Control Network Newsletter
Take Control of Your Ethernet Network by Using a Skorpion Managed Switch
Building and industrial networks based on Ethernet are bound to require switches for interconnects. How smart or manageable do these devices need to be? While unmanaged switches are cost-effective, durable, and plug-and-play devices, they lack the ability to provide critical network information. Communication failures, jitter, and long response times are undetected by an unmanaged switch whereas a managed switch flags these problems easily. Plus, managed switches provide an array of capabilities that make the network more reliable such as management of network traffic and support of redundancy protocols. The Managed Skorpion switch supports the SNMP protocol. Its MIBs data can be accessed from standard SNMP management tools. In addition to standard unmanaged features such as auto-negotiation and auto-MDIX, there are numerous features only found in our managed switch such as:
- IGMP snooping & Query functionality
- Cable redundancy using RSTP or RapidRing®
- Virtual LAN support (Port VLAN and 802.1Q)
- Quality of Service (QoS) support
- (802.1p, DiffServ, TOS, Port-based, MAC-based)
- Port mirroring, rate limiting and port security
- Authentication
- Trunking
- Programmable Fault Relay
The EISK8M Series is a cost effective compact managed switch family with an industrial temperature range and fiber optic distances up to 15 km are possible with the single-mode option. Each unit can be configured via its web pages – and can be powered either from a low voltage AC or DC source.
The EISK8M Series provides standard plug-and-play features such as auto-negotiation and Auto-MDIX – allowing for quick and simple installation. However, these features plus full-duplex can be individually set for each copper port.
Three models are available that each offer two fiber ports. You can choose single-mode transceivers with SC connectors (providing 15 km cable distance) or multimode transceivers with either SC or ST connectors. The copper ports can auto-negotiate 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, half- or full-duplex. With Auto-MDIX, either straight-through or crossover cables may be used to connect any of the copper ports to similar ports on another switch.
In addition to one power LED and one CPU status LED, each port has LEDs showing link/activity/data rate by color: green for 100 Mbps and yellow for 10 Mbps. Flashing indicates port activity. The EISK8M Series in its metal enclosure is designed for convenient DIN-rail mounting in panels. There are several low-voltage AC or DC powering options from 24 VAC or from 10-36 VDC. Provisions exist for redundant power connections.
Visit the Skorpion Managed Switch product page for ordering information.