BALLSTON LAKE, NY -- Sixnet, a global market leader of industrial machine-to-machine (M2M) networking solutions, announced the EL326 Layer 3 rack-mount switch, the latest addition to its EL series of advanced industrial Ethernet switches. Designed with Layer 3 functionality, the EL326 provides 24 ports of Gigabit Ethernet, optional dedicated stacking ports and 10-Gigabit Ethernet uplinks to combine advanced enterprise-class features with high-performance switching for rugged reliability in industrial environments.
The EL326 is the newest addition to Sixnet's existing line of EL switches, which includes the EL228 (28-port Ethernet) and EL212 DIN-rail (12-port Ethernet) switches. Together, these switches provide a highly flexible product family that enables Sixnet to address a broad range of industrial networking requirements by offering a customizable solution that supports different technologies, feature sets and form factors. These capabilities address specific customer needs, helping to enable a new and more complex generation of applications for industries such as power and energy, oil and gas, transportation, video and security, military, water/wastewater, maritime and others.
"With the new EL326's Layer 3 functionality, Sixnet has truly expanded its advanced switch line to provide an intelligent communications platform that reliably supports Smart Grid operations," said Doug Sheldon, CEO of IP Systems. "The switches' small form-factor pluggable (SFP) ports are fully field-configurable and the scalability provided by the stacking options allows for great flexibility at a lower total cost of ownership."
As more devices are added to the infrastructure and network-based technologies become more common in industrial markets, customers are demanding more advanced enterprise-class features. Sixnet's EL326 switches offer Layer 3 capabilities that provide multi-service industrial networks with more control over internal traffic and VLANs, subsequently helping to manage complex systems that will continue to grow over time.
About the EL326
The EL326 is an industrial-grade rack-mountable Layer 3 Ethernet managed switch with 24 ports of Gigabit Ethernet, including four flexible SFP ports that support either fiber or copper connections. Two optional 10-Gigabit Ethernet uplinks and dedicated stacking ports enable the stacking of up to four switches, thereby providing redundancy and the ability to add capacity as required. Additional features include:
- Layer 3 routing to support standards-based routing protocols and enable redundant networking
- IPv4 and IPv6 management for hybrid IPv4/IPv6 networks
- Advanced port security (static and dynamic) that supports several authentication and encryption protocols, rate limiting and ACL features
- Powerful management for easy configuration, monitoring and troubleshooting
"As a strong addition to our industrial Ethernet switching line, the EL326 gives customers and partners a powerful combination of Layer 3 enterprise features, industrial-grade reliability and Gigabit Ethernet performance," said Andrew Bronson, Sixnet's director of connectivity solutions. "With industrial customers becoming more reliant on network-based technology to run day-to-day business operations, network infrastructures will become larger and more complex, making enterprise features a necessity in industrial environments."
About Sixnet
Celebrating 35 years in operation, Sixnet provides innovative machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity to industrial customers and markets worldwide. Sixnet's flexible solutions enable organizations to cost-effectively increase business productivity while reducing costs. By integrating powerful enterprise-class networking with rugged reliability, Sixnet meets the standards of the most demanding applications in industries such as power, oil & gas, transportation, video & security, military, mobile data, maritime and more. Based in Ballston Lake, NY, the company has offices across North America, Asia and Europe.