Successor Product/Solution

This phase out has been initiated due to the end of life of key components of the RS500. The RS500 can be replaced by newer higher capacity switch products that offer a greater variety of options as shown below:

RSG2100 – Modular Managed 19-Port Ethernet Switch with Gigabit Uplinks

• Up to 19 ports - 10FL, 100FX, 10/100/1000TX
• Up to 3-Gigabit Ethernet ports - copper and/or fiber
• Up to 16-Fast Ethernet ports - copper and/or fiber
• 2 port modules for tremendous flexibility during the option selection process
• Non-blocking, store and forward switching
• Supports many types of fiber (Multimode, Singlemode, bi-directional single strand)
• Industry standard fiber optical connectors: LC, SC, ST, MTRJ
• Long haul optics allow Gigabit distances up to 70km

RS8000 – Managed 8 Port Family of Ethernet Switches

• RS8000 with 8-100BaseFX
• RS8000T with 6-10/100BaseTX + 2-100BaseFX (MTRJ/LC connectors)
• RS8000H with 4 -10/100BaseTX + 4 -100BaseFX (SC/ST Connectors)
• RS8000A with 2-10/100BaseTX + 2-10BaseFL + 4-100BaseFX
• Multimode or Singlemode fiber options available
• Industry standard fiber optical connectors: LC, SC, ST, MTRJ

RS900 – Managed 9 Port Ethernet Switch

• Up to 9 Ports: 6 Base 10/100BaseTX ports with option for 3 additional Fiber or Copper ports
• Industry standard fiber optical connectors: LC, SC, ST, MTRJ
• Multimode and Singlemode optical transceivers
• Long haul optics allow distances up to 90km



Depending on the application, the above products can be complemented with the use of the RMC40 as follows:

RMC40 – Unmanaged 4-Port Ethernet Switch with three configurations

• 2 10/100TX ports + 1 100FX port (SC/ST)
• 2 10/100TX ports + 2 100FX port (MTRJ/LC)
• 4 10/100TX ports
• Multimode and single mode optical transceivers
• Industry standard fiber optical connectors: LC, SC, ST, MTRJ
• Long haul optics allow distances from 20km to 90km
• Migrations/Upgrades

The Rugged Operating System (ROS^®) version 3.8 available in Calendar Year Q1 2010 will be the last software version upgrade available for the RuggedCom RS500 switch. Current and future deployments can be migrated to any of the successor RuggedCom switch products that provide suitable port characteristics. These products can be chosen from, but not limited to those successor products listed above.

Order Stop for the End of Life Product

The order stop for the RS500 is as of May 31, 2010. From this point forward, only the successor RuggedCom switches can be ordered.

End of Hardware, Software and Documentation Support

The end of hardware support by development for the RuggedCom RS500 switch is effective as of May 31, 2010. From this point on no more error correction will take place for the RS500 switch instead the customer must migrate/upgrade to successor RuggedCom switches. The RS500 switch can be introduced into the repair process until May 31, 2015 (see “End of product activities”).

The end of software support by development for the RuggedCom RS500 is effective with the ROS^® 3.8 expected in Calendar Year Q1 2010. From that point on no more new software releases will take place for the RS500 software.

If new ROS^® features are required the customer must migrate/upgrade to a successor RuggedCom Switch product. Software bugs found on the RS500 will continue to be fixed in patch releases until May 31, 2015. After that time, problem reports for RS500 software will only be accepted on a best effort basis.

Furthermore the delivery of customer documentation will be terminated with the ROS^® 3.8 release.

End of Product Activities

Product activities will end May 2015 with the RS500 End of Service.

Overview of Phase Out Dates

End of Life Notification — 11/30/2009

Order stop for the phase-out product —5/31/2010

End of hardware support — 11/30/2010

End of software support — 1/31/2010

End of documentation support — 1/31/2010

End of Service support — 5/31/2015

Overview of the effected order number

RS500-PS-FO (RuggedCom Unmanaged 5-Port Switch)

Product Obsolescence Procedure

Products can reach their end of life for a variety of reasons, including component obsolescence, newer technology is introduced with greater functionality, and lack of market demand. Technology products in particular have a rapid product life cycle as newer technologies are quickly introduced to replace older ones more frequently than in other product categories.

RuggedCom will endeavour to keep manufacturing and offer for sale all products for as long as reasonably possible. When a situation arises that a product must be obsoleted, RuggedCom will try to ensure the following:

• A suitable replacement product is available that will provide equivalent functionality
• Make all reasonable efforts to repair or replace existing products

In order to minimize the impact of this action to our customers, and to facilitate the smooth transition to newer products, RuggedCom will announce an end-of-sale date six (6) months in advance of the obsolescence date. A notice will be sent out to all known existing customers and will be posted in the support section of the RuggedCom website. Product support will continue for five (5) years following the last date of sale (5-year phase-out period).

Product support during the 5-year phase-out period will include:

• Access to technical support
• Spares or equivalent product or replacement parts for hardware. These will be made available in accordance with our Return Materials Authorization (RMA) process.
• Firmware bug fixes, maintenance releases, or patches for critical bugs. Please note that it may be necessary to upgrade the firmware release to correct the reported issue

The above services will be provided as part of the product’s standard 5-year warranty, or as part of an extended service and support contract that can be purchased before the announced last day of sale.

After the 5-year phase-out period, RuggedCom will make “best-efforts” to repair any hardware. No new firmware releases will be available.

Download PDF Version