In the application of industrial IoT, network devices play a crucial role, and industrial switches, as the core components of network devices, directly affect the stability and efficiency of the entire network through their performance and applicability. Here, we explore the differences between industrial-grade switches and ordinary switches in depth to help people who need networking applications better understand and choose the appropriate switch type.
From the perspective of appearance and use environment, industrial-grade switches usually adopt metal casings and fanless cooling designs, which not only improve the strength and durability of the equipment, but also reduce the impact of dust on the equipment and prevent equipment failure caused by fan failure. In addition, industrial-grade switches can adapt to extreme operating temperatures ranging from -40°C to 85°C, and some models can even reach -45°C to 75°C. They also have excellent dust and moisture resistance, allowing them to operate stably in harsh industrial environments. In contrast, ordinary switches usually use plastic cases and fan cooling modes, and their working environments are relatively stable, such as office buildings and homes, which have poor adaptability to conditions such as temperature, humidity, and dust.
In terms of communication protocol and network management, industrial-grade switches support more industrial communication protocols, such as Modbus, Profinet, Ethernet/IP, etc., and can seamlessly connect with other industrial devices to meet the high requirements of real-time and reliability in industrial sites. At the same time, industrial-grade switches also have richer network management functions, such as SNMP protocol, RSTP protocol, QoS, etc. These functions help monitoring and maintenance personnel better manage and schedule the network, ensuring the stable operation of industrial control systems. The common switch usually adopts the common Ethernet protocol and supports basic network management functions, such as port opening and closing, VLAN division, etc.
Industrial-grade switches also perform well in terms of reliability and service life. The store-and-forward technology and flow control technology used can effectively prevent data loss and errors during transmission. In addition, industrial-grade switches also support ring redundancy technology, which can automatically switch to a backup link when a part of the network fails, ensuring network availability. These features make industrial-grade switches far more reliable than ordinary switches in terms of data transmission. At the same time, the service life of industrial-grade switches can usually reach more than ten years, while the service life of ordinary switches is only three to five years.
In terms of operating voltage, industrial-grade switches have a wide range of operating voltages, supporting DC12/24V, AC/DC85~265V wide voltage options, and even some models are limited to DC24V, DC110V, DC220V voltages, which enables them to better adapt to the voltage requirements of different industrial sites. However, ordinary switches have higher voltage requirements and are mostly powered by fixed voltage supplies.
Industrial-grade switches also provide more choices in terms of installation and heat dissipation methods. It can be installed using DIN rails, racks, and other mounting methods, making it easy to deploy flexibly in industrial settings. At the same time, the fanless cooling design reduces the impact of dust on the device and improves the stability and reliability of the device. However, ordinary switches usually use ordinary racks and desktop installation methods, and use fans for heat dissipation.
Industrial-grade switches differ significantly from regular switches in terms of appearance, usage environment, communication protocol, network management, reliability, lifespan, operating voltage, installation method, and heat dissipation method. In the application of industrial IoT, selecting the appropriate switch type is crucial to ensuring the stability and reliability of the network. Therefore, in practical applications, it is necessary to choose the appropriate switch type according to specific requirements and environmental characteristics.
