What Is An Managed Industrial Ethernet Switches

Industrial Switch: Managed Industrial Ethernet Switches

A managed industrial Ethernet switch provides valuable capabilities that go beyond the basic functionality of an unmanaged switch, combined with such industrial characteristics as extended operating temperature, ruggedized enclosure, and ingress protection. By allowing you to manage, configure, and monitor your LAN settings, a managed industrial switch provides much greater control over your industrial Ethernet local area network (LAN) than an unmanaged switch. Also known as a hardened managed Ethernet switch, you can use this network element to establish various controls over your industrial Ethernet LAN traffic. For example, you can create virtual LANs (vLANs): defined groups of devices within separated addressing spaces for traffic management. Such equipment may also be known as an industrial grade switch, ruggedized Ethernet switch or ruggedized network switch.

An Industrial grade switch can be designed to be mounted on a DIN rail a widely used standard metal rail for mounting industrial control and industrial automation equipment. As such the device is sometimes called a DIN rail Ethernet switch, a DIN rail managed switch, or simply DIN rail switch. Industrial Ethernet switches can be designed in conformance with such industry standards as Ingress Protection Codes (IP codes) IP30 or IP67. Some Managed Industrial Ethernet Switches support standards such as Class 1 Division 2 for installation in hazardous areas or EN50155 for use on rolling stock (trains). These switches can be populated with special circular connectors such at M-12 or Military Grade MIL-STD connectors.

Managed Switch Benefits

With a managed switch you can assign various levels of priority to different channels or traffic types. This functionality provides targeted performance for sensitive traffic, ensuring the most important data is delivered under congested network conditions. Such features as Priority SNMP, which enables remote troubleshooting, makes it easier to identify and isolate issues that may cause performance degradation and implement corrective actions. A managed Ethernet switch may also offer redundancy features that provide data duplication (backup) data for recovery should a device, or network connection, fail.

Application Environments

Patton’s FiberPlex and Connect-IT managed industrial grade network switch products are designed for use in such demanding environments as oil rigs, refineries, railways, water treatment plants, substations, roads, and tunnels that use industrial automation networks, factory automation, or industrial control systems as well as IP surveillance.