Expert guidance for the right fit
We don’t just sell IT hardware. Every Fortinet solution we recommend is assessed against your specific security concerns, performance requirements, and both current and future infrastructure plans. This consultative approach ensures that our guidance is aligned with your bespoke needs, so that you can invest in a new firewall with complete confidence.
Exclusive access and strategic advantages
Through our partnership with Fortinet, your business will gain access to partner-only promotions, bundled solutions, and advanced training resources. Combined with our technical expertise and ongoing support, this ensures your Fortinet firewall is not only secure and cost-optimised, but also supported by a team that is skilled and future-ready.
Expert Firewall & Security Services
When you buy Fortinet from Steel City Consulting, you’ll receive expert deployment and maximum benefits. We also provide support in the following specialist areas:
| Our services | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Installation & Configuration |
+ Expert firewall pre-configuration and setup, tailored to your exact settings. + Custom rule creation & least-privilege access + Ongoing log analysis and incident alerts + Intrusion prevention system (IPS) integration |
| Penetration Testing |
+ Internal and external testing + Real-world threat simulations + Risk scoring and remediation planning + Fully documented audit reports |
| Managed Detection & Response (MDR) |
+ Full-spectrum endpoint, cloud, and network protection + 24/7 monitoring and incident response + Threat intelligence integration + Rapid containment and recovery |
| Ongoing Support | UK-based help when you need it most, from our in-house security experts and extensive network of Fortinet-certified technicians. |
The Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series (C9200) are enterprise-grade Layer 2/Layer 3 access switches designed for both campus and branch deployments.
The series features three core models:
| Scenario | C9200L | C9200 | C9200CX |
|---|---|---|---|
| I need flexibility to upgrade uplinks (10G/25G) | |||
| I need a high stacking capacity | |||
| I need a switch that fits in tight or quiet spaces (fanless) | |||
| I need redundant power supply and fans | |||
| I need to power access points, phones, or cameras with PoE+ | |||
| I need a switch for branch, retail, or edge sites |
We stock a wide range of official Cisco Switch Modules, engineered to enhance flexibility, port capacity, and uplink performance.
As an official Cisco partner, we can unlock limited-time promotions and significant discounts for your business. Explore our latest partner-exclusive offers today.
As an official Cisco Partner, Steel City Consulting provides the full Cisco Catalyst 9200 range via our online store, and following our guided consultations to ensure every purchase is the right fit for your infrastructure. Our technical specialists will assess your current and future requirements to ensure the correct Cisco model and licensing are chosen.
This free advisory process prevents both over-provisioning and under-specification – delivering the optimal configuration for your business infrastructure.
All Catalyst 9200 models run Cisco IOS-XE and use Cisco DNA subscription licensing (DNA Essentials or DNA Advantage). Each switch also includes a perpetual Network Essentials or Network Advantage license for base Layer 2/3 functions. Cisco DNA subscriptions unlock automation, analytics, and security capabilities when managed through Cisco DNA Center.
For more information on Cisco licensing, please select a product category above and navigate to our ‘Cisco licenses & subscriptions’ section. Alternatively, our team of Cisco partners are available for a free 30min consultation or 10min initial phone call, to suit your preference.
Yes. Catalyst 9200 switches integrate seamlessly with Catalyst 9300, 9400, and 9500 platforms. They share a common operating system (IOS-XE), management framework (Cisco DNA Center), and consistent security and policy features, making them ideal for mixed-model enterprise networks.
C9200 switches include hardware-based Trustworthy Solutions, secure boot, and MACsec encryption. They also support 802.1X authentication, Cisco TrustSec, and integration with Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) for role-based segmentation and policy enforcement across enterprise access layers.
Catalyst 9200 switches are covered by Cisco’s Enhanced Limited Lifetime Warranty (E-LLW) and are eligible for Smart Net Total Care (SMARTnet) support contracts.
SMARTnet provides 24×7 TAC access, rapid hardware replacement, and ongoing IOS-XE software updates – recommended for production and data centre environments.
