The Point System™ is a cost effective, fully configurable, managed modular
media conversion platform that provides users with the flexibility to build
their own custom media conversion system. The system includes rack mountable
chassis and modular, hot-swappable slide-in-cards. Each Point System™ Slide-In-Module
media converter, regardless of protocol, can slide into the same chassis and
provide managed media conversion services to suit a custom network application. The Point System™ modular media conversion system is a desired solution in
enterprise and service provider networks, because it offers: |
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| Transition's media converters allow users to only pay for
fiber ports used when adding fiber to their networks. Combining media conversion
with copper-based equipment can save up to 45% in cost. The Point System™'s
modular design allows users to add converters as they need to add fiber to their
network. Therefore, users can utilize their existing copper-based equipment
and not buy fixed multiport fiber devices. |
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| Because the cards are modular, users can add them gradually when
fiber is added to the network and the network grows. All card blades are hot-swappable
and powered by chassis power supplies. The modularity also means that the Point
System supports a mix of various protocols in the chassis. For example, a 19-slot
chassis could be populated with 19 homogenous or unique converters (e.g. (Ethernet,
T1/E1, ATM or OC-12). Network designs differ widely, so Transition Networks
has introduced a variety of chassis models to address each specific need.
The chassis cabinets are available in 19, 18, 13, 8, 2, or 1 slots. |
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Administrators continuously monitor the network, allowing them to quickly
respond to and troubleshoot possible issues. Configuring the network is essential
to the administrators as no one has a perfect network that can run without
any intervention. To improve the efficiency and save response time administrators
turn to SNMP management because it offers them considerable cost savings
by eliminating the need to send a technician to a remote location and by improving
the accuracy of the configuration. The Point System™ offers a full control over the media conversion process.
This full control translates into three major aspects of network management.
It offers: - A complete monitoring capability where cards can be monitored for
power status, link status, individual card settings and connection options.
The chassis cabinet itself provides information about internal temperature
conditions, redundancy configuration of each power supply and current power
consumption by each power supply.
- Active configuration of the media conversion platform (drive-by-wire).
The users have the ability to power on or off chassis card slots and reconfigure
each power supply's mode (primary/secondary). Each media converter
card provides a distinct set of user configurable features such as Auto-negotiation
Disable/Enable; Force 100Mbps/Full Duplex; Assign priority level threshold
(IEEE 802.1P); etc.
- Alarm notification capability. Failure conditions and specific
events discovered by Point System™ are reported to multiple user-defined
destinations in the form of an SNMP Trap.
This full control is protected by sophisticated SNMP Management Security
Features to ensure that only authorized personnel can access the management. |
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Network uptime is crucial and the Point System™ includes several features
that will ensure your network will stay up and running. The Point System™ Chassis
offers a redundant power option. Each chassis is shipped with one power
supply. The chassis can accommodate a second power supply. Power supplies
are available for AC or DC power. The power supplies are hot swappable so
they can be replaced while the chassis is running. The instant fail-over bus
ensures that if one power supply fails, the second power supply will keep
the chassis up and running. Redundancy of SNMP management is also available by placing two primary
management modules in a chassis or a stack of chassis. The management modules
negotiate primary and secondary responsibility to manage the chassis or stack
of units. In the event the primary management module fails the secondary unit
takes control. Furthermore, each individual converter maintains its feature configuration
within a microcontroller on the converter card. If a management module fails
the cards will stay up and running because the configuration information is
not lost with the loss of a management module. Each card and power supply
has built in surge protection to protect the unit from power surges. The power
supplies are equipped with a standard 4-amp fuse and can be repaired in the
field. When multiple chassis are connected to each other the SNMP management protection
in case of failure becomes critical. Healing Bus enables the users to maintain
full control of the daisy chained chassis so that the failure of any one module
will not effect remaining modules in the stack. |
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| Point System™ bridges the gap between continuous development of
new networking technologies and the long-term nature of an investment in networking
gear. Transition Networks has implemented several features that will allow you
to keep your Point System™ Chassis current. Each of the management modules can
be updated via firmware upgrade. So, as network technologies advance
and new converters are introduced, the management module of today can support
the media converter of tomorrow. Similarly, our media converters can also be
updated in the field. The firmware upgrade can be performed either locally via
a Console port or remotely via TFTP. Furthermore, new converter addition
does not require the reconfiguration of the SNMP management settings. |
