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“HP ProCurve’s Adaptive Network solution delivers a high performance, future-proof and scalable networking infrastructure based on modern, openstandards technology backed by ProCurve’s comprehensive Lifetime Warranty♦. We are now well positioned to support our growth plans.”
Neil Hare,
Principal System and Network Administrator,
Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe GmbH |
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Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe (FME) GmbH is a major European provider of advanced electronic devices for the automotive, networking, telecommunications, multi-media, industrial and home appliance markets. Based in Langen, approximately 10 kilometres south of Frankfurt, FME continues to drive technologies forward to satisfy the ever-increasing demand for new and innovative electronics.
Objective
FME originally controlled its business and IT operations from an office in Frankfurt
where its networking infrastructure had steadily evolved to handle increasing
sales, marketing and engineering design activities. Of those who use the network,
approximately 60 per cent of users are engineering designers who require
constant access to data and complex applications. To cater for growing business
demand, FME made a strategic decision to relocate its headquarters to Langen.
“Before moving, we were questioning whether our network could cope with current
and future business growth,” explains Neil Hare, principal system and network
administrator, Fujitsu Microelectronics Europe GmbH.
“But after examining the new building layout, it became apparent we needed a
modern network based on a 10 Gb core infrastructure that offered increased
performance, reliability, scalability and manageability. We also needed to address
wireless technology, our future IP telephony requirements and to achieve a lower
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).”
Approach
Although FME had previously employed Cisco switching technology, it decided
to benchmark HP ProCurve partly because FME was already using HP server
technology.
“We wanted to link all our engineering departments with good bandwidth but
unfortunately, Cisco could not offer a 10 Gb backbone to our workroom switches
without resorting to switches costing many thousands of dollars. Cisco’s solution
also lacked vital support elements,” comments Hare.
“However, HP ProCurve could offer us a 10 Gb infrastructure, intelligent edge
switches with Power over Ethernet (PoE) ports at an attractive price/performance
ratio, backed by ProCurve’s comprehensive Lifetime Warrantyu. It no longer became
a question of why we should choose HP ProCurve but why we should not.”
At the centre of the HP ProCurve Adaptive Network solution are two nextgeneration
ProCurve 8212zl series core switches in a redundant configuration
located in the main and backup server rooms. Based on the industry-proven
HP ProCurve ProVision ASIC™, they suit FME’s requirements well due to their
reduced complexity, lower TCO and core-to-edge wireless networking capability. The
ProCurve Switch 8212zl is the industry’s first core switch with a lifetime warranty.
Twelve highly reliable, award-winning ProCurve 5400zl series switches provide
intelligence to the edge of the network, in addition to wireless capability and
PoE which powers 300 Siemens IP phones connected to FME’s network. To aid
redundancy, trunking links each edge switch to both servers, and 10 Gb Ethernet
ports provide connectivity and supplementary redundancy. Each floor of the
five-storey main building is equipped with a ProCurve Radio Port 230 unit to
satisfy FME’s mobility requirements.
To aid network management, the solution incorporates ProCurve Manager Plus
(PCM+), a software package that allows administrators to configure, update,
monitor and troubleshoot the switches centrally and remotely. Moreover, flexible
software licensing and free software updates will provide FME with scalability as
its network grows.
IT Improvements
Today, FME has a reliable, high-performance and manageable network. The 10 Gb
architecture provides scalability and the ProCurve 5400zl series edge switches
with PoE have enabled the smooth deployment of IP telephony, significantly
improving call clarity and reducing call costs.
“Switch manageability and installation is so easy. I did not even open the
handbook,” adds Hare. “We also have the flexibility to introduce additional
security packages in the future such as ProCurve Identity Manager (IDM).”
FME is already assessing a ProCurve Wireless Edge Services Module (WESM)
which once installed will deliver secure, advanced wireless services, simplified
management and unified wired and wireless operations across the network.
Business Benefits
The ProCurve Adaptive Network solution deployed at FME enables its engineers
to handle the large data volumes generated by complex applications more
productively as they design new electronic devices to satisfy modern market
demands. The solution’s scalability caters for current and future business growth,
and the company is already benefitting from lower TCO.
“In the past, we spent a significant part of our support budget on contracts,
software updates and, when a switch failed, replacement fees. With HP ProCurve,
all these come at no extra cost. I estimate support costs have fallen by 15 per
cent,” concludes Hare.
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Key technologies |
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Adaptive Network |
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Communications and Collaboration |
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Mobility |
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Network Systems and Management |
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ProCurve 8212zl switch |
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ProCurve 5412zl switch |
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ProCurve Radio Port 230 |
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ProCurve Manager Plus (PCM+) |
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