IEC-61850 defines standards for communication in substations. It includes a data model for logical nodes and common data classes. The communication model uses MMS and ACSI for configuration/maintenance, with GOOSE and GSSE for fast transmission of status events. Sampled values can be transmitted via multicast or unicast. IEC-61850-compliant Ethernet switches support functions like GOOSE messaging with low latency. Serial device servers provide an opportunity to connect legacy serial devices and map their protocols to IEC-61850.