Six-port edge switch adds flexibility to Ethernet networks

GarrettCom reports that its new six-port edge switches, Magnum ES42, add flexibility to factory-floor and utility substation Ethernet deployments because they allow intelligence to be spread further out into industrial networks. The company adds that Magnum ES42 also has high price-to-value ratio for edge switch solutions because it’s highly configurable, which ensures a model for every need within a contained number of components. Magnum ES42 also complements the firm’s two- and four-port Converter Switches and Convenient Switches to provide edge-of-the-network connectivity for industrial applications.

Magnum ES42 Switches reportedly are ideal for any location where a few PLCs or other industrial devices need to be connected upstream over a fiber-optic 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 in industrial applications.

Magnum ES42 consists of a family of small switches that deliver six Ethernet ports in 277 configurations. There are three basic models: two 100-Mb fiber-optic 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. The switches have three levels of hardening, including regular (office), hardened (factory floor), and premium (outdoor).

GarrettCom adds that its transparent Link-Loss-Learn functionality allows ES42 switches to be used in self-healing and redundant LAN topologies. This feature allows ES42 switches to immediately flush their address buffers, and relearn routing upon the detection of a link loss signal, which 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.

—Jim Montague, news editor, Control Engineering, jmontague@reedbusiness.com

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