Backbone & Workgroup Switches

Ethernet switches are hardware devices that centralize communications among multiple connected Ethernet devices, such as computers Wi-Fi access points, IoT devices and servers, to one local area network (LAN). They manage the flow of data across the network by transmitting received network packets to one or more devices for which the packets are intended. Ethernet switches can identify every device connected to them and direct the traffic flow of the devices, which ensures the efficiency and security of the network. 

Unmanaged Ethernet switches have fixed configurations that cannot be changed. They are plug-and-play devices that are easily added to small networks and don’t need any special set-up. Managed Ethernet switches can manage, configure and monitor the settings of a LAN. They can control LAN traffic, prioritize certain channels and create new virtual LANs to keep smaller groups of devices segregated. Managed switches offer redundancy features that duplicate and recover data in the event of a device or network failure and priority SNMP allows for remote troubleshooting of the network, making it easier to check for issues impacting performance and implementing fixes if necessary.

Hirschmann MACH100 Series workgroup switches are a cost-effective alternative for Layer 2/Layer 3 applications. The switches can assign ports to different subnetworks and deliver specifically targeted data packet within these networks. They support both static and dynamic routing as well as multicast routing.

Hirschmann MACH4000 backbone switches are equipped with 8 or 16 Gigabit Ethernet ports, and by adding additional hot-swappable 8-port media modules, the port density can be increased to 24 or 48. The switches can be seamlessly integrated into PROFINET and EtherNet/IP networks where large bandwidth and versatile routing functions are required.