GarrettCom's Configurable Magnum ES42 Edge Switch Family Offers New Choices at the Farthest Edge of the Industrial or Corporate Network
New six-port edge switches from GarrettCom?, Inc. provide high price-to-value ratios and more flexibility in factory floor and utility substation Ethernet deployments as intelligence spreads further out into the industrial network environment. The Magnum ES42 Edge Switches provide a breakthrough in price-to-value ratio for edge switch solutions because their high degree of configurability ensures a model for every need within a contained number of components. The Magnum? ES42 Edge Switches complement the company's 2- and 4-port Converter Switches and Convenient Switches to provide edge-of-the-network connectivity for industrial applications. The switches will be featured at Distributech, Jan. 25-27 in San Diego , Calif.
The Magnum ES42 Switches are ideal for any location where a small number of PLCs or other industrial devices need to be connected upstream over a fiber cable, or where multiple devices need to be aggregated and connected over copper cable. As device intelligence spreads in industrial applications out to the very edge of networks where the network meets the tool, these small-footprint Ethernet switches, not much larger than a pack of playing cards, can provide seamless connectivity from the most remote device to the IT department, eliminating the need for multiple network protocols within industrial applications.
"GarrettCom's commitment to configurability is important to our customers," said Bob Ravenstein, President of Bomara Associates, a GarrettCom Partner in Chelmsford , Mass. , with a technical focus. "We can now offer a single product family for edge solutions, and have it configured to specific requirements at each deployment site. In addition, the self-healing characteristics of GarrettCom's Edge Switches give power utilities and other mission critical network customers the ability to utilize Ethernet redundancy to complement other redundant systems within power grids and other mission critical systems."
"GarrettCom has done it again with a highly configurable, highly reliable, compact product family that addresses a need in the market," said Don Biron, Product Manager-Active Network Components, Fiber Instrument Sales, Oriskany , New York .
"We are discovering that the combination of more Ethernet-ready intelligent sensors and controllers, coupled with innovative products such as GarrettCom's edge switches, eliminates the need for a FieldBus/Ethernet conversion further up the network chain," said Maurizio Buzzi, Programs Manager, Fort Fibre Ottiche, Milan , Italy . "All in all, having a single network protocol to support makes a lot of sense to us. "
Highly Configurable The Magnum ES42 Edge Switch family is a versatile family of small switches that deliver six Ethernet ports in 277 configurations designed to meet any application needs.
There are three basic models: two 100 Mb fiber and four 10/100 copper ports; one fiber and five copper ports; and six copper ports. Fiber port configurations include all multi- and single-mode connector types.
Power supply options for any of the models include AC or DC with 12V,
24V, or 48VDC terminal blocks, as well as an AC/DC model. Internal power sense monitoring is available for switches that will be installed in hostile environments.ES42 Edge Switches have three levels of hardening, from regular (office) to hardened (factory floor) and premium (outdoor). Office-grade products for offices and indoor wiring closets include metal mounting clips, and can be ordered with rack-mount trays. Hardened products use high-grade components and patent-pending thermal techniques. The metal packaging uses passive cooling techniques (no fans) so that the switch can resist dust, dirt, moisture, smoke, and other contaminants. Mounting options include stand-along panel-mounting, DIN-rail, and rack-mount tray. Premium products use premium-grade extended temperature components and the same thermal techniques and mounting options as hardened products.
Link-Loss-Learn Capability GarrettCom's transparent Link-Loss-Learn? functionality allows ES42 Edge Switches to be used in self-healing and redundant LAN topologies. This GarrettCom feature, which allows ES42 switches to immediately flush their address buffers and relearn routing upon the detection of a Link Loss signal, provides rapid recovery in mission-critical applications at the very edge of the network - where the work is being done - without impacting either standards-based or proprietary redundancy protocols farther up the networking hierarchy.
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