Doubled-Density Design: A 48-Port Midspan

Thanks to a novel layout, the 6548 Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) midspan can accommodate 48 ports in a 1U high, 19-in. rack assembly. That represents twice the density of any other midspan (see the figure).

Developed by PowerDsine, the 6548 lets companies add PoE for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) to their existing Ethernet networks in half the space. It fully complies with the IEEE 802.3 standard. Web browsing and simple network management protocol (SNMP) management information base (MIB) support are optional.

With one version of the 6548, IT administrators can remotely monitor an advanced version of the PoE midspan over a local-area network (LAN) using a Web browser. The remote power-enable/disable functionality for each midspan port supports "hard resets" of wireless LAN access points and VoIP phones.

The midspans are slated for May arrival. The base version costs $1680, and the remote-management version goes for $1790.