These switches can be managed via traditional CLI, Cisco DNA Center, or API-based automation (NETCONF/YANG, RESTCONF, and Ansible). They support Plug-and-Play onboarding, model-driven telemetry, and integration with monitoring tools for complete lifecycle automation and visibility.
HPE Alletra data storage provides ironclad 99.9999% uptime/availability, with scalable NVMe performance and intelligent cloud integration. Whether consolidating enterprise workloads or powering mission-critical data centre scale, Alletra adapts seamlessly to complex infrastructure demands.
As a trusted HPE partner, we bring decades of expertise in data storage hardware and solutions. Our team has an extensive technical understanding of HPE’s product portfolio – enabling us to assess, integrate, and optimise solutions for even the most complex or high-demand environments.
Expert guidance for the right fit
We don’t just sell IT hardware. Every HPE solution we recommend is assessed against your specific security concerns, performance requirements, and both current and future infrastructure plans. This consultative approach ensures that our guidance is aligned with your bespoke needs, so that you can invest in new data storage with complete confidence.
Exclusive access and strategic advantages
Through our partnership with HPE, your business will gain access to partner-only promotions, bundled solutions, and live demos. Combined with our technical expertise and ongoing support, this ensures your HPE hardware is secure, cost-optimised, and future-ready.
Expert Data Storage Services
When you buy HPE from Steel City Consulting, you’ll receive expert deployment and maximum benefits. We also provide support in the following specialist areas:
| Our service | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Needs Assessment & Capacity Planning |
+ Full audit of the existing environment (on-premise and cloud) + Performance analysis, usage trends and storage forecasting + Risk and gap assessment aligned to best practices + Capacity modelling with “what-if” scenario testing + Strategic recommendations and prioritised roadmap |
| Managed Backup Services |
+ 24/7 monitoring and proactive management by certified experts. + Full encryption during transmission and storage. + Rapid Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) and Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs). + Backup flexibility across servers, devices, cloud workloads, and applications. + Cost-efficient pay-as-you-grow model — only pay for what you use. |
| Storage As a Service (STaaS) |
+ Physical-to-virtual (P2V) migrations + Virtual machine provisioning and configuration + Optimised storage, memory, and CPU allocation + High availability, load balancing, and clustering support |
| Disaster Recovery Services |
+ Complete ransomware protection with full system recovery + Automatic failback and flexible restore options + Disaster recovery infrastructure hosted in secure UK data centres + Choice of fully managed or self-managed disaster recovery services (DRaaS) |
As an official HPE partner, we help enterprises unlock flexible financing options that align IT investment with business goals.
Through HPE Financial Services, we can help your business to:
Unlock smart HPE financing, built for enterprise scale.
Experience smart savings and enhanced sustainability with HPE Renew.
This circular initiative provides top-quality remanufactured HPE hardware, fully-certified and backed by warranty.
Industry-leading quality meets unbeatable value. Upgrade your infrastructure while minimising spend.
As a certified partner, we can unlock exclusive HPE promotions for your business, providing enhanced resilience and efficiency across your network at unbeatable discounts.
When HPE Alletra powers your infrastructure, that’s just the beginning.
HPE delivers a full spectrum of storage solutions – combining performance, availability, and cloud-native operations. With the right platforms, software, and services, you can create a scalable data strategy built for enterprise demands. Explore HPE service options below.
What is HPE CloudPhysics?
HPE CloudPhysics is a subscription-based SaaS platform, with pricing based on environment size and usage. Utilising deep analytics, CloudPhysics rapidly uncovers performance bottlenecks, capacity gaps, and optimisation opportunities across VMware and hybrid cloud estates.
| Feature | Advantages |
|---|---|
| Workload & VM Analytics | Explore VM configuration, performance, and change history with issue alerts and up to 30 days of visibility. |
| Right-Sizing & Optimisation | Identify overprovisioned workloads, optimise resource allocations, and reduce wasted capacity. |
| Scenario Modelling & Migration Planning | Simulate moves to new infrastructure or cloud, project performance impact, and forecast TCO. |
| Custom Analytics & Dashboards | Build tailored dashboards and metrics (“cards”) for workload-specific insights. |
What is HPE GreenLake?
