The ProCurve 2610 Series include five 10/100Mbps Ethernet switches with enhanced security, traffic monitoring and converged application support. Two of the switches support Power over Ethernet (PoE) on all ports while a third offers PoE on half of its ports.

PoE not only powers devices attached to the switch port but the market for Ethernet switches as well. PoE drove switch sales to a record third quarter in 2007, according to Dell'Oro Group.

For security, the switches support 256 access control lists (ACLs) that let network administrators control both inbound and outbound traffic. The switches also include sFlow traffic sampling technology to improve traffic management and network monitoring, and to detect and prevent threats when used with the ProCurve Network Immunity Manager management system.

In addition to IEEE 802.3af standard PoE, converged application support is delivered with data driven Internet Group Multicast Protocol for multicast traffic control; quality of service; and support for prestandard legacy PoE equipment to help enable wired and wireless deployments of unified communications, VoIP and video streaming.

The switches all come in a smaller form factor than the previous generation 2600 line for deployment in wiring closets where space is tight, HP says. One switch is fanless, meaning it can be used in conference rooms, on desktops or in other "open office deployment" scenarios, the company says.

The non-PoE switches are the fanless ProCurve Switch 2610-24 and the 2610-48. They are managed 28/52 port switches with 24/48 auto-sensing 10/100 ports, and two 10/100/1000BASE-T and two miniGBIC ports. A redundant power supply is also available as an accessory.

The PoE switches include the ProCurve Switch 2610-24-PWR and 2610-48-PWR. These are managed 28/52-port switches with 24/48 auto-sensing 10/100 PoE ports, two 10/100/1000BASE-T ports and two miniGBIC ports. PoE is 15.4 watts per port. A redundant and external power supply is also available as an accessory.

The hybrid PoE/non-PoE switch is the ProCurve Switch 2610-24/12PWR. This is a managed 28-port switch with 24 auto-sensing 10/100 ports -- 12 of which are capable of PoE -- two 10/100/1000BASE-T and two miniGBIC ports. A redundant and external power supply is also available as an accessory.

The ProCurve Switch 2610-24 costs US$629. The ProCurve Switch 2610-48 costs US$1,079.

The ProCurve Switch 2610-24-PWR costs US$1,579. The ProCurve Switch 2610-48-PWR costs US$2,699.

The ProCurve Switch 2610-24/12PWR costs US$969.

All switches come with a lifetime warranty. They will go up against 10/100 edge switches from Cisco and Nortel, among others.