Green-tech has been getting so much press in recent years that it’s easy to lose sight of its dollars-and-cents bottom-line significance amid all that noise. Still, when advances in green-tech mean real improvements in the energy efficiency of the devices, such as Ethernet switches, that we deploy in vast numbers, the results can be not only the advancement of environmental goals, but also real contributions to your financial bottom line.
Advantech has just announced its new EKI-3000 series of Ethernet switches, a smart, industrial line of Ethernet switches that promises to reduce overall power consumption by up to 60 percent – yes, 60 percent! – while still delivering the diagnostic capabilities and gigabit data transmission rates your most demanding applications require.
Advantech’s new generation of green Ethernet design supports IEEE 802.3az energy-efficiency standards to automatically power down unlinked ports and to tailor power-output to best match specific Ethernet cable lengths, thus optimizing performance and efficiency despite the often dramatic variations in the lengths of cables that are typically served by Ethernet switches. This new series of switches also supports IEEE 802.1p QoS-VIP port setting, ensuring that all time-sensitive data is delivered with greatest efficiency, even while channeling high bursts of data traffic. This setting also enables prioritization of video streaming.
Representative of the new line is the 8-port EKI-3728, with features that include:
- 10/100/1000-Mbps transmission speeds for fastest data transmission; perfect for streaming of high-definition video.
- Jumbo Frame (9,216 bytes) to enable the switch to sustain consistently-high traffic loads (versus basic IP maximum transmission units of 1,500 bytes).
- Port-based QoS to prioritize intensive network traffic demands such as streaming video or critical control packets.
- Smart self-diagnostic loop detection to allow the switch to disable the impacted port when a loop condition occurs, thus preventing broadcast storms.
Advantech’s new EKI-3000 switches are currently available in 5- and 8-port configurations that accommodate both DIN-rail and wall mountings. Operating temperature ranges for EKI-3000 switches are a generous 14 to 140°F and their introductory pricing is surprisingly competitive.