Eaton MTL

MTL Instruments Group

FAQs in Industrial Ethernet

Questions

Answers

Can switches be protected from unauthorised user access?

Yes. By using password protection either at the network management software level or at port level on the switch itself by switching the port “off”, or by password authentication in the switch.

Appropriate measures be to protect the devices attached to MTL managed switches from hackers?

The fitting of a hardware firewall (such as Tofino) upstream & adjacent to the switch will stop the switch from being vulnerable to attack. A further level of protection could be achieved by fitting hardware firewalls between the switch & the end devices connected to it.

Can diagnostic data from a switch on an ethernet LAN be exported into eg a SCADA package?

Yes - Using SNMP software running on the network to diagnose & monitor the LAN, combined with OPC server software which will enable export of data to & from the SCADA application.

Can switches be connected to Routers?

Yes - typically using a 100Mbps or 1Gbps Cat5/6 copper cable or fibre optic cable for longer distances.

Could MTL and Cisco switches reside on the same subnet?

Yes.

How would I connect from my LAN to the internet to remotely exchange data between separate networks?

This would be done through a router.

How would I connect from my LAN to another LAN to allow network data to be exchanged?

This would be achieved via a router.

What would be a simple way to check if there is a valid cable connection to a managed switch?

By using the PING command from the DOS (or command) prompt in the computer.

Can the copper port or fibre optic connections on a switch be disabled if required?

Yes, by setting a port to disabled using the configuration software.

How would I know if there was a problem with a Physical copper connection between switches?

As a first level visual diagnostic you would not see a green or green/yellow link status LED flashing on the respective ports. Tip – always check the cable connection & termination is properly installed.

How do users assign IP addresses to managed MTLindustrial ethernet switches?

By using the web interface (plugging in to a copper port on the switch).

What copper ethernet cable would be needed for Gigabit ethernet connections between switches?

Generally any cable marked as Category 6, either shielded or unshielded with RJ45 connectors.

Can a switch function as a router?

In some instances a managed ethernet switch can be set to function as the “default gateway” or router for a network.

Do I need to use a special “cross over” cable to allow communication between a switch?

No – most industrial ethernet switches now have “auto crossover” as a built in feature.

Will a hub with a transmit speed of 10Mbps Half Duplex be able to communicate with a switch?

Yes – the switch will use “auto negotiation” to ensure the communication path is optimised.

Will a PC with a 100Mbps Network Interface Card (NIC) be able to communicate with a switch?

Yes.

What ethernet protocols can be transmitted through MTL switches?

Typically TCP/IP, UDP, Modbus TCP/IP, Profinet (Siemens), Ethernet IP (Rockwell).

Are MTL switches mounting orientation sensitive?

Generally mounting is preferred “upright”, but the devices will still function if eg rotated 180 degrees. Remember they are fanless units, so heat convection is less of an issue than with non industrialised products.

What is the alarm relay on a MTL switch used for?

To provide a hard wired input to indicate there is a fault in the switch, eg PSU error or a link is down.

How many switches can be supplied form one power supply?

This will depend on the output power (in Amps) of the power supply, but several switches could be powered from eg one 2.5A power supply if considered appropriate for the network installation.

What would happen if the main and redundant power supplies to a switch are severed?

The switch will immediately power down and the address table in the device will be flushed. Switches provide no power “hold up” capability. Fitting a UPS to the redundant supply on a switch is advisable.

Can Redundant Ring and RSTP be enabled on the same switch?

Yes, however, a particular port may only be used for one protocol or the other. For example, if a port is part of a Redundant Ring, that port cannot also participate in a spanning tree.

Can I use Redundant Ring with another brand of ring switch, or another ring protocol?

No, Redundant Ring may only be used to connect to other MTL Redundant Ring-capable devices.

Which managed switches support Redundant Ring?

All MTL Managed switches support Redundant Ring.

How many rings can I configure using Redundant Ring?

You can configure up to four independent rings, as long as your device has enough ports to do so. For example, a five-port managed switch such as the 9205-ETM-2M/S switch can only support two rings, because it does not have enough ports to support four rings. However, the 10-port 9210-ETM-3G-2Fswitch does support the full four-ring limit.

How quickly does the Redundant Ring protocol recover from a failure?

RTR can typically recover in 30 ms (milliseconds) plus 5ms per hop. For example, a four-switch ring would normally recover from a failure in 50 ms.

How many switches can I connect in a Redundant Ring?

While there is no maximum, the larger the ring gets, the longer the network will take to recover from a failure. Our ring switches have been field tested with over 80 switches in a single ring.

What is Redundant Ring?

Redundant Ring is a MTL proprietary protocol that provides extremely fast failure recovery in the event of a network break. It is many times faster than RSTP. However, it can only be configured in a ring, whereas RSTP can be arranged in almost any configuration.

How many switches can I connect in an RSTP network?

You can have a maximum of 40 hops in an RSTP network. Hops are the number of connections between the two farthest points on the network. In most practical networks, this means you cannot have more that 40 switches between any two points.

Which managed switches support RSTP (Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol)?

All MTL managed switches fully support RSTP. By default, all 9200-ET series switches will have RSTP enabled.

Does an unmanaged switch require any setting up to enable it to transmit to other devices?

Unmanaged switches are generally “plug & play” devices.

Can an unmanaged switch be used as part of a Redundant Ring architecture?

This is not recommended as the full performance of a managed network could not be achieved
with this mixture of managed & unmanaged devices.

Could a MTL unmanaged switch connect to a Hirschmann (or other manufacturers) MANAGED switch?

Yes - typically with a Cat 5 100Mbps copper ethernet cable or a fibre optic cable, eg when being
used to provide extra localised connection ports.

Can a MTL unmanaged switch connect to a Hirschmann (or another manufacturers) unmanaged switch?

Yes - typically with a Cat 5 100Mbps copper ethernet cable or a fibre optic cable, eg when being used to provide extra localised connection ports.

Can a switch be connected to a Wireless ethernet router or access point?

Yes - typically by using a Cat 5 copper ethernet cable at 100Mbps full duplex (FDX)

Can MTL switches connect to office grade switches from e.g. HP or Cisco?

Yes they are all ethernet switches and so can communicate with each other, either as unmanaged
or managed devices.

Can a Gigabit switch be connected to a Fast Ethernet switch?

Yes however the system will auto-negotiate to the speed of the slowest device.

Can switches be connected using either copper or fibre optic cable?

Yes using either the built-in fibre connectivity of the switch or by using a converter.

Can managed and unmanaged switches be connected together?

Yes, but for best system optimisation & diagnostics, the utilisation of managed switches throughout
is advised.