MEN Micro, a provider of embedded computing and I/O solutions for mission-critical industrial, mobile and harsh environment applications, has announced the introduction of an extended firmware package for its rugged Ethernet switches which fulfills all requirements of demanding applications.

The data management within an embedded system is facilitated thanks to individual port configuration via the command line interface and version 3 of SNMP and also through an HTTP Web server.

The low-power MEN Micro’s Ethernet switches can be easily customized. Company officials said that they can be used as standalone units or in CompactPCI (News - Alert) systems for harsh and mobile environments with intense communication requirements.

Company officials said that in lab environments, the firmware can be configured via a command line environment with full access to all configuration options and status information. Moreover, SNMP offers full management access in deployed operation, including hardware traps on exceptional conditions.

On an external storage key, the switch configuration data can be stored. This can remain at the device location, enabling fool-proof switch replacement and eliminating the need for device interaction, said company officials.

Additionally, the firmware monitors all hardware appliances – temperature, voltages or load on the PoE-enabled network ports – to ensure safe operation, said company officials.

Managed switches come with a fully-featured software package to professionally manage complex network infrastructures - Layer-2 switching functionalities like VLANs, QoS, LLDP and link aggregation.

Designed for operating temperatures from -40 to +70 degrees C – up to +85 degrees C for 10 minutes - the Ethernet switches are fully compliant with the EN 50155 railway standard.

In April, MEN Micro expanded its CompactPCI Serial offering with a rugged 3U Ethernet Switch the G301.

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