What are the common types of industrial switch interfaces?
1. Twisted pair RJ-45 interface
This is the most widely used and most widely used interface type. It belongs to the twisted pair Ethernet interface type. It is not only used in the most basic 10Base-T Ethernet network, but also used in the current mainstream 100Base-TX Fast Ethernet and 1000Base-TX Gigabit Ethernet. Although the transmission media they use are all twisted pair types, they each use different versions of twisted pair types, such as the original 10Base-T type 3 line to support the 1000Base-TX gigabit type 6 line In the middle 100Base-TX, the so-called Category 5 and Super Category 5 cables are used. Of course, Category 6 cables can also be used. The appearance of these RJ-45 connectors is exactly the same, like a flat "T". Connected to it is the RJ-45 crystal head, a crystal head and a twisted-pair network cable to connect the crystal head. It is a 24-port RJ-45 Ethernet industrial switch, which also has 2 SC fiber interfaces and 1 AUI interface that will be described below.
2. Optical fiber interface
Although the transmission medium of optical fiber has been adopted as early as the 100Base era, this type of 100M network was called "100Base-" in order to distinguish it from the commonly used 100M twisted pair Ethernet 100Base-TX. FX", where "F" is the first letter of the fiber "Fiber". However, at the 100-megabit rate at that time, compared with the use of traditional twisted-pair media, the advantages are not obvious, and the price is much more expensive than twisted-pair, so the optical fiber was not widely used in the 100Mbps era, it is mainly from 1000Base The technology has only been fully applied since its formal implementation, because at this rate, although there are also twisted pair media solutions, the performance is far better than that of optical fiber, and it has very obvious advantages in connection distance, etc. It is very suitable for metropolitan and wide area networks use.
At present, the development of optical fiber transmission media is quite rapid, and various optical fiber interfaces are also emerging, but in LAN industrial switches, the optical fiber interface is mainly SC type, whether it is in 100Base-FX or 1000Base-FX network. The core of the SC interface is a SC fiber interface module of 100Base-FX network in the connector, and an optical fiber industrial switch that provides 4 SC fiber interfaces.
The appearance of the SC interface of the industrial switch can be seen, it is very similar to the RJ-45 interface, but the SC interface seems to be flatter and shallower. It mainly depends on what type of contact chip it is. If it is 8 copper shrapnel, it is RJ-45 interface, and if it is a copper column, it is an SC fiber interface.
3. AUI interface and BNC
The AUI interface is specifically used to connect thick coaxial cables. Although this kind of network is not common in LANs at present, in some large enterprise networks, there may still be some legacy thick coaxial cable token network equipment. Therefore, some industrial switches also retain a few AUI interfaces to meet user needs to a greater extent. The AUI interface is a 15-pin "D" shaped interface, similar to the display interface. This interface is also seen in many network devices, such as routers and even servers, AUI interface diagram on the router.
BNC is an interface specially used to connect with thin coaxial cable. At present, industrial switches that provide this interface are relatively rare. However, a few BNC interfaces are also provided in some RJ-45 Ethernet industrial switches and hubs, which are specifically used for token network connections with thin coaxial cables as transmission media. In order to show you the true appearance of BNC, the following shows you with a BNC interface network card.
4. Console interface
We know that this interface is used to configure industrial switches, so only network-managed industrial switches are available. It should also be noted that not all managed industrial switches are available. That is because there are multiple configuration methods for industrial switches, such as Telnet command line, Web, and TFTP. Although in theory, the basic configuration of the industrial switch must pass through the Console (control) port, but the basic configuration of some brands of industrial switches has been configured at the factory, without the need for basic such as IP address, basic user name, etc. Configuration, so this type of network management industrial switch does not need to provide this Console interface, and for the moment it still accounts for the majority. This type of industrial switch usually only requires some advanced configuration through the simple Telnet or Web method of the Java program.
Of course, some industrial switches still provide a console interface, but it should be noted that the console port used for industrial switch configuration is not the same for all industrial switches, and some use the same RJ-45 type console interface as the Cisco router. Others use serial ports as console interfaces.
The console ports of the two industrial switches are different, a “female” head 9-hole “D” shaped interface, and a “male” head 9-pin “D” shaped interface. They are commonly known as "DB-9" interfaces, but they are all configured for industrial switches.
In addition to the console ports of the above two industrial switches, there is also an interface commonly used for the configuration of industrial switches, that is, the 25-pin "D" shaped interface. Regardless of whether the industrial switch uses the DB-9 or DB-25 serial interface or the RJ-45 interface, when configuring the industrial switch, it is generally necessary to connect the serial to the configuration computer (usually called the terminal) through a special console cable The port is compatible with different console ports of industrial switches. There are also two types of console cables, one is a serial cable, that is, both ends are serial interfaces (both ends are female or one end is a male, and the other end is a female), both ends can be plugged into the computer separately The serial port and the console port of the industrial switch; the other is a flat cable with RJ-45 connectors (RJ-45-to-RJ-45) on both ends. Since both ends of the flat cable are RJ-45 interfaces, they cannot be directly connected to the computer serial port. Therefore, you must also use an RJ-45-to-DB-9 (or RJ-45-to-DB-25) adapter . Under normal circumstances, such a console cable and corresponding DB-9 or DB-25 adapter will be given randomly in the packing box of the industrial switch.
5.FDDI interface
In the early 100Mbps era, there is also a type of FDDI network. Its Chinese name is "optical fiber distributed data interface". It is obvious that its transmission medium is also optical fiber, and its interface type is mainly SC type. At present, because its advantages are not obvious, it is basically gone.
If you want to know more, our website has product specifications for switch interfaces, you can go to ALLICDATA ELECTRONICS LIMITED to get more information