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Ethernet is rapidly expanding into industrial environments where equipment must stand up to operating temperatures of -40C to +75C, vibrations, and shocks. These harsh environments are under pressure to share information quickly for increased productivity, improved quality, inventory control, and reduced operational costs.

Ethernet Switch technology plays a critical role in these networks. Following are five questions to ask when choosing your Industrial Ethernet Switch brand.

1. Does the manufacturer use Switch and Phy chips from leading manufacturers to ensure reliability and interoperability with your network?

Check the published MTBF rates on the manufacturer website. This will give you insight about the quality of components used in the design and manufacture of the product.

If the MTBF rates are high, you can have confidence that you will get a reliable product made with quality components. If the MTBF rates are low, or unpublished, proceed with caution.

Perle DIN Rail Switches only use robust and reliable high-end components from leading chip manufacturers to ensure product reliability and network interoperability.

2. Are they built with temperature rated components and fully heat chamber tested?

You need to avoid finding out too late that chosen products are not fully designed to operate in extreme temperatures.

There are a lot of products on the market claiming to operate at -40C to +75C. However, they use “commercial-grade” components that have not been qualified to operate in the claimed temperature ranges. When “commercial-grade” parts are exposed to extremely high or low temperatures, product failures are inevitable.

For example, integrated circuits on the PCB overheat causing premature failure of the product. Or, under-rated connectors do not allow for proper contact between the device and the cables. These failures eventually stop all data communications in these high and low temperature environments.

Every component on every Perle DIN Rail Switch has been designed and tested to handle operating temperatures of -10C to 60C or -40C to 75C.

3. Is there dual input power to provide redundancy during power failures?

Dual power inputs with industrial surge and spike protection reduce downtime when there is primary power loss. Reverse power protection is also recommended.

4. Is the chassis metal or plastic?

A rugged metal housing provides superior EMC performance and corrosion-resistance. You may also want to check that a DIN Rail mounting bracket is included as standard.

5. Does the manufacturer have a range broad enough to ensure that they will have a model to suit your specific environment?

Most manufacturers have a limited range, especially when it comes to supporting fixed fiber ports. Perle has the broadest range of Industrial Ethernet Switches on the market.

With over 700 models, Perle offers every conceivable combination of Ethernet, Fiber & PoE ports in a 5 – 10 port DIN Rail Switch. This makes Perle a one stop shop when it comes to finding the right Industrial Switch for your environment.

If network up-time is vitally important to your success choose quality products with care.

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The network equipment used in electric utility substations, and environments classified as HazLoc, are subject to tight regulations, numerous certifications and approvals. When it comes to integrating the copper and fibre cabling found in these highly distributed networks, a properly designed and certified Industrial Media Converter is required. To meet this need, the new Perle SRS Industrial Media Converters include:

• IEC 61850-3 and IEEE 1613 electric utility substation certification
• Numerous hazardous industrial location (HazLoc) certifications, including ATEX Class 1 Zone 2 and ANSI/ISA 12.12.01 Class 1 Division 2
• DIN Rail enclosure with Triple Power Input,
• Operating temperature support of -40C to +75C
• An on-board microcontroller which deals with error detection and recovery by continuously monitoring the status of the links connected to its transceiver ports

Perle SRS Industrial Media Converters include 15 models compatible with 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet and SFP, dual fibre ST/SC or single fibre SC/ST connectors.

For further details, follow this link: https://www.perle.com/products/industrial-temperature-media-converters.shtml

Data communication networks in  industrial environments are subject to extreme temperatures, vibrations, electromagnetic interference (EMI) and other potentially disturbing noises. The Industrial Network Engineer has to layer that with the additional challenge of connecting distributed switches and equipment located throughout an industrial plant floor to ensure data does not to become corrupted during transmission

John Feeney, COO at Perle Systems comments, “Because most industrial networks are a hybrid of copper and fibre cabling, these obstacles can be overcome with the inclusion of Copper to fibre Media Converters. Perle’s new SR Media Converters have features specifically designed to meet the unique needs found in these environments.”

• The compact chassis easily mounts on a DIN rail or inside distribution boxes.
• Triple redundant power input can be supplied using two redundant terminal blocks or through the optional TBUS DIN Rail Bus connector system that transmits voltage across the bus.
• With operating temperature support of -40C to +75C, these media converters are ideal for use with industrial devices subjected to harsh environments and severe temperatures such as security cameras, wireless access points, alarms, traffic controllers, sensors and tracking devices.
• All Perle Media Converters have an on-board microcontroller which deals with error detection and recovery by continuously monitoring the status of the links connected to its transceiver ports.

Perle SR Industrial Media Converters include 98 models compatible with 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet and SFP, dual fibre ST/SC or single fibre SC/ST connectors.

Find out more [https://www.perle.com/products/media-converters/din-rail-media-converters.shtml]