Westermo has announced the release of seven new industrial routing switches heralding a step forward in networking performance at the edge of industrial mission critical networks. At the network edge the density of equipment has increased as well as needs such as enhanced security and network resilience hence the need for a new generation of industrial switches.

RedFox is a high performance layer 3 industrial Ethernet switch designed for high network traffic applications. Seven new switch configurations are available that can be further customised with SFP transceivers. Two models, the RFI-207-F4G-T3G and RFI-211-F4G-T7G, offer gigabit connections on all ports. The RFI-219-F4G-T7G offers 19 ports altogether including 7 SFP fibre ports in a robust and compact DIN rail mount industrial housing.

The RedFox is designed for use in heavy duty industrial applications in its robust aluminium housing and has been tested both by Westermo and external test houses to meet many EMC, isolation, vi?bration and shock standards, all to the highest levels suitable for heavy industrial environments and rail trackside application.

RedFox is powered by the Westermo WeOS network operating system, which is now delivered in 70 different models in the Westermo range. WeOS has been developed by Westermo to allow us to offer cross platform and future proof solutions. WeOS can deliver unique IP security functionality for this class of product, for instance a Multiport DMZ can be constructed by utilising the firewall function available in every port. Remote secure access to a network can be provided using encrypted VPNs.

As a Layer 3 routing switch the RedFox is capable of delivering enterprise type routing functionality with OSPF, RIP and VRRP as well as process level ring recovery times of around 20ms even at speeds of 1 gbit/sec utilising Westermo's FRNT protocol.

It has wide power range 19-60VDC on dual power inputs for resilience and requires 30% less power than the previous generation of products, a significant benefit for lifetime running costs. A wide operating temperature range -40 to +70?C (-40 to +158?F) can be achieved with no moving parts or cooling holes in the case.

Bo Jansson, Product Manager, Westermo. Email: bo.jansson@westermo.com