Indura™ Switch Delivers Reliability Through Innovative Heat Dissipation in Harsh Environments

Transition Networks recently announced the launch of its new industrial product platform, the Indura™. The Indura™ IND-3280 series of switches are among the first dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 Layer 2 industrial Ethernet switches compliant with international substation IEC 61850-3 and IEE 1613 Class 2 requirements. The Indura IND-3280™ is the first electrical substation switch, designed and engineered exclusively by Transition Networks for Smart Grid and electrical substation infrastructures and uses an innovative fanless passive cooling design to achieve exceptional thermal performance.

“Our engineering team created an exciting product design for the Indura™ platform. The Indura™ IND-3280 will be the first in a series of industrial switches designed to remain reliable in the harshest environments due to its innovative heat dissipation technology, rugged industrial design, and lifetime warranty,” stated Kevin Faulds, Director of Product Management at Transition Networks.

Click on the links below or contact your Transition Networks representative to learn more about this innovative new release.

Official Press Release

Indura™ Product Page

An option for when your available fiber infrastucture is exhausted and pulling in more fiber is no longer an economical or feasible solution.

Managers of today’s networks are being forced to address bandwidth constraints and bottlenecks more and more often. To meet these demands, most companies are relying on deploying fiber optics within their network. But what choice do you have if pulling in additional fiber cabling is not an option?

One option that has grown in popularity, is deploying Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM) technologies in order to increase available capacity on the existing fiber infrastructure. WDM is a technology which multiplexes multiple optical signals onto a single fiber by using different wavelengths, or colors of light. By utilizing WDM , network managers can realize a multiplication effect in their available fiber plant’s capacity.

The WDM Brochure highlights the three different WDM options that are  currently being deployed (BWDM, CWDM, and DWDM), provides a cost comparison between the three options, and provides an ordering guide for Transition’s CWDM offering.

Download WDM Technology Brochure

Ease of management, product reliability and a competitive price point  help secure TN as Videotron’s Metro-Ethernet access vendor of choice.

Videotron is one of the largest MSO/Service Providers in North America with a network spanning more than 56,000 kilometers and  nearly 2 million subscribers in Quebec and east of Ontario. Transition Networks was awarded the Metro-Ethernet access vendor of choice by Videotron and is now deployed in two of the most predominant access services offered today: Mobile Backhaul and Ethernet Business Services.

When asked why Transition was the vendor of choice for Videotron, Philippe Perron, Director of IP Networks Engineering Business Research and Development had this to say:

“There were three key criteria that seperated Transition Networks from the other competitors evaluated. We required a Metro-Ethernet delivery solution that was simple to provision and install, was attractively priced, and offered management capabilities that were comprehensive and provided a complete end-to-end solution. Transition Networks was #1 in each of these three areas.”

Videotron Case Study

SFBRM NID Datasheet

SBFFG NID Datasheet

New 24-port All Fiber Switch Supports 100/1000 Dual Speed SFPs and IPV6

Transition Networks Inc., the switching and conversion technology expert, today announced the release of a 24-port managed all fiber switch.  The SM24DPA offers Network Managers the ability to easily integrate fiber optics into their networks via (24) dual speed Small Form Factor Pluggable (SFPs) slots. A wide array of SFP optical transceivers are also available, offering a broad range of deployment options over multimode and/or single-mode fiber.

The SM24DPA is suitable for both Metro Ethernet and office applications and offers IT managers a better means to manage this device through useful functions such as Quality of Service (QoS), Spanning Tree, and Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP). The SM24DPA all fiber switch also supports enhanced network security features including: SSH, SSL, and TACACS+ which guarantee users protected and secure connections to the network.

Download SM24DPA Press Release

SM24DPA Data Sheet

Assured 1Gbps per Room Now Available Using Transition Networks Media Converters

 Gunma University was founded as a national university on May 31, 1949. It was created from the amalgamation of several educational institutions, including Maebashi Medical College, Kiryu Techni­cal College, Gunma Normal School and Gunma Youth Normal School. From these institutions, the Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Engineering, and Faculty of Education were formed. Since its incep­tion, the university has strived to foster distinguished physicians, engineers, and teachers. With science and technology as a focus, the university has made great contributions to the development of postwar Japan.

When it became evident to the decision makers at Gunma University that their network was due for an upgrade, they were faced with the following challenge:

Business Challenge:   Restructure extended-tree network infrastructure to improve access throughout university campus, while reducing IT time maintaining the network and isolating a failure in potentially hundreds of devices.

Solution:  Implemented a simple star-structure, all-fiber infrastructure, which supports greater transmission distances from a core switch to each networked desktop on the campus. This provides faster network speeds and also significantly reduces the time required for system management and trouble shooting. The FTTD network has been so successful, that it will be implemented on additional Gunma University campuses.

The FTTD network of Gunma University achieved the goal of saving IT time and resources during the management of the network and it also reached the goal of developing a future proof network ensuring a long service life. This FTTD network approach was successful for Gunma University and is definitely an alternative worth considering for the future of any organization’s LAN.

