The industrial switch is designed to connect devices in adverse weather conditions and environments. It usually features a wide operating temperature of -40°C to 75°C, a protection rating of no less than IP30, and supports standard and proprietary ring redundancy protocols. They are built to exceed the specifications of regular switches with industrial safety certification and approval for hazardous locations, making them ideal for use at sites with harsh environmental conditions.
When you put a regular Ethernet switch (not industrial-grade) in an industrial area of any kind, it will likely physically damage the device, resulting in data loss and downtime.
The difference is mainly reflected in the following aspects:
Appearance
Industrial switches generally use fanless mode and metal housing. Ordinary switches generally use plastic housing and fan cooling mode.
Mechanical environment
Industrial Ethernet switches can better adapt to the harsh mechanical environment, including resistance to vibration, impact, corrosion, dust, water, and so on. The regular switch has no ability of dust and moisture prevention, the protection level is poor.
Climatic environment
Industrial Ethernet switches can better adapt to poor climate conditions, including temperature, humidity, and so on.
Electromagnetic environment
Industrial Ethernet switches have strong anti-electromagnetic interference capabilities.
Operating voltage
Industrial Ethernet switches have a wide operating voltage range, while regular switches require higher voltages.
Power supply design
Regular switches are basically single power supply, while industrial switch power supplies are generally dual power supply backup.
Installation method
Industrial Ethernet switches can be installed in DIN rails and racks. Regular switches are usually rack and desktop.
Cooling method
Industrial Ethernet switches generally use a fanless case to dissipate heat, while ordinary switches use a fan to dissipate heat.
The service life
Generally speaking, the service life of industrial switch is more than 10 years, while the service life of ordinary switch is only 3 to 5 years.
Summary
There is not fundamentally different from the regular network in data link layer, network layer, protocol layer and so on, but in view of the real-time needs of industrial control, industrial Ethernet solves the technical problems of real-time communication , network security, and explosion-proof technology, and adopts some measures suitable for industrial environment, such as waterproof, anti-vibration.It is like the difference between a PC and an IPC.
Industrial Ethernet switches are particular about their product design and selection of components. They are designed for the needs of industrial field and can still work normally under severe mechanical, climatic, electromagnetic and other environments. Therefore, they can be widely used in industrial production scenarios with severe conditions.
