With the current 6th generation of Micro Switches (according to IEEE 802.3az Energy Efficient Ethernet) MICROSENS continues the device form of the installation switch available since 1995. Within the Fiber to the Office (FTTO) concept, the Micro Switch represents the decentralized workstation component for converting or switching the optical signal coming directly from the central building distributor to the typical RJ-45 user interface in the form of a fiber optic interface.
The Fast Ethernet version of the micro switch has a fiber optic uplink in 100Base-FX with either a fixed SC or ST optic and a further port hidden within the installation (also referred to by MICROSENS as a "downlink"). This downlink serves as an extension or hidden user port when the FTTO network is aligned in a star configuration in order to network further applications (WLAN access point in the double ceiling or similar) within the cabling infrastructure.
In the non-PoE Micro Switch version, the Micro Switch is powered directly via the existing 230 VAC networks. Within the installation, 4 TP ports 10/100/1000Base-T are always designed as user ports.
The hidden mini-USB interface serves as console port for direct management access to the high-performance Layer2 management, based on a future-oriented Linux operating system. The very wide range of features (especially in the area of IT security, IEEE 802.1x, VLANs IEEE 802.1q etc.) is shown in the firmware feature list (see download area), which is always extended by the implemented features after the firmware has been upgraded.
Access is password-protected via all common management interfaces such as browser-based (via web browser https/http), SSH, SNMPv3. MICROSENS NMP software optimizes access to a large number of micro switches within an FTTO network using group and master configuration.
The microSD card slot can optionally be used as a backup system for firmware and configuration. The complete device status can be transferred by exchanging the card. The memory card complies with the industry standard. A fault-tolerant journaling file system is used, which can be encrypted using the security option.