HPE GreenLake is a subscription-based IaaS model that brings the cloud experience to your enterprise or data centre.
GreenLake delivers HPE hardware, software, and services on-premises or at the edge, granting full visibility and control. With pay-per-use consumption, businesses gain cloud-like agility while retaining the performance and security of on-site infrastructure.
| GreenLake Subscriptions | Features | Advantages |
|---|---|---|
| Flex Solutions | On-demand compute, storage, and networking on a pay-per-use model, with hybrid observability via OpsRamp. | Scale instantly without over-provisioning and monitor hybrid estates in one view. |
| Private Cloud | Self-service or fully managed private cloud with support for VMs, containers, and bare metal. | Secure, compliant, and cloud-native ready — full control with cloud-like agility. |
| AI & Data Analytics | High-density all-NVMe file storage tuned for AI, ML, and large-scale data lake workloads. | Run data-intensive workloads at peak throughput and ultra-low latency. |
| Storage (Block / File / Object) | Alletra Storage MP and GreenLake File Storage with dense NVMe, modular scale-out options. | Match storage type to workload — from transactional databases to unstructured data. |
| Observability & Automation | Consumption analytics, cost reporting, and AI-driven incident detection with automated remediation. | Optimise resources, prevent outages, and streamline IT operations. |
What is HPE OneView?
HPE OneView is infrastructure management software that brings software-defined intelligence to your hardware stack.
OneView centralises server, storage, and networking lifecycle operations—and enables automation through APIs and a unified dashboard.
| OneView Capability | Features | Advantages |
|---|---|---|
| Lifecycle & Firmware Management | Automates firmware updates, firmware compliance tracking, and configuration changes. | Reduces risk, ensures consistency, and cuts overhead costs in large-scale environments. |
| Unified Hardware View | Offers visibility across servers, enclosures, storage arrays, and networking in one console. | Eliminates tool sprawl and lets you see dependencies in real time. |
| Software-Defined API Control | Exposes a RESTful API and infrastructure as code capabilities for provisioning and orchestration. | Enables automation and integration with DevOps pipelines and hybrid cloud tools. |
| Monitoring & Alerts | Tracks health, capacity, and performance with alerts & event logging. | Helps you preempt issues, maintain SLAs, and streamline troubleshooting. |
What HPE OneView licenses are available?
| License Tier | Details |
|---|---|
| Standard | Built-in with many HPE servers/enclosures. Provides basic monitoring, inventory, health status, and limited firmware updates. |
| Advanced | Adds group firmware/driver updates, server profile templates, automation (REST API/Ansible), federation, and deeper lifecycle management. Includes 3 years of support. |
What is HPE Ezmeral?
HPE Ezmeral is a unified software platform for enterprise AI/ML, containerised analytics, and data fabric orchestration across hybrid and multi-cloud environments. It enables frictionless data access, self-service analytics, observability, and scalable infrastructure for modern workloads.
| Features of HPE Ezmeral | Functionality |
|---|---|
| Data Fabric & Unified Access | Persistent, multi-protocol data fabric (NFS, HDFS, object) with seamless access across storage tiers. |
| Self-Service & Portal | Web portal (RBAC) for cluster provisioning, node management, job submission, with REST API capabilities. |
| Service Mesh & Observability | Built-in Istio service mesh, traffic routing, telemetry, microservices observability. |
| 1-Click Provisioning / App Catalog | Prebuilt applications for AI/ML, analytics, DevOps, plus bring-your-own-app support. |
| Decoupled Compute & Storage Scaling | Scale compute and storage independently for flexibility and efficiency. |
| High Availability & Resilience | Multi-level HA options to protect services and data. |
What HPE Ezmeral licenses are available?
| License Tier | Details |
|---|---|
| Term / Subscription License | Capacity-based (vCPU, GPU) term licenses for 1, 3, or 5 years. |
| Analytics / Premium Add-Ons | Optional analytics tiers (e.g. Spark analytics, Analytics Premium) layered above base licenses. |
With so much choice, we strive to bring clarity and precision to our customers’ subscription and licensing decisions.
