ORing IGS-9822DGP: redundant 12-Port-Gigabit-Switch for ring connections

ORing's IGS-9822DGP redundant 12-port Gigabit switch is ideal for implementing fail-safe ring circuits in industrial networks.

A switch is at the heart of the network and must therefore meet the highest standards of performance, data protection, reliability and environmental robustness. Bandwidth and flexibility in communication are further important factors in the selection of switches for industrial use. The new IGS-9822DGP gigabit switch with 12 Ethernet interfaces (4 of which are SFP ports) is precisely tailored to these high requirements.

The IGS-9822DGP has a total of 12 Ethernet ports, 8 of which are RJ45 jacks and specified as 10/100/1000Base-T(X) with Auto-MDI/MDIX. A further 2 ports each are integrated as SFP ports (Small Form Factor Pluggable) and specified as 100/1G/2.5GBase-X and 1G/10GBase-X. SFP ports allow hot-plug I/O devices to be connected, providing high flexibility for network expansion, for example. SFP modules can be hot-swappable or hot-pluggable into the appropriate slots in the switch during operation. They are available for a number of applications that can be used to create flexible and cost-efficient solutions for enterprise networks, data centers or industrial image processing, for example. Although SFP is not an industry standard, SFP modules from different manufacturers are generally compatible with each other and can be used with the switch.

One focus of the IGS-9822DGP is on providing important security features. Two redundant power connections with overload protection ensure an uninterruptible power supply and thus increase the availability of the network. The wide range of permissible ambient temperatures from -40 to +75 °C also ensures high operational reliability. For networks based on ring topology, the switch with open-ring offers its own highly efficient technology for rapid network recovery (< 30 ms) in the event of a failure. The interfaces can be switched on and off individually. At the software level, the security features supported include SNMPv3, RADIUS/TACACS+, HTTPS/SSH/SSL, VLAN (802.1Q) as well as port-based access control (802.1x) and DOS/DDOS auto-prevention.

The implemented switching procedure "Store-and-forward" ensures that received data packets are first stored in a buffer. In this buffer, each data packet is checked and processed before being forwarded to the destination address. The advantage is that faulty data packets are sorted out in advance. Further features such as auto negotiation, auto MDI/MDI-X and data flow management round off the range of services. With auto-negotiation, Ethernet devices exchange information such as transfer rates and pause capabilities via their duplex mode and can thus establish a network connection with optimum performance. Jumbo frames up to 10 kByte are also supported. IP-based bandwidth management ensures additional optimization of data flows. The IGS-9822DGP supports IEEE 1588v2, the Precision Time Protocol (PTP). This protocol enables system-wide synchronization to a reference clock (PTP Grandmaster Clock) with an accuracy down to the submicrosecond range.

With a large number of components in the network, the convenience of management plays an important role in installation and subsequent maintenance. The manufacturer ORing offers powerful management software for this purpose. Using "Open Vision", installers can identify, configure and monitor the network components. Among other things, the software can detect unusual occurrences and display them graphically. A highlight is the link with Google Maps for the projection of network topology and device locations on current maps and city maps, for example for traffic monitoring tasks.

The robust housing of the IGS-9822DGP is designed for both DIN rails and wall mounting. With a weight of only 984 g and dimensions of 75 x 125 x 154 mm, the switch is very compact.