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Garland Technology Launches New Passive Fiber Modular Chassis

May 18, 2017

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Passive Fiber Modular ChassisMay 18, 2017: Buffalo, NY - Garland Technology, the leading manufacturer of network test access products (TAPs), announces the launch of their new Passive Fiber Modular Chassis for 1G/10G/40G/100G, a flexible, scalable and affordable high density solution for managing up to 24 links in a 1U box.

“The release of the 1U Passive Fiber Modular Chassis was customer driven. A major US manufacturer came to us with a request of a simple, 1U solution that would support their stack of legacy 1G monitoring tools, while allowing for future growth of 10G and 40G tools,” stated Garland Technology CEO/Co-Founder Chris Bihary. “Because of our experience developing a variety of fiber network TAPs, we were able to go from R&D, testing/validation and launch within a few months. As of today, this product is in use at a dozen Fortune 500 sites, both domestically and globally.”

The Passive Fiber Modular Chassis is a high density, high performance data center solution that provides a flexible and scalable design allowing you to meet your network needs today and tomorrow. Modular TAPs can be added or changed as network demands change over time, allowing users to optimize their investment in expensive network monitoring tools.

Chassis Features:
Supports: 1G/10G/40G/100G network speeds
Accommodates: 16 to 24 network TAP modules, based on configuration
(24 LC TAP Modules, 16 MPO/MTP® TAP Modules, 16 BiDi LC TAP Modules)

  • Durable, all steel construction for chassis and network TAP modules
  • No power, no heat, no IP address, no MAC address - 100% passive
  • Customize network TAPs to your networks needs
  • Change network TAP modes on-the-fly or in the future
  • Mix and match modules by media and/or speeds
  • Supports single-mode: OS1/OS2 and multi-mode: OM3/OM4 media for long range and short range environments
  • Supports Cisco BiDirectional optical technology
  • Available split ratios of: 90/10, 80/20, 50/50,  70/30, 60/40
  • Designed, manufactured and supported in the United States
  • View our data sheet at www.garlandtechnology.com for complete specifications

Want to Learn More?
Read our in depth blog on the unique features and benefits.

What’s a Network Passive TAP?
Passive TAPs, as Garland Technology defines them, are TAPs that will not cause the monitored devices to lose link between one another if power is lost. 

Made and Tested in the USA
All network TAPs are tested and validated with live data before they leave the manufacturing facility in Texas. Garland’s network TAPs are compatible with all monitoring devices, including: analyzers, probes, intrusion prevention systems, deep packet inspection, lawful intercept, content filtering, SIEM, and feeding network packet broker solutions.

About Garland Technology
Garland Technology guarantees precise data monitoring capabilities with a full line of network test access points (TAPs) including: network TAPs that support breakout, aggregation, regeneration and bypass modes; packet brokering, load balancing and filtering products; all available in portable, 1U or 2U chassis systems. Garland network TAPs support all networks, including copper wire in 10/100M, 10/100/1000M and fiber in 1G, 10G, 40G, 100G. Garland’s network TAPs avoid introducing additional software that could be a point of failure to your network.

Garland’s design and educational-based approach includes a team of network designers to work directly with you and your team to meet your network access and visibility needs and provide you with the best solution for any monitoring or security appliance - allowing you to see every bit, byte and packet®. For more information, visit http://www.garlandtechnology.com. Follow on Twitter @GarlandTech.

See Everything. Secure Everything.

Contact us now to secure and optimized your network operations
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Heartbeats Packets Inside the Bypass TAP

If the inline security tool goes off-line, the TAP will bypass the tool and automatically keep the link flowing. The Bypass TAP does this by sending heartbeat packets to the inline security tool. As long as the inline security tool is on-line, the heartbeat packets will be returned to the TAP, and the link traffic will continue to flow through the inline security tool.

If the heartbeat packets are not returned to the TAP (indicating that the inline security tool has gone off-line), the TAP will automatically 'bypass' the inline security tool and keep the link traffic flowing. The TAP also removes the heartbeat packets before sending the network traffic back onto the critical link.

While the TAP is in bypass mode, it continues to send heartbeat packets out to the inline security tool so that once the tool is back on-line, it will begin returning the heartbeat packets back to the TAP indicating that the tool is ready to go back to work. The TAP will then direct the network traffic back through the inline security tool along with the heartbeat packets placing the tool back inline.

Some of you may have noticed a flaw in the logic behind this solution!  You say, “What if the TAP should fail because it is also in-line? Then the link will also fail!” The TAP would now be considered a point of failure. That is a good catch – but in our blog on Bypass vs. Failsafe, I explained that if a TAP were to fail or lose power, it must provide failsafe protection to the link it is attached to. So our network TAP will go into Failsafe mode keeping the link flowing.

Glossary

  1. Single point of failure: a risk to an IT network if one part of the system brings down a larger part of the entire system.

  2. Heartbeat packet: a soft detection technology that monitors the health of inline appliances. Read the heartbeat packet blog here.

  3. Critical link: the connection between two or more network devices or appliances that if the connection fails then the network is disrupted.

NETWORK MANAGEMENT | THE 101 SERIES