Kontron is expanding its product line of industrial switches to include models for Fast and Gigabit Ethernet. In the first quarter of this year, 23 variants of the KSwitch family will be available; further versions will follow in the course of the year.

The new switches are suitable for Fast and Gigabit networks up to 10 Gbit and have been specially developed for industrial environments. In addition to a compact design, the switches offer the option of connecting machines, controllers and other components with each other on the basis of industry standards. All switches can be combined with each other.

Reduced power consumption

Thanks to the single-chip design, the devices operate reliably and with high performance while simultaneously reducing power consumption. Standardized RJ45 and optional SFP (Small Formfactor Pluggable) slots are available to the user. SFPs are available as modular, optical or electrical transceivers for fiber optics or 'Direct Attach Copper' and can be used in a scalable manner depending on the application.

Suitable for demanding industrial environments

The switches have a high-quality metal housing and can be used at temperatures from -40 to +75 °C or from -10 to +60 ºC as standard. They support an extended supply voltage range from 12 to 58V(DC). Thanks to the power supply unit and electrical immunity at each port of up to 2 kV surge (overvoltage), the switches work safely and reliably even in harsh production environments with strong magnetic fields or unstable power supplies.

Some of the switches support Power Over Ethernet (PoE/PoE+, Ultra PoE) or can be operated as a powered device. In addition to other functions, implemented management functions also enable the creation of virtual local networks (VLAN) in order to structure networks in industrial environments and separate them for security reasons.

All models will be available from March 2021 via the Rutronik24 webshop.