California, U.S.A., September 2016 – Ethernet Direct Corporation, a professional and primary provider of industrial networking and communication solutions shares the Key Challenges in Industrial Ethernet Investment & Security.

The world economic situation is causing many companies to reduce costs. This puts pressure on everyone to cut down wherever possible. To assist companies in selecting the right Industrial switches versus the environmental and application requirements, Ethernet Direct highlights the key challenges and how to eliminate the confusion or misunderstandings for many engineers or buyers who may not know the effects of these differences on performance and reliability. Here are five key areas that you should be careful to understand when choosing an Ethernet Switch.

SNMP Management. A managed switch complies with a set of standards defined by the IETF. Having the ability to support SNMP calls does not however make the switch fully managed with specification of SNMP v1, v2, or v3. As Ethernet networks bridge the front office with the factory floor, it promises to reduce the complexities and improve responsiveness by interfacing directly to production equipment, creating a common network infrastructure that transcends the office onto the plant floor.

CPU Performance. Costs can also be reduced by using less memory or a less powerful CPU in the switch. Ethernet Direct products are designed with “Made in the U.S.A.” CPU for maximum reliability.

Environmentally Tough. The need for Industrial Switches is mostly defined by the environment they will be subjected to. The harsh environment with vibration, heat, humidity, dirt and electrical noise degrading the life of components is a major cause of these early failures. Redundant power inputs with wide voltage tolerance are an important feature to consider.

Truly open systems. Many newer switches, including the emergence of Gigabit switches, will use SFPs to obtain flexibility. In some applications the uses of SFPs have eliminated the need for modular switches that have a very high cost. A good example is the Ethernet Direct HMG-448G that is an all gigabit switch with 4 SFPs and 4 10/100/1000 TX ports.

Support by the vendor. Support is a final area that may not be directly associated with the price of the switch but, clearly if you are searching for help, can cost you time, and, time is money. Be sure that if you have a question you can get a quick response from someone knowledgeable. The time to respond to a problem if the individual is not resident on the plant floor will mean additional downtime. Ethernet Direct provides the friendliest website with easy-to-find products and technical support monitored 24 hours a day by technically competent people to provide real time full support.