Transition Networks Launches Industrial Substation Switch

Indura™ Switch Delivers Reliability through Innovative Heat Dissipation in Harsh Environments

Houston — May 15, 2012 — Transition Networks Inc., a preferred technology partner delivering innovative fiber networking and specialized products worldwide, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ-GM: JCS), announced today at the Entelec Conference & Expo, the launch of its new industrial product platform, the Indura™. The Indura™ IND-3280 series of switches are among the first dual-stack IPv4/v6 Layer 2 industrial Ethernet switches compliant with international substation IEC 61850-3 and IEEE 1613 Class 2 requirements. The Indura™ IND-3280 is the first electrical substation switch, designed and engineered exclusively by Transition Networks for Smart Grid and electrical substation infrastructure.

The Indura™ IND-3280 uses an innovative fanless passive cooling design to achieve exceptional thermal performance. Conventional industrial switch heat dissipation designs do not provide sufficient cooling for the heat generated by SFP modules. SFP modules are often the first major component of any system to fail, due to heat generated during normal operation reaching, and often exceeding, the SFP modules’ maximum rated temperatures.

Hazardous locations such as electrical substations, oil & gas production and chemical manufacturing are ideal environments for Indura™ IND-3280 network deployments. For Smart Grid mission critical applications and networks requiring 99.9999‰ availability, the Indura™ IND-3280 supports both Precision Time Protocol IEEE 1588v2 and sub 50ms multi-ring failover protection using ITU-T G.8031/G.8032v2 standards. Transition Networks designed the Indura™ IND-3280 to meet the international substation automation standards, IEC 61850-3 and IEEE 1613 Class 2, and the standards for hazardous oil & gas and chemical manufacturing locations, Class 1, Division 2 and ATEX Zone 2.

“We are pleased to offer our new Indura™ industrial product line to Oil & Gas, Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution customers, as we bring 25 years of fiber connectivity and network management experience to this market,” said Sev Sadura, General Manager at Transition Networks. “Transition Networks provides a unique value to customers who prefer commonalities in technology across radically different operational environments. We offer identical network management and user interface capabilities for users in industrial-grade, carrier-grade and office-grade environments. This largely flattens the learning curve, allowing customers to deploy and support products and applications more quickly.”

The Indura™ IND-3280 satisfies the requirements of utilities offering broadband service to customers, because it includes advanced management features such as 802.3ah Link OAM and 802.1ag Service OAM to support service level agreements (SLAs). The Indura™ IND-3280 also meets Carrier Ethernet 2.0 (CE2.0) certification criteria, for telecoms and service providers.

“Our engineering team created an exciting product design for the Indura™ platform. The Indura™ IND-3280 will be the first in a series of industrial switches designed to remain reliable in the harshest environments due to its innovative heat dissipation technology, rugged industrial design and lifetime warranty,” stated Kevin Faulds, Director of Product Management at Transition Networks.

Product Features
This feature-rich, intelligent industrial switch incorporates a complete Ethernet OAM (Operation, Administration, and Maintenance) suite that allows both Ethernet link fault and connectivity management that dramatically increases service availability and reduces mean time to repair (MTTR).

Smart Grid applications require the strategic ability to monitor and report the health of the network to ensure precise and accurate data throughput. Using standards-based Service Performance Monitoring (ITU-T Y.1731), the Indura™ IND-3280 provides precise performance monitoring statistics that include packet loss, throughput and packet delay measurements.

The product also fully supports the most advanced security features available such as: SSL, SSH, Multi-layer Access Control Lists (ACL), RADIUS TACACS+ and management VLANs to prevent unauthorized access.

The Indura™ IND-3280 has an operating temperature of -40°C to 75°C and dual redundant DC power inputs ranging from 18-57VDC. The fanless design of the Indura™ IND-3280 increases the product’s reliability over the duration of its deployment.

Provisioning, management and monitoring of the Indura™ IND-3280 can be performed from an intuitive built-in web-GUI interface, an integrated CLI (either via telnet or the console port) or event trap-monitoring via SNMP v1, v2c or v3.

Product Configuration

Product Availability
Visit Transition Networks at the Entelec Conference & Expo at booth #518 for a demonstration of the features of Indura™ IND-3280. Or contact Transition Networks at (800) 526-9267 or +1-952-941-7600 for pricing and more information on the Indura™ product line and accessories. Or please visit www.transition.com/Indura for the latest product information, including datasheets and manuals.

About Transition Networks Industrial Product Line
Transition Networks is unique among its peers in offering distribution partners and customers access to Ethernet access devices for both office and hardened environments. Transition Networks’ industrial media converters and switches are designed with multiple port configurations, redundant DC power inputs, Redundant Fiber Ring Technology, extended operating temps (-40°C to +75°C) and required industrial certifications. These devices are built to withstand the harshest environments and protected by the industry’s only hassle-free, lifetime warranty. The Indura™ product line is designed in the USA for our customers worldwide.

About Transition Networks Inc.
With over 20 years of growth and expertise in hardware manufacturing, Transition Networks offers the ability to affordably integrate the benefits of fiber optics into any data network – in any application – in any environment. Offering support for multiple protocols, any interface, and a multitude of hardware platforms, Transition’s portfolio gives the power to deliver and manage network traffic reliably over fiber. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, Transition Networks distributes hardware-based connectivity solutions exclusively through a network of resellers in over 50 countries. Transition Networks is a wholly owned subsidiary of Communications Systems, Inc., a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: JCS).

Statements regarding the Company’s anticipated performance in 2012 are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to: competitive products and other factors discussed from time to time in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Company Contact:
Adam Tetz
Transition Networks, Inc.
(952) 582-6411
[email protected]

Editorial Contact:
Kim Miller
Tier One Partners
(617) 610-0583
[email protected]