HPE 5900AFProduct 48x10G 4x40G network switch

High-density 10 GbE top-of-rack switch

The HPE 5900AF switch delivers 48 ports of 10 Gigabit Ethernet and four 40 Gigabit Ethernet expansion slots in a single Layer 3 device. It is built for the server access layer of large enterprise data centres and the core layer of medium-sized enterprise data centres. The platform targets environments where virtualised applications and heavy server-to-server traffic demand ultra-low latency and converged Ethernet and storage connectivity.

Replaces older 1 GbE or early 10 GbE access switches

Moving to this 5900 series model makes sense when current top-of-rack gear cannot sustain the throughput or latency required by modern virtualised workloads. The jump is worth it when East-West traffic patterns exceed the capacity of existing uplinks and when converged fabric for Ethernet and storage becomes a requirement.

Suits data-centre teams deploying FlexFabric

Network engineers managing large-scale server access layers or medium-enterprise cores will match the port density and Layer 3 feature set to their design. Buyers who need fewer than 48 high-speed ports or who operate outside a top-of-rack deployment model should evaluate smaller or differently positioned switching platforms.