Red Lion Unveils New Industrial Ethernet Switch Series

Red Lion’s NT4008 series switches are certified to meet PROFINET PNIO v2.34 Conformance Class-B standards.

The components are designed for integration into PROFINET networks using standard PLC configuration and management tools.

 

Red Lion: An Overview

Founded in 1972, Red Lion specializes in manufacturing communication, monitoring, and control solutions for industrial automation and networking applications. A subsidiary of precision instrumentation and controls firm Spectris, Red Lion is based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and currently counts more than 400 employees worldwide.

The company has offices across the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe regions, including China, Germany, and the U.K.

 

The company’s headquarters in Harrisburg. Image courtesy of Red Lion.

 

Red Lion announced an upgrade to its FlexEdge Intelligent Edge Automation Platform last August to bring its Crimson 3.2 software to Linux-based machines. More recently, the automation giant participated in the SPS Connect event, a digital exhibition focusing on smart and digital automation solutions. 

 

The NT4008 Gigabit Layer 2 PROFINET Switches

Due to plug-and-play being installable with IGMP autoconfiguration, the new switches feature media/port auto-detection and simple ring configuration.

They are available in two 8-port configurations, with the first one featuring eight 10/100/1000 RJ45 ports. The second configuration, on the other hand, offers six 10/100/1000 RJ45 ports and two dual-mode SFP slots intended for optional 100Base or 1000Base SFP transceivers, which Red Lion specified are sold separately.

The components also come in copper and fiber options for both Fast Ethernet and Gigabit configurations, together with advanced security and traffic control features.

Specifically, the NT4008 switches support PROFINET, DHCP Server, SNMP v1, v2c, v3, IGMP v1, v2, v3, LLDP, MRP (media redundancy protocol), RSTP, MSTP, Fast Ring, and Chain protocols.

 

The NT4008 Gigabit Layer 2 Profinet Switches. Image courtesy of Red Lion.

 

They also offer a multi-layered level of safety features, thanks to SSH, SSL, HTTPS, IP, and MAC-based port security, as well as policy-based access control, and storm protection.

 

Designed for Mission-Critical Applications

Red Lion’s monitored industrial Ethernet switches are designed to offer network performance monitoring with Modbus or N-View monitoring technology. This technology provides almost 50 different status points on switch and port conditions.

These compact switches are intended for mission-critical applications and offer cost-effective switch monitoring options allowing easy integration into most industrial control systems. To ensure reliability in demanding industrial environments, the NT4008 Gigabit Layer 2 Profinet switches are housed in rugged IP30 metal enclosures.

This makes the component able to operate between -40 to +75°C and offer up to 50G shock resistance capabilities. From a regulatory perspective, the new components are UL Class 1, Division 2, and ATEX listed for use in both hazardous and ordinary locations.

They are also ABS-certified for shipboard applications and EN50155-certified for rail applications. Te NT4008 unmanaged switches can be deployed to tackle the demands of various applications, such as industrial data acquisition, control, and Ethernet I/O.

For more information about the NT4008 Gigabit Layer 2 Profinet Switches, you can check out the product page on Red Lion’s website.

 

What do you think about these new industrial switches?