University of New Mexico

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would operate in our environment,” Gonzales explains.
“We tested and compared numerous products in our
production network to verify how they would work and
interoperate. Our engineering staff did a great job,
making our RFP very focused.”
Ultimately, UNM chose the HP Networking 5500 El
Switch Series, originally manufactured by 3Com, to
deploy in a phased rollout over a two-year period,
beginning with the summer semester break in 2010
and culminating with the summer break in 2012.
UNM has deployed nearly 1000 HP 5500-24G-PoE
El and 5500-48G-PoE El gigabit Ethernet switches,
beginning with facilities where switches were nearing
end-of-life.
Switches are delivered just-in-time (JIT) by an
Albuquerque-based reseller, and configured and
installed by the IT networking group. HP Networking
edge switches link to UNM’s main fiber optic backbone
that links the Central Campus with the North and
South campuses. Wide-area network (WAN) circuits
link the Albuquerque campuses to remote campus
locations, in branches across the state and to high-speed
research networks.
The UNM network upgrade helps support the overall IT
infrastructure that includes over 800 servers and 4,000
desktop computers located in computer labs and
lounges for student use. In addition, the edge network
and associated wireless access devices provide
connectivity for over 100,000 devices, including smart
phones, laptops, VoIP phones, digital displays, point-of-
sales registers, utility monitors, scanners, and many other
network nodes. Among the critical applications that rely
on the new HP-based edge network is UNM’s Banner
enterprise resource planning (ERP) and Luminis web
portal solutions from SunGard Higher Education.
Full-court network upgrade ordered for
The Pit
The Pit was among the new facilities where the HP edge
switches were initially installed. The facility renovations
included new concession stands, skyboxes, lounges,
large high-definition LED video displays, LED ribbon
boards, and more than 150 LCD televisions throughout
the venue. This IPTV network is built on the new HP edge
switches, providing the ability to add additional
televisions or other devices at network drops. In addition
to multi-media digital network, the press area was
provided with improved wired and wireless access.
“We found that the HP Networking stackable edge
switches met all of our needs and did so at a great price
and lower operating costs,” notes Gary Bauerschmidt,
UNM associate director, Information Technologies. “The
fact that the HP switches we selected include a lifetime
warranty was also attractive as a way to reduce our
recurring OPEX.”
More importantly, this edge upgrade and expansion
have given UNM the opportunity to implement
centralized network management through the use of
HP Intelligent Management Center (IMC) software.
“We really had very little control over our previous
edge environment,” Bauerschmidt notes. ”HP IMC is,
in our opinion, light years ahead of the other network
management software we looked at. IMC is helping
us modernize and standardize network control and
allows us to provide the level of service the university
community expects.”