Our experts will assess your capacity needs, usage patterns, and priorities to prevent overspend or underuse – ensuring your HPE licensing fits perfectly today and scales with you tomorrow.
Talk to a certified HPE expert. We’ll help you choose the right combination of hardware, licenses, and services.
Considering HPE Alletra? Our FAQ contains 5 common questions and product comparisons.
Q1. Which HPE Alletra platform is best aligned with different strategies and workloads?
| Model | Workload Alignment | Latency & Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Alletra 5000 | Diverse enterprise workloads and cost-efficient consolidation. | Hybrid design with flash caching; delivers sub-millisecond response. |
| Alletra 6000 | All-NVMe for business-critical apps needing consistent low latency. | NVMe latency consistently <1ms. |
| Alletra 9000 | Mission-critical NVMe scale-out for enterprise databases and large-scale analytics. | Up to 2M IOPS, latency <200µs. |
Q2. How does HPE Alletra compare to NetApp ASA?
NetApp ASA delivers strong SAN performance with ONTAP’s established feature set. HPE Alletra 9000 not only matches NVMe speed but adds a 100% availability SLA, predictive InfoSight analytics, and cloud-native DSCC operations. Our team believes this provides a clear edge for enterprises shaping long-term hybrid strategies.
Q3. How does HPE Alletra compare to Pure Storage FlashArray?
Pure Storage FlashArray excels in efficiency and inline data reduction, but HPE Alletra 9000 matches NVMe performance while adding deeper value. Alletra’s built-in 100% availability SLA, predictive AIOps with InfoSight, and seamless integration into HPE GreenLake grant unified control across data centres and cloud. Our experts agree that this goes beyond Pure FlashArray’s raw efficiency.
| Feature / Capability | HPE Alletra 9000 | Pure Storage FlashArray//X | NetApp ASA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Latency & Performance | Up to 2M IOPS in 4U, 75% of I/O <250 µs. | ~250 µs to 1 ms latency; high IOPS via NVMe-oF/FC/RoCE. | High IOPS, consistent sub-ms latency in clustered SAN. |
| Availability / SLA | 100% availability SLA, active-active controllers, non-disruptive upgrades. | 99.9999% uptime; HA and non-disruptive upgrades via Purity OS. | 99.9999% uptime; MetroCluster for synchronous replication. |
| Data Services & Efficiency | Always-on compression, dedupe, thin provisioning; AI-driven HPE InfoSight + DSCC. | Inline dedupe/compression; ~5:1 data reduction typical; Pure1 cloud ops. | ONTAP stack: SnapMirror, snapshots, QoS, dedupe, compression. |
| Scalability & Capacity | Multi-node NVMe scale-out; up to 144 NVMe drives; mission-critical SAP HANA validation. | Effective capacity up to ~3.3 PB per system; modular expansion. | Clusters to 12 nodes (6 HA pairs), raw up to ~16 PB. |
| Ecosystem & Integration | Cloud-native operations via DSCC; predictive AIOps with InfoSight. | Pure1 predictive analytics; strong REST API support. | Deep ONTAP ecosystem integration across block and NAS. |
Q4. Does Alletra support enterprise-class disaster recovery?
Yes. All HPE Alletra models support synchronous and asynchronous replication, enabling two- or three-site DR architectures. Active-active metro clusters are supported on higher-end models, ensuring business continuity and compliance with strict RPO/RTO requirements in enterprise data centres.
Q5. Is Alletra dependent on cloud connectivity?
Alletra arrays run independently in data centres, with full local management available. Integration with HPE InfoSight and the Data Services Cloud Console provides predictive analytics, automated troubleshooting, and cloud-like operations. Enterprises can run isolated but gain maximum value by enabling cloud telemetry.
