What is an Industrial Network Switch?

An Industrial Network Switch is a type of switch designed to operate in harsh environments typically found in industrial settings. It is built to withstand factors like temperature extremes, humidity, vibration, and electrical interference, which are common in factories, power plants, and other industrial locations. These switches are optimized for industrial control systems, offering high reliability and performance. They support features like Power over Ethernet (PoE), network redundancy, and long-distance communication, ensuring uninterrupted data transmission in mission-critical applications.

Industrial network switches come in four main types: Managed, Lite-Managed, Premium-Unmanaged, and Unmanaged. Each type offers different levels of control and functionality, depending on the needs of the network.

1. Managed
   • Configurable switch with lite-managed features and more like DHCP Client/Relay/Option82, LACP, MAC-based VLAN, IGMP Snooping and more!
2. Lite-Managed
   • Configurable switch with advanced features like Port Configuration, Syslog, 802.1p QoS, ACL, and more!
3. Premium Unmanaged
   • Simple plug and play switch with some advanced features like Port Priority, and industrial QoS.
4. Unmanaged
   • Simple plug and play switch with minimal features like Storm and Flow control.

Content created by Mike Day