R&D highlights Gigabit, 10 Gigabit Ethernet switches

	The KS1005 model from Kasda has five auto-negotiation ports and provides flow control for full-duplex operation.

Ethernet switch suppliers will focus on high-speed products to heighten presence in the enterprise sector.

China manufacturers of Ethernet switches will boost production of Gigabit models in coming months to strengthen their foothold on the enterprise sector and arrest an anticipated decline in sales. Most will develop L2 and L3 managed versions to move out of the already mature and saturated Fast Ethernet unmanaged line.

Local suppliers note rising requirement for Gigabit models for SOHO and midsize enterprise applications, which used to be the market of Fast Ethernet types. They believe the trend for high speed and performance is driving upgrades in these user bases.

A few major suppliers are producing 10 Gigabit varieties. Other companies plan to follow suit to penetrate the market currently dominated by international giants. Proware Technologies Co. Ltd, which is emphasizing L2 and L3 managed switches, will release 10 Gigabit variants in 2012.

These developments in China reflect global movements, with Gigabit Ethernet models taking up nearly 70 percent of the L2 and L3 switching market, according to IDC. In 1Q11, overall shipments of such products grew more than 12 percent YoY, Canalys recorded.

The 10 Gigabit version will post the strongest growth this year with data center deployments. Servers are being migrated from multiple Gigabit Ethernet connections to two 10 Gigabit links. Data from research agencies likewise indicate a 16 percent jump YoY in the line’s revenue because of widening adoption in information hubs and campus core networks.

Worldwide deliveries of 10 Gigabit ports reached 1.4 million units in 1Q11 amid price reductions of more than 20 percent per port compared with the previous quarter.

Despite these positive projections, some China manufacturers foresee a downswing in the overall category due to weakening demand from the public sector.

	Full River's model SW1012 Fast Ethernet switch has eight ports and features broadcast storm filtering control.

China manufacturers offer 100Mbps, Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet switches, including Web-Smart, managed and unmanaged models. The first dominates supply with a more than 60 percent share of total shipments because of its low price.

Products are mainly targeted at telecom carriers and enterprises.

The line takes up most of interviewed makers’ production. At Full River (Hong Kong) Ltd, it is about 70 percent share of the volume and at Proware 60 percent.

China suppliers source chipsets mainly from Broadcom, Marvell, Realtek, Vitesse and IC Plus. The first two providers are preferred for high-end variants, and the rest for the low-end and midrange categories.

Makers purchase other components and materials, including PCBs and housings, from local factories.

Prices of switches from China manufacturers range from $4 to more than $3,000. The huge gap is attributed to backplane bandwidth, number of ports and network scalability.

FOB quotes of 100Mbps versions are expected to remain the same in the months ahead, while those of Gigabit types will decrease 5 to 10 percent.

Over 10 percent reductions are predicted for 10 Gigabit variants.

	The model SWH-2126GSFP Fast Ethernet from CTS has two GbE combo ports.

Speed enhancement, compatibility and “green” technology lead product trends in Taiwan’s Ethernet switch industry. The line targets metro, enterprise and SME/SOHO applications.

Manufacturers are releasing more 10 Gigabit LAN models to enable faster data transmission. They continue to develop versions with fiber-optic ports and Power-over-Ethernet. This is because devices supporting the last such as IP cameras and phones, access points and routers are growing in number.

Gigabit units, however, are still the mainstream.

Designs with intelligent power-saving features are being introduced as well. Products that operate in -40 to 75 C are available on request.

In addition, the selection in Taiwan includes stackable and unstackable, managed and unmanaged Ethernet switches that support up to 48 ports. There are L2 and L3 types. The former make up the mainstream supply, while L3 variants are classified as high-end. Fiber or SFP units based on 1,000Mbps and copper or RJ-45 based on 10/100/1,000Mbps are preferred.

Entry-level models accommodate up to 16 ports, some of which support 10/100Mbps. Upscale versions are expandable to 24 or 48 ports.

Local makers source chipsets mainly from Broadcom.

Micronet Communications Inc. offers switches with remote power management for controlling energy consumption.

