Pro AV Catalog

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, February 14, 2018 -- As part of its commitment to help clients embrace the intelligent edge, Black Box, a leading provider of commercial and industrial IT networking technology, today announced the expansion of its line of Industrial Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet Switches.

Designed to meet the real-time data demands of organizations with remote operations in harsh environments, Black Box Industrial Ethernet Switches deliver the high reliability and redundant power needed for mission-critical communication. The expanded product line offers more model options to suit any performance, environmental and budgetary needs.

"As more connected IIoT devices feed control and monitoring data through a network, these new switches enable uninterrupted communication, fast failover and real-time incident response regardless of where they are installed," says Josh Whitney, Black Box Vice President and General Manager.

Constant Communication from Extreme Environments

Black Box Industrial Ethernet Switches meet EN6100 standards for electromagnetic compatibility. They operate in temperatures from -40 to +75° C (-40 to +167° F) and are specially outfitted with convection cooling, which eliminates the need for fans that can compromise reliability. Enclosed in IP30-rated metal cases, the switches are designed and tested for high-shock and vibration environments that can threaten commercial network equipment, including:

• Security and surveillance to backhaul IP camera data
• Building automation and HVAC control
• M2M communications with remote stations in oil and gas facilities
• Communications networks for defense and military applications
• Factory automation and machine control
• Transportation hubs

Several managed and unmanaged models support PoE/PoE+ to power remote equipment up to 100m away via an Ethernet cable, which saves the expense of installing new AC power circuits. Models are available with all copper ports or a mixture of copper and fiber/SFP ports. The SFP uplinks enable fast, on-the-fly port changes as well as extended distances.

Transmit Data without Interruption

The Industrial Ethernet Switches use Spanning Tree Protocol, Link Aggregation and a proprietary ring-based protocol to reroute traffic in less than 30 milliseconds after the main connection is lost. These automatic failover protocols bring resilience to the network, making these switches suitable for transmitting mission-critical data.

Advanced L2 features in the managed switches help IT administrators minimize downtime and reduce operational expenses by diagnosing, managing and troubleshooting network problems and equipment remotely without sending a technician. They are fully manageable through SNMP, a web browser or a command line interface. 

Black Box offers one of the most extensive lines of industrial switches in the industry. See the entire portfolio at www.blackbox.com/IEswitches.