First Ethernet Switch In Space

Rebecca will you marry me? writes "The ESA's Columbus laboratory module was added to the International Space Station in February, but Hewlett-Packard has only now chosen to reveal that the LAN onboard Columbus uses a ProCurve 2524 switch." HP admits it was the "most unusual and demanding" project ProCurve has done yet.

Cool test methodology

[dreamchaser]

Despite the misleading title (should probably say first OFF THE SHELF switch in orbit), it's pretty cool how they tested these. From TFA:

Switches from Cisco, D-Link, Avaya, 3Com, NetGear and Hewlett Packard were exposed to extreme levels of radiation in a particle accelerator in Villigen, Switzerland under conditions similar to space.

Makes one think more about all the radiation crewmembers get exposed to as well, even within the protective embrace of the Earth's magnetic field. That's one of the big hurdles to travel to Mars of course; long term exposure to varying levels of radiation (mostly from the Sun).

I just think it's geeky-cool that they put them in a particle accellerator for testing though.

Cost?

[Straterra]

10Mbit switch? Am I the only one who thought "Gee, I would have though NASA could have afforded at least 100Mbit!"

The only reason I can come up with is the possibility of higher packet loss with all of the radiation. Does anyone know for sure?

Why is this news?

[thesandbender]

Seriously... zero-g has no effect on this equipment. Yes it has to have more radiation shielding and has to be shock mounted to survive the launch but other that it could be an iPod or a DirectTV DVR. There's nothing innovative about this. They shot an ethernet switch into space... big deal. Call me when someone invents a way to use quantum entanglement to communicate faster than light. That's news.

Token Ring?

[aggles]

Wasn't the first network for the ISS based on Token-ring? I participated in an Ethernet vs Token-ring RFP in the mid-80's against IBM and we lost the bid. We didn't play golf as well.

Re:And this is interesting because?

[rossdee]

Radiation could be a problem (cosmic rays, solar storms).

Then there is cooling - even in the ISS you can't use convection since there is no up for the hot air to rise to.

Re:And this is interesting because?

[NMerriam]

One thing other folks haven't mentioned is the lower atmospheric pressure. I know when we've used laptops in high altitude situations, the LCD displays would sometimes crap out because they are essentially laminates, and separated when the environmental expectation for ambient pressure were not met.

Of course that specific problem won't affect a switch, but there may be some other unexpected way in which atmospheric pressure is involved. It isn't necessarily easily tested in a high-altitude chamber, since (as with many things) the effect can be cumulative and depend on other factors like being jostled during use.

Re:And this is interesting because?

[cyclone96]

Actually, the atmospheric pressure of ISS is maintained between 14.1 and 14.9 psi or so, for just that reason. Only the airlocks and some storage volumes are taken below that. Critical equipment is certified to go to low pressures (in case a module depress occurs) but a lot of the non-critical and/or commercial equipment isn't held to that standard (since it could be replaced).

Apollo flew with about 5 psi of pressure, and Shuttle would sometimes depress the cabin to 10.2 psi in prep for spacewalks, but ISS maintains an earthlike atmosphere.