Advantech Introduces High Capacity Serial Device Servers
- EKI-1524 -

Taipei, Taiwan - June, 2008 - The Industrial Automation Group of Advantech has released the powerful EKI-1524 Serial Device Servers, which combine rugged, compact and fast 4 x RS-232/422/485 serial ports with 2 x Ethernet ports. EKI-1524 allows RS-232/422/485 serial devices to be remotely monitored, managed and controlled over Ethernet and Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Considering the needs to link with serial devices, Advantech provides 1, 2, or 4 x RS-232/422/485 serial ports.

The unique design of the EKI-1524 allows it to create a reliable redundant environment, providing the fastest and most reliable serial device servers available in the industrial market. Furthermore, each high-speed COM port provides 921K-baud technology with a throughput up to 1.2 Mbps, which fulfills high data transmission needs. EKI-1524 also has built-in dual-power inputs (DC 12-48V) with 1 x power fail relay output to detect power operation status and ensure that the device is operating normally.

With 2 x Ethernet ports packed into the professional EKI casing, highly reliable Ethernet redundancy is realized. This means that through the EKI-1524, users can establish two physical networks, one for the primary connection, and a backup host that can connect to the device servers directly when the primary connection fails. Furthermore, the 2 x Ethernet ports can be set to two different networking domains to support various network applications.

Simultaneous Dual-LAN Redundancy
An exclusive new feature for Advantech's Serial Device Servers is support for simultaneous connection redundancy. In this case, both LAN's are connected to multiple hosts (max 5) and if either of the two connections fails, the other LAN will continue the communications between the Serial Devices and the Hosts.

Advanced Multi-Access Functionality
EKI-1524 combines various operations; such as COM port redirection, TCP server/client and UDP mode to fulfill advanced needs. EKI-1000 series also supports Multi-Access functionality to provide 5 host connections for each serial port with broadcast and polling operations. In broadcast mode, EKI Serial Device Servers handle a command from one application and reply to the data from the serial port to all applications connected to this serial port. In polling mode; EKI Serial Device Servers handle the commands from one application and reply to this application only. Query from other applications must be queued and wait for current process completion.

The EKI-1524 is now available for ordering. Contact your local Advantech sales representative or Advantech directly for more information.