Ethernet is becoming increasingly prevalent as the standard communication protocol in industrial settings, which leads to a drastic rise in data throughput. Microsens, the technology specialist for high data rates and network performance, recognised this development early on and was one of the first manufactures to bring Gigabit Ethernet switches for industrial applications onto the market in 2005. With "Profi Line Modular", Microsens introduces a new family of switches for industrial Ethernet and sets new standards with top gigabit performance in confined spaces.
Even the base switch module offers thirteen gigabit ports, of which four, as combo ports, can be expanded to fiber optic connections. Despite its space-saving design, it has two alarm inputs/outputs, for example for cabinet monitoring or integrating a sensor/actuator. The copper ports offer PoE/PoE+ with which the terminal devices connected can be supplied with electricity economically and without additional cabling work. The switches themselves can also work without their own power supply, supplied via PoE/PoE+ as powered devices.
For maximum scalability, expansion modules with six or twelve Gigabit Ethernet ports are available that can simply be connected on the side to match demand. The expansion modules also have gigabit combo ports with which an impressive number of fiber optic connections can be achieved economically and in relation to usage. Further modules are planned, for example for common industrial bus technologies or with simple I/O ports.
The modular design of the Profi Line Modular switches enables expansions tailored to needs, which limits the initial investment to the minimum necessary. The customer only pays for what is actually needed and can expand the scalable switch according to requirements ("pay as you grow"). The expansion concept of the switch is designed such that no oversized backplane has to be fitted with the initial installation. This way the Profi Line Modular range does not squander any valuable space in the wiring cabinet.
Not only the modular design, but also the hardware of the Profi Line Modular switches itself, offers significant investment protection. It is designed today for future functions, which are easy to activate with firmware upgrades. This is facilitated by the latest high-performance switching chipsets in combination with a powerful ARM processor. As an established, stable operating system, Linux offers a solid foundation for an intelligent, open and long-term reliable platform.
Even from the outside, the robust stainless steel housing indicates this reliability and stability. The robust construction and the security mechanisms implemented ensure top availability and fail-safe performance, making the Profi Line Modular range the first choice when it comes to network security and productivity. In the event of a line interrupt, the ring protocol ensures continuing availability. Another pioneering feature is Microsens' innovative approach of saving the switch operating system, the firmware and the configuration data on an SD card in the base module. If a switch base module ever needs to be replaced, the existing SD card is simply inserted in the new module which automatically accepts all the settings. This means there is no need for complex reconfigurations or installing software images - the recovery time is reduced to a minimum. The SD card can be swapped over by the company-internal maintenance team without any special IT knowledge, no specialist has to be on-site in the event of a fault, which in turn decreases the operating costs.
The design of the Profi Line Modular range was developed from scratch at the site in Germany. From the very beginning, Microsens relied on its own expertise for developing the hardware and software with its own development teams. Development and manufacture "Made in Germany" make a significant contribution to the product quality.
All this makes the Profi Line Modular range the ideal choice wherever high demands are placed on fail-safe performance and the shortest possible recovery times, as apply in critical manufacturing areas, in energy generation, gas and oil extraction, for monitoring pipelines, in mining and in transportation.
The new switch and the two expansion modules will be available from the second quarter of 2013.
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