Advanced capabilities of the product family
The HP ProCurve Switch 8200zl, 5400zl, 3500, and 6200yl series include a number of advanced capabilities 
that offer a highly reliable, robust chassis data environment that leads to increased network uptime, keeping 
overall network costs down.
Versatile Intelligent Port (VIP)
All Gigabit copper ports are PoE enabled and tie into the overall capabilities of the switch, such as the Policy 
Enforcement Engine. Having the VIP, any port can be connected to any place in the network. If a PC needs 
Gigabit connectivity, it is available. If an access point (AP) needs PoE, it is there. And if for some reason these 
ports need to be swapped on the switch, that can be done by just moving the cables at the switch or patch 
panel.
The Versatile Intelligent Port provides a high degree of flexibility, makes troubleshooting easier, and provides a 
high degree of future-proofing.
ProVision hardware resiliency
Many functions required in a switch have been implemented in the single ASIC on the module. What requires 
a number of chips in other vendor products is achieved in a single ProVision ASIC, which keeps the part count 
low and increases overall reliability of the module by a significant degree.
Another engineering aspect in the ASIC is hardware error detection with correction in software for the 
memory used by the switch. This capability includes the memory used for forwarding the network traffic such 
as the routing and forwarding tables, the Policy Enforcement Engine information, multicast tables, and other 
data structures. Traffic sent across the backplane uses a protocol to check that there is space available at the 
destination module so that fabric data is not lost.
HP ProCurve Switch 8200zl series
The high-availability design of the HP ProCurve Switch 8200zl series, with its dual-management and fabric 
modules and HP ProCurve’s auto-synchronizing capability, positions this switch perfectly as a distribution/
aggregation switch, for medium-scale core applications, or for mission-critical access layer deployments. It 
shares the same software and hardware capabilities with the HP ProCurve Switch 5400zl, 3500, and 6200yl 
series. 
The Switch 8200zl series enables the use of core features, such as dynamic routing protocols OSPF-ECMP and 
VRRP, as well as PIM-DM and PIM-SM for multicast routing support. The 8200zl series follows in the evolution of 
HP ProCurve managed chassis switches, featuring PoE on every copper port, chassis flexibility, and a scalable 
architecture, with a high-availability design for critical network operations. 
The 8200zl series requires a single management module that initializes, controls, and monitors the various 
interface and fabric modules. The Switch 8212zl base system has 12 slots available for population with 
interface and services modules (the management and fabric modules have their own dedicated slots and are 
not counted as part of the 12 slots), and it supports up to four internal power supplies. The Switch 8206zl base 
system has 6 slots available for population with interface and services modules (the management and fabric 
modules have their own dedicated slots and are not counted as part of the 6 slots), and it supports up to two 
internal power supplies. 
The 8200zl series shares interface, services modules, and power supplies used with the HP ProCurve 5400zl 
series. The power supplies can be used for purposes of power redundancy or for additional PoE requirements. 
Power redundancy is useful in networks that provide two separate AC power feeds. A minimum of two power 
supplies are required for proper operation of all 12 slots in a Switch 8212zl. Up to four power supplies can 
be installed in an 8212zl, providing N+N power redundancy. In the event of a failure that would result in a 
configuration with one operable power supply, the 8212zl will continue to operate, but only the top six slots 
(labeled A through F) will remain powered on, so critical network connections should be prioritized toward the 
top of the switch. A minimum of one power supply is required for proper operation of all 6 slots in a Switch 
8206zl. Up to two power supplies can be installed in the 8206zl, providing N+N power redundancy.
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