A new network switch aimed at meeting the IP convergence requirements now increasingly common in the professional audio-visual industry has been released by Netgear.
Designed to co-exist on a networking platform with products from multiple AV vendors without the need for separate programming interfaces, the new Netgear M4300-96X switch conforms to the standards of the SDVoE (Software Defined Video over Ethernet) Alliance.
Believed to be one of the first low-cost-per-port, 2U rack-height modular switches on the market, the Netgear M4300-96X is a stackable 10G and 40G managed device. Capable of replacing conventional 48×48 circuit switches, it is able to scale up to 96 ports of 10G Ethernet or up to 24 ports of 40G Ethernet, or a combination of both.
From an operating perspective, the switch is pre-enabled with IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) Snooping, IGMP Fast Leave and IGMP Querier for the default VLAN 1 that devices will automatically use.
Users do not have to log onto the switch as they can simply select the M4300-96X port expansion cards that fit their requirements, insert the cards, connect the SDVoE encoders and decoders, and power on the switch.