Gunma University Case Study

Multiport NID Increases Uptime and Reliability While Guaranteeing Service Performance Requirements

Transition Networks Inc., the fiber access technology expert, today announced the launch of its latest Network Interface Device (NID): the S3280. This device allows service providers to offer their subscribers tiered Ethernet services, based on advanced features like differentiated Quality of Service (QoS) and bandwidth allocation per Ethernet Virtual Circuit (EVC). While also enabling service providers to offer SLA-quality service and support through scalable, intelligent User Network Interfaces (UNI). Within these tiered services, SLAs can be supported and verified through the use of built in performance monitoring capabilities within the S3280. These remote management and performance monitoring capabilities reduce Operational Expenses (OpEx) by providing methods to quickly detect and resolve faults without the need to dispatch a technician to customer locations.

The 3280′s features are geared for mobile backhaul and business Ethernet delivery, with advanced timing over packet networks. While its capabilities are based on precise end-to-end performance measurement tools that allow providers to deliver a myriad of services from a single platform. The S3280 represents a compact platform designed to accommodate today’s demands with the ability to grow for tomorrow’s Ethernet requirements.

Official Press Release

S3280 Product Page

New Single Port PoE+ Injector Provides up to 25.5 Watts of Power to Network Devices

Transition Networks Inc., the switching and conversion technology expert, today announced the release of a single port 10/100/1000 PoE+ injector. This new, mid-span injector is capable of supplying up to 25.5W of power to network devices when used in conjunction with standard Ethernet switches.

The L1000i-at is suitable for both Security and Enterprise deployments where the cabling infrastructure is used to introduce power to the network. Built to the IEEE 802.3at PoE+ standard, this product provides a higher level of power, up to 25.5W, than is available from standard Power over Ethernet (PoE) injectors (15.4W). This higher wattage is required by many PTZ (Pan/Tilt/Zoom) network cameras, 802.11n Gigabit wireless access points, and other wireless network equipment deployed today.

Official Press Release
Download Product Datasheet [PDF]

Barcelona City Hall relied on engineering solutions and support from Anixter Spain and Transition Networks to install a new traffic control system and camera network, while improving services for residents.

Barcelona City Hall was searching for innovative methods to implement new technologies and improve services for residents.  The decision makers had a goal to completely overhaul the existing communication infrastructure and replace it with a versatile, reliable and cost-effective solution. The project removed copper wiring in favor of implementing fiber optic rings connected to a L3 central ring at the city hall.

Transition Networks provided two types of devices, distributed by Anixter Spain, based on their implementation on remote nodes (particularly, MIL-SM8002TG access nodes) and aggregation nodes (SM24-1000SFP-AH). Among other applications, this equipment provides differentiated services in traffic light control, such as bandwidth rate limiting, class of service per port (CoS); CLI switch management via control panel port or Telnet and built in web BUI interface. It also offers SNMP v1, v2c, v3 management and dual firmware updating via TFTP/FTP/X modem server. Additional features include port duplication and robust security using RADIUS/TACACS+ authentication.

The new City Hall traffic control and camera system, now fully operational, provides robust quality of services, secure access for both authentication and public Internet access and strong remote network management via SNMP. From a centralized location, network administrators now have full visibility and remote monitoring capabilities which are key criteria for supporting the new Barcelona City Hall network.

Download Case Study [PDF]

I have written in the past (“Network-Powering Next Generation Network Devices“) about two important trends influencing manufacturers’ introduction of next generation VoIP phones and streaming video cameras: PoE (Power over Ethernet) and Gigabit speeds. In addition, newer wireless technologies such as WiMAX and IEEE 802.11n will demand both Gigabit speeds and higher power. The latter is needed to enable Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna diversity.

Transition Networks is introducing a slew of next generation Power-over-Ethernet Plus (PoE+) switches, media converters and injectors, all of which will support Gigabit speeds. As data transfer speeds increase - power requirements of devices also rise, driving the need for a higher Power-over-Ethernet standard: IEEE 802.3at.

How does IEEE 802.3at differ from IEEE 802.3af? The newer IEEE 802.3at standard roughly doubles the power capacity which can be delivered to an end Powered Device (PD), from 12.95 watts to 25.5 watts. All the while PoE+ maintains the voltage levels in the Cat 5/6 cables to < 58 VDC (nominally just a few volts higher than PoE). Thus, PoE+ poses no shock hazards to installers.

Besides an increase in supplied power to end PDs, IEEE 802.3at PoE+ adds intelligence. A new 2-event power classification scheme and support for LLDP (Link Layer Discovery Protocol) allows devices to dynamically adjust demanded power budgets. This latter intelligence will become a key enabling technology for Intelligent Buildings and the Smart Grid.

Stay on the look out for more information on Transition’s PoE+ offering as more and more products are officially released.