Networking company NETGEAR has today launched its new NETGEAR ProSafe Intelligent Edge M4100 series of managed switches designed to power converged networks.
The M4100 series comes with both redundant and external power supply capability, which is key for critical applications such as VoIP, IP surveillance and wireless access points in small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Also, the flexibility of a Power over Ethernet (PoE) switch is also convenient for meeting rooms and open spaces where visible electrical wiring is unsightly or impractical.
The new NETGEAR Intelligent Edge M4100 series consists of 12 fully managed switch products in desktop and rackmount form factors, ranging from 8-port Fast Ethernet and PoE to 50-port Gigabit Ethernet and PoE Plus (up to 30W). Power budgets of these switches range from 66W to 1,440W.
As mentioned, these new switches are ideal for SMBs, as well as educational institutions, hospitals, government agencies and other networks supporting fewer than 500 users. These will also prove quite advantageous for those who require a reliable, affordable and simple access layer switching with CLI, scripting and IPv4 static L3 routing, IPv4/IPv6 ACLs and QoS.
NETGEAR recently noticed rapid proliferation of entry-level managed switches aimed at SMBs, which are deficient in both hardware and software features. The new switches are designed to address this limitation, according to officials at NETGEAR.
The demand for these switches have significantly grown due to a wide adoption of virtualization, the convergence of voice, video and data and the rapid proliferation of bandwidth-intensive applications such as IP phones and cameras among these organizations.
As also mentioned, the M4100 series comes equipped with advanced features such as redundant and external Power Supply (RPS and EPS) options that facilitate, improve and secure convergent applications such as VoIP deployment, IPTV (News - Alert) and video surveillance installations, as well as wireless access point infrastructures.
"NETGEAR has developed the M4100 Series for smaller networks, at a competitive price point, but packed with the latest feature enhancements of higher end, more demanding solutions traditionally designed for the enterprise market,” explained Maggie Wu, senior product line manager for NETGEAR Switching Products, in a statement.
In addition to offering enhanced security and availability, the Intelligent Edge M4100 series offers improved convergence of voice, video and data as well as investment protection to an expandable PoE power budget (up to 1,440W PoE budget per switch). The solution offers scalability up to full PoE+ power across all ports.
Edited by Allison Boccamazzo