SRS Lighting | VLAN toolbox 8-2 | 8-port managed cisco switch | User interface on display | 8x etherCON 1GB-S | PoE+ | 19Inch 1U

Patch field with assignment of VLANs

Setting up switches in a network can be a complicated job. It requires expertise and you need a laptop for it. For this reason, the VLAN toolbox switch controller was developed: a patch field with etherCON and (optionally) fibre optic connections. That way, data streams from, for example, DANTE, sACN, Art-Net, video can be physically routed separately from each other within a network, without the intervention of a PC or laptop.

Creating VLANs

The VLAN toolbox is a 19" control panel housing a switch. This creates a 19" unit with Ethernet connections at the front, which can be individually assigned to VLANs. In addition, there are optionally four connections at the front or rear of the unit for a fibre-optic network. For visual interaction, it is equipped with a graphic display.

Trunking

An advantage of using the VLAN toolbox is that establishing trunk links between switches is as easy as assigning VLANs. Thus, networks can be simplified and the available bandwidth can be used optimally. Applying redundancy, actually a requirement for a reliable network, is significantly simplified by the VLAN toolbox.
VLAN Toolbox 8-2 can work with single trunks at 1Gb/s and trunks that can be deployed within a LAG (Link Aggregation Group) at speeds of up to 2Gb/s. These options can be used simultaneously, so you are not limited to a single trunk link.

Without a computer

The advantage of this controller is that the switch is easier to access - without a PC - and that essential settings relating to data communication - which make the network considerably faster and more reliable - can be made on the fly. The chance of making a mistake and thus rendering the switch inaccessible is practically impossible.
Applying redundancy in the network is a piece of cake with the VLAN toolbox.

Overview with indicator LEDs

At the same time, the user interface provides considerably more insight into the status of the network through the presence of indicator LEDs for port activity and through colours for assignment to a specific VLAN.
There are several versions: 8 etherCON connectors without fibre connectors and 8 etherCON connectors combined with two fibre connectors either at the front or at the rear. The fibre-optic ports can be implemented as LC-Duplex or the super-reliable Q-ODC format. Alternatively, fibre-optic connections of a different format can be chosen.