RAD Data Communications announced today the addition of a unique secure, service-aware switch solution for critical Industrial Ethernet applications and the public utilities market. An ideal defense-in-depth solution, the new product is manufactured by RADiFlow, a member of the RAD Group of companies. The RADiFlow switch extends RAD’s existing offerings for industrial applications and is interoperable with its other solutions, such as its Axcess+ portfolio.
The proliferation of Industrial Ethernet as the mainstay of vital mission-critical processes is legitimately raising public fears about the vulnerability of these networks to cyber security threats.
To properly address security risks, operators of Industrial Ethernet networks are advised to implement a defense-in-depth deployment. Such a deployment should include distributed security mechanisms throughout the network and awareness of the application logic to prevent malicious intrusions from seemingly valid endpoints. The service-aware Industrial Ethernet switch from RADiFlow is able to process the industrial automation control protocols and provide an application-aware firewall on each user port, resulting in a comprehensive security solution.
Featuring a unique service-aware architecture, the switch incorporates a strong networking feature set engineered to fit in the harsh environs of a mission-critical industrial environment with the integrated application-aware security mechanisms. Such an integrated approach enables optimization of a secured networking solution both in terms of operational simplicity and equipment cost.
“The RADiFlow service-aware Industrial Ethernet switch not only provides advanced Ethernet/IP functionality with powerful end-to-end performance monitoring capabilities, they are the first line of defense against malicious intrusion for any infrastructure running mission critical applications,” explains Sammy Elalouf, RAD’s Director of European Sales. “This significantly strengthens RAD’s own portfolio for the public utilities market, which includes multiservice access nodes, multiplexers, voice trunking gateways, and copper and fiber modems.”
The RADiFlow Industrial Ethernet switch portfolio comes in three DIN-rail form factors: modular switches with 3 or 7 I/O slots; or a compact 10-port system. The switches are designed to work in harsh industrial environments, from -40 Celsius to +75 Celsius and support the IEC 61850 EMC and EMI requirements. The user-facing modules are Ethernet or RS-232/RS-485 serial interfaces.
The equipment features advanced Ethernet and IP functionality with serial tunneling or service translation support and IEEE1588v2 transparent clock capabilities for highly accurate clock redistribution. Integrated security mechanisms include MAC/IP filtering per port, a distributed app-aware firewall supporting a variety of industrial automation protocols and secured remote access gateway.
The devices are managed using iSIM, an intuitive network management tool, providing topology planning, end-to-end service provisioning, network diagnostics and integration with RAD’s RADview EMS.
