Parvus Unveils Ruggedized Cisco IE-3000 Softswitch for Military/Civil Networking Applications

Parvus, a supplier of rugged Commercial-Off the Shelf (COTS)  computing and IP networking subsystems for military, aerospace and defense applications, announced the launch of DuraNET 3000, a ruggedized version of the IE-3000 industrial Ethernet softswitch from Cisco (News - Alert) Systems.

The new DuraNET 3000 is hardened with mechanical and electrical enhancements to make it suitable for demanding military/civil IP networking technology refresh and C4ISR situational awareness applications. It can now support the deployment of data, video, and voice services in extreme temperatures, shock, vibration, and humidity, as well as exposure to dust, water, and demanding EMI/EMC (News - Alert) environments.

“The DuraNET 3000 presents military and aerospace customers with a powerful ruggedized IE-3000 switch solution, delivering Cisco’s latest IOS networking management tools, protocols, and software capabilities in a mechanically hardened package ready for extreme application use,” said Parvus Marketing Director Mike Southworth, in a statement.

“While Cisco developed the IE-3000 specifically for harsh industrial network environments, such as the factory floor or utility substation, Parvus has taken ruggedization to a whole new level with the DuraNET 3000,” Southworth added. “Parvus’ hardened design now extends Cisco’s proven industrial Ethernet switch technologies into vehicle, airborne, shipboard and other extreme applications.”

The DuraNET 3000 requires no active cooling. It is completely sealed in a rugged aluminum enclosure, and provides interfaces over MIL-C-38999 style connectors. The system comes in several configurations to flexibly scale Ethernet port density from ten (10) to eighteen (18) or twenty-six (26) Ethernet ports thanks to the modular nature of the IE-3000 hardware.

The flexibility of the DuraNET 3000 enables customers to match size, weight, and power (SWaP), along with cost and functional requirements to program needs. DuraNET 3000 features MIL-STD-1275 / 704 transient protection and MIL-STD-461 filtering, and is designed to meet MIL-STD-810 environmental conditions.

Pre-production DuraNET 3000 units have begun shipping, the company said.

Parvus, a Eurotech subsidiary, recently also announced DuraMAR 5915, an ultra-rugged COTS mobile router subsystem based on the new 5915 Embedded Services Router (ESR) card from Cisco Systems (News - Alert). The DuraMAR 5915 enables prime contractors and civilian agencies to deploy Cisco Mobile Ready Net capabilities anywhere LAN or WAN connectivity may be required, particularly in mobile, airborne, ground, manned or unmanned vehicle applications.

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