Planet Technology Corp. has released a solution with a PoE schedule function. This helps enable or disable PoE power feeding to each port during specified time intervals, thereby saving energy and money where applicable. The company also uses an advanced power management tool that includes high temperature protection, usage threshold alert and auto power allocation to prevent overloading.

Connection Technology Systems Inc.’s products pack FTTH cable management solutions and trays to store and organize the network’s wires.

Related reports:
Servers: Wireless units gathering steam
Wireless routers: High data rate positions 802.11n types in mainstream

Connection Technology Systems Inc.
(Taiwan)

Model: HES-3109 series
Description: Gigabit Ethernet managed L2 type; eight 10/100/1,000Mbps RJ-45, one 100/1,000Mbps F/O ports; 16Gbps nonblocking switching fabric; up to 8K Mac address table; bandwidth control; optional built-in cable tray; power-saving function

Full River (Hong Kong) Ltd
(mainland China)

Model: GEM-2005
Description: 802.3, 802.3µ; 10/100Mbps auto-negotiation ports with auto-MDI/MDIX; RTL8306SC chipset; Mac address auto-learning, -aging; LED indicators for power, link, activity monitoring; external power adapter; desktop or wall mount; metal case

Full River (Hong Kong) Ltd
(mainland China)

Model: SW-1024P(IC1725)
Description: Power-over-Ethernet type; 24 10/100Mbps desktop ports; IC+IP1725 chipset; up to 15.4W power for each PoE port, 138W for all; support for 802.3af-compliant PDs; 802.3 flow control; seamless network connection, power auto-detect and -supply; 441x208x44mm; black metal housing

Kasda Digital Technology Co. Ltd
(mainland China)

Model: KS1008
MOQ: 1,000 units
Description: 802.3, 802.3µ; eight 10/100/1,000Mbps auto-negotiation RJ-45 ports with auto-MDI/MDIX; 802.3x flow control for full-duplex mode, back pressure for half-duplex; Mac address auto-learning, -aging; LED indicators for power, link, activity monitoring; external power adapter; desktop or wall-mount; plastic case

Micronet Communications Inc.
(Taiwan)

Model: SP6524P
Description: 24 802.3af PoE, 802.3at PoE ports; VLAN tagging, link aggregation, SNMP, RMON, IGMP; QoS; 802.1x with RADIUS and TACACS+ server for authentication; rate limiting, port self-loop detection, port mirroring, RSTP root guard; DHCP client, relay; IP and Mac ACL, Mac-based port, SSL, SSH security; 430x350x44mm

Planet Technology Corp.
(Taiwan)

Model: SGSW-24040HP
Description: Power-over-Ethernet type; 802.3af up to 15.4W, 802.3at high-power PoE up to 30.8W; 24 10/100/1,000Mbps copper RJ-45 ports with auto-MDI/MDIX, four shared SFP 802.3 at PoE managed stackable switch; RS-232 DB9 serial port; IPv6, IPv4 network structure; flexible stacking, dynamic port link aggregation, Q-in-Q/private VLAN, MSTP, L2 to L4 QoS, bandwidth control, IGMP snooping

Proware Technologies Co. Ltd
(mainland China)

Model: PS-F724G4C2
Description: 24+4G Gigabit-uplink L2 managed type; 802.1d STP, 802.1w RSTP and 802.1s MSTP; 24 10/100Mbps, four 10/100/1,000Mbps UTP/STP RJ-45 ports with auto-MDI/MDIX; two SFP combo ports supporting Mini-GBIC modules; 802.3ad link aggregation, manual port trunking, IGMP snooping, multicast filtering; QoS; standard industry CLI, Web GUI, SNMP v1/v2c/v3, RMON

Proware Technologies Co. Ltd
(mainland China)

Model: PS-G124
Description: Gigabit Ethernet type;
24 ports; 802.3x flow control for full-duplex mode, back pressure for half-duplex; 802.1p QoS; full/half-duplex transfer for 10/100Mbps, full-duplex transfer for 1,000Mbps; Mac address self-learning, auto-aging; store and forward switching, wire speed reception and transmission; internal universal power supply; standard 19in rack-mountable steel case

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