UPDATED 12:07 EDT / FEBRUARY 01 2017

INFRA

Cisco’s newest switch is designed to power smart buildings

Before the term “switching” joined the information technology lexicon, it was used primarily in the context of electrical engineering. Cisco Systems Inc. believes that it’s now time to bring these two fields together. 

The company today launched a new line of switches called the Catalyst Digital Building Series that’s designed to serve as a central hub for managing electrical equipment. It’s based on a technology called Power over Ethernet that provides the ability to run a current through devices via the same cables which connect them to a facility’s data network. Cisco claims that its implementation can provide 60 watts per port, twice as much as the PoE+ standard normally used for the task.

Its high electrical output enables the Catalyst Digital Building to support a wide range of electrical devices. Cisco claims that the system can power light fixtures, badge readers and even certain components of a facility’s air conditioning system. It’s particularly well-equipped to manage devices that collect information about their environments.

If a facility manager wants to deploy, say, new surveillance cameras, they can simply plug them into their Catalyst Digital Building switch instead of separately linking each device to the electrical network. As the result, the amount of wiring needed to connect everything to the grid goes down. This in turn leaves less room for problems to occur, makes it simpler to perform modifications and reduces the amount of time that administrators have to spend on maintenance in the process.

As for the switch itself, it’s also designed with ease-of-use in mind. The system ships in a rugged fanless case that can be tucked somewhere out of sight and comes with a companion app for handling the initial configuration. If more advanced tweaking is required, administrators can take advantage of the built-in integration with Cisco’s Digital Network Architecture software.

The platform makes it possible to manage the Catalyst Digital Building switch from the same place as a company’s data network. Its controls enable administrators to track a building’s electric consumption, collect activity information from individual end-points and even implement cybersecurity defenses. The latter feature is especially important given the massive threat that vulnerable connected devices can pose.

Cisco sees its new switch coming handy in a wide range of applications. A manufacturer, for instance, might use the system to manage lighting in its factories and automatically illuminate a dark hallway when someone crosses it. The right type of sensors could even provide the ability to tweak the brightness levels in certain parts of the plant floor based on employee preferences.

And the opportunity for personalization grows even bigger in the hospitality industry. According to Cisco, the Catalyst Digital Building switch is already being used by the Sinclair Marriott Autograph Hotel in Texas to provide a better experience for guests and reduce electricity costs. The company claims to have halved its power bill thanks to the system.

Image via Pixabay

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