Networking company Tempered Networks has announced a new identity-based Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) gateway, the HIPswitch 250. This gateway aims to consolidate and simplify IoT infrastructure and promises to cut the cost of networking and security in half.
Tempered Networks proposes an architecture of Identity-Defined Networking (IDN) as a solution to what it considers the big problem in networking: the use of IP addresses as both identity and location on a network. The company’s IDN architecture uses an overlay network to circumvent this problem and securely connect devices on a network, without requiring any changes to existing infrastructure.
The HIPswitch 250 enhances this architecture to bring IDN to IIoT networks. In addition to the claim that OT teams can configure, deploy and activate an IIoT network in 15 minutes, the HIPswitch 250 packs features that include:
- Serial over IP ports—enables legacy IoT systems to be connected with modern IoT systems
- Ethernet and Dual Cell Modems—allows users to switch cell phone carriers on demand and set link priority
- Power over Ethernet (PoE)—eliminates the need for additional power to provide easier deployments
- Smart Link Manager—provides customized network and application-level link monitoring
- Flexible Software Licensing—allows for a pay-as-you-go/grow model with no-charge bursting
“Most enterprise and government organizations are applying traditional technologies like VPNs, next-gen firewalls, NAC, APNs, router and switch ACLs in a vain attempt to securely connect, and segment and secure industrial systems,” said Erik Giesa of Tempered Networks. “These technologies and their dependencies, combined with the fact that many industrial devices have hard-coded IP addresses, make secure local and wide area network segmentation virtually impossible without massive disruption. Instead, IDN enables customers to create instant overlay networks, making it faster and easier to connect and protect anything, anywhere without having to change the legacy network or involve carriers. OT teams can now adopt a bring your own network (BYON) paradigm, saving them time and money while making their IoT infrastructure incredibly hardened and untouchable by bad actors.”
For more information on IoT gateways, check out A Benchmarking Standard for IoT Gateways.