Unlock the Potential of Seamless Failover Testing & More
Echola Systems' Fiber-Cut Switches are designed to simulate real-world fiber cuts, enabling seamless failover testing and automation in QA and R&D test labs. By automating fiber-cut failure detection, these switches help identify faults early, reducing costs associated with customer-reported issues and the impact of fixing them later. The FC series switches use 1x1 MEMS switches to simulate clean fiber cuts, while the VFC series switches utilize MEMS VOAs to replicate real-world fiber-cut scenarios. Both single-mode and multi-mode options are available. They are designed with user convenience in mind, featuring a user-friendly web interface for straightforward configuration and monitoring. Furthermore, the integration of REST APIs enables seamless automation and remote control, making them an excellent choice for modern, automated networks.
Applications
The Echola Systems fiber-cut switches are ideal for testing network failover scenarios in systems using OTN, DWDM, High Speed Ethernet, SONET/SDH, ATM, and Fibre Channel technologies. These systems often employ optical line protection (OLP), Automatic Protection Switching (APS), or similar restoration mechanisms that demand accurate and responsive failover simulations.
Our fiber-cut switch offers two other functionalities to protect enterprise networks and data:
Air-Gap Switch for Safeguarding Data and Backups
Protect sensitive data and backups against cyber threats with these key benefits:
- Foolproof Isolation: The optical interfaces are completely isolated from the control plane, preventing unauthorized access by threat actors. The switch is accessible only through an out-of-band channel, ensuring maximum security.
- Reduced Complexity: Eliminates the need for complex policy scripts or disruptive equipment power cycling, simplifying operations.
- Faster Restoration: Enables quick recovery after incidents, ensuring minimal downtime and operational continuity.
Kill Switch with IDS/IPS Integration
Prevent network infiltration by seamlessly integrating with Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) or Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS):
- Instant Threat Response: Quickly isolate threats at the click of a button or via a REST API script.
- Proactive Protection: Acts as a safeguard against ongoing attacks by cutting off the network path to threat actors.
- Enhanced Security Layer: Complements existing network defenses, providing an extra barrier against infiltration.
Why Choose Echola Systems' Fiber-Cut Switches?
Traditional approaches, such as using Layer 2 (OEO) switches or power cycling, introduce excessive latency, rendering them unsuitable for testing failover scenarios that must comply with the 50-ms convergence requirement.
Overcoming OEO Switch Limitations
- High Latency: OEO switches exceed acceptable restoration latency thresholds, hindering effective failover testing.
- Costly Transceivers: Each port, speed, or protocol requires expensive transceivers, increasing operational costs.
MEMS VOA-Based Technology
- Faster Response: Less than 5ms switching speed
- Protocol Agnostic: Seamlessly supports Ethernet, Fibre Channel, OTN, DWDM, ATM and other protocols.
- Various Bit rate Support: Compatible with speeds ranging from 1G to 100G and beyond.
- Industry Compliance: Adheres to Telcordia 1209 and 1221 reliability standards, ensuring robustness and reliability.
Simulating Real-World Fiber Cuts
Real-world fiber cuts are not always "clean." Often, fibers are stretched before breaking, causing a gradual signal degradation before complete loss. Our VFC series fiber-cut switches enable users to configure:
- Switching Delay: Mimic real-world delay scenarios.
- Attenuation Profiles: Simulate gradual optical power degradation.
Key Features
- Compact Form Factor: upto 20 ports in 1RU/5" deep
- Ultra-Fast Response: MEMS VOA chips ensure a response time under 5 ms.
- Protocol and Speed Agnostic: Compatible with Ethernet, Fibre Channel, OTN, and more at any speed (1G–100G+).
- Telcordia Compliance: Meets the highest reliability standards (Telcordia 1209 and 1221).
- Realistic Simulation: Configure delays and attenuation to mimic real-world scenarios.
- Remote Management: Web-based interface over HTTPS and CLI via SSH.
- Automation Support: Integrate with REST APIs or legacy CLI-based tools.
Available Models
Fiber-cut switches are available in 10-port and 20-port configurations, with options for both single-mode and multi-mode models. The FC series utilizes 1x1 MEMS switches, while the VFC series features MEMS VOA technology.
VFC1011-SM
10-port Single-mode Fiber-Cut Optical Switch
VFC2011-SM
20-port Single-mode Fiber-Cut Optical Switch
VFC1011-MM
10-port Multi-mode Fiber-Cut Optical Switch
VFC2011-MM
20-port Multi-mode Fiber-Cut Optical Switch
FC1011-MM
10-port Multi-mode Fiber-Cut Switch (1x1 Switch Based)
VFC1011-SM Specifications
| PARAMETER | TYPICAL VALUE |
|---|---|
| Wavelength | 1280-1625 nm |
| Insertion Loss (excluding connectors) | ≤ 1.0 dB |
| Wavelength Dependent Loss (WDL) | ≤ 0.15 dB |
| Polarization Dependent Loss (PDL) | ≤ 0.1 dB |
| Return Loss | > 55 dB |
| Attenuation Dynamic Range | > 30 dB |
| Attenuation Resolution | 256 steps |
| Switching Time | ≤ 5ms |
| Max Repetition Rate | 20 Hz |
| Operating Temperature Range | -5 ~ 70 °C |
| Relative Humidity Range | 5 ~ 85 % RH |
| Durability | > 10 Million Cycles |
| Form Factor | 1RU, 5 inch deep |
| Power Supply | 100-240V AC, 50/60Hz |
| Power Consumption | < 7 Watts |
| Display | 1 inch OLED |
| Optical Interface | 10x Duplex Single-mode LC connectors |
| Network Interface | 1x Fast Ethernet (RJ45) connector |
| Peripheral Interface | 1x USB for WiFi Dongle or external Flash |
| Console/Debug Interface | 1x USB micro connector serial interface (Baud 115200) |