Belden Expands its Hirschmann™ Portfolio with Three New MACH100 Devices: Rugged Gigabit Ethernet Workgroup Switches

Monday, Mar 01, 2010

These new Gigabit Ethernet switches, characterized amongst others by fanless (passive) cooling, can be used for connecting workgroups to the backbone in production environments using twisted-pair cables as well as optical fibers. Each of the three versions, designated MACH104-20TX-F, MACH104-20TX-FR and MACH104 TX-F-4PoE, provides 20 RJ45 ports (10/100/1000 BASE-TX) as well as four combination ports (100/1000 BASE-FX) for SFP fiber optic transceivers.

Further features include comprehensive management and redundancy procedures, various different configuration and diagnostic functions, high resistance to shock and jarring, and extensive insusceptibility to magnetic fields and electrostatic discharge. This is complemented by a redundant power supply on the MACH104-20TX-FR, and by four Power over Ethernet (PoE) ports with a rated output of 15.4 W per connected field device on the MACH104-20TX-F-4PoE. The required 48VDC voltage is directly generated from the 24VDC supply voltage in compliance with the regulations for electrical isolation as specified by IEEE standard 802.3af.

Redundancy procedures, such as HIPER Ring, MRP (IEC ring function), Rapid Spanning Tree and Link Aggregation provide high network availability. Security mechanisms include access control according to IEEE 802.1x, IP and MAC port security as well as SNMP V3 und SSH.
Detailed information can be displayed by means of a standard web browser. A further central management function is offered by an integrated SNMP interface, permitting e.g. the use of network management software such as HiVision.
The new MACH100 Gigabit switches are designed for an operating temperature range of 0 to +50 °C, assembly in 19" cabinets and plug-and-play commissioning. They can be configured by either means of Command Line Interface (CLI), Telnet, BootP, HiDiscovery, Watchdog Configuration or DHCP Server. If saved to an optional ACA 11 or ACA 21-USB auto-configuration adapter, all configuration data can be recalled at any time, if required.

With these three new Hirschmann™ workgroup switches, Belden has further expanded its leading position in the Industrial Ethernet segment. “All managed switches are based on a platform strategy for combining various Layer-2 and
Layer-3 software packages with different hardware components,” explains Product Manager Pascal Unterdorfer. Altogether, the product offering comprises over 10,000 device versions all operating under a consistent user interface. “This facilitates the realization of integrated data networks from the management to the control and through to the field level without the need for repeated training of the customer’s personnel.”