Lancast's Redundant Twister can keep LAN traffic flowing
A new addition to Lancast Inc.’s Twister family of media translators is capable of
making redundant links to switches on Fast Ethernet LANs.
The Redundant Twister has nearly instantaneous failover from primary to secondary links
for mission-critical networks. John Temple, director of government sales for Lancast of
Nashua, N.H., said the Defense Department, Federal Aviation Administration and
intelligence agencies would be the primary markets.
Twister products provide mixed-media connection points to integrate optical fiber with
copper networks.
The Redundant Twister adds a second port. When placed next to a server, it can connect
to both a primary and a secondary switch. It actively monitors the primary link and
automatically activates the secondary link in case of failure.
Lancast claims a 50-nanosecond failover time, which should create no interruption in
Ethernet or Fast Ethernet traffic. The Redundant Twister can be configured to keep working
on the secondary link until manually reset after a failure, or to revert automatically to
the primary link once it has stabilized.
Both the Redundant Twister 2731 standalone media translator and the 7731 module come in
copper-to-copper and copper-to-fiber configurations.
The 2731 standalone version starts at $899, the 7731 module at $599.
Contact Lancast at 603-880-1833.
—William Jackson