to find out much about this on line at all.

from what I can see, 3COM (now part of HP) and Procurve seems to used a number of different OS on there switches/routers

there is

Comware,
3COM OS v3
3COM OS v5

but what hardware runs what I am at a loss.

and I don't seem to be able to find out much about the Procurve at all just some version numbers...

seems compared to CISCO that they really could do with tidying up there OS in to something that makes some sense.

I want a cheap pro-curve/3com device to get hands on with there CLI, with cisco you can pretty much buy any device you want, but no so with HP it seems.

This would be like...if you had a cisco switch when Cisco had just bought Catalyst. HP pro curve models (non 3COM) have well documented CLIs which mimic the Cisco CLI.

I would get a procurve 2510 which should be cheap for a lab device and still have all the managed switch features you would expect. HP's website has troves of CLI guides for the procurve (now HP Networking devices). They release a new guide with each software update, but little really changes.

Here is a handy tool:

HP Networking support and look-up tool

This will help you drill down to your particular switch(es) which will help you get the right documentation.

By looking at the switches the 3COM lines are whiter and squarer while the legacy HPs are blueish.

As far as the CLI goes - HP wins this hands down, here are a couple of examples:

Disable a Port: disable (in int context) or disable a-z (in a chassis) port number or simply port number
Enable a Port: enable
Create a LACP bond (etherchannel for cisco folks): trk port1,port2,port3 etc
Join a port to a vlan: vlan context, untag port number (or tag depending). Join multiple ports, untag 1-24 or untag 1,4,7 etc
enable layer 3: routing

It takes far fewer keystrokes to achieve the same thing in HP compared to a Cisco. Mainly because Cisco still supports a variety of proprietary protocols that don't apply to the HP. In VLAN commands, you never have to specify your tagging method because it is ALWAYS 802.1Q.

J_86

I got two 2524's off ebay for $30 plus shipping. We have newer Procurve's where I work but the commands are still exactly the same. They make a few changes here and there with newer devices, but if you are just trying to get the feel of HP's command line and older Procurve will do just fine.
The command line in HP, at least for switches, is very easy to use.

Procurve switches are pretty rock solid. We had a few issues with them when first implementing them, but a firmware update fixed it. They also have a lifetime warranty for as long as you own the device.