How to Choose the Industrial Network Switch Correctly? Industrial Network Switch Brochure

Industrial network switches, also known as industrial Ethernet switches. That is, the Ethernet switch equipment used in the field of industrial control has good openness and wide application due to the adopted network standard; it can adapt to low temperature and high temperature, has strong anti-electromagnetic interference, anti-salt spray, and strong shock resistance. The transparent and unified TCP/IP protocol is used, and Ethernet has become the main communication standard in the field of industrial control.

Industrial switches feature carrier-grade performance to withstand harsh operating environments. Rich product series and flexible port configuration can meet the needs of various industrial fields. The product adopts a wide temperature design, the protection level is not lower than IP40, and supports standard and private ring network redundancy protocols.

1. Introduction to industrial network switches

There is no essential difference between industrial network switches and commercial networks in terms of data link layer, network layer, protocol layer, etc., but for the real-time requirements of industrial control, industrial Ethernet solves real-time communication, network security, intrinsic safety and Safety and explosion-proof technology and other technical issues, and adopt some measures suitable for industrial environments, such as waterproof, anti-vibration... The core is still not essentially different from commercial Ethernet, which is the same as the difference between PC and industrial computer .

2. Equipment classification of industrial network switches

2.1 Unmanaged switches

The development of hubs led to a device called an unmanaged switch. It can realize the routing function of messages from one port to another port, which is more intelligent than the hub. Unmanaged switches can automatically detect the network speed of each network device. In addition, it has a function called "MAC address table", which can identify and memorize devices in the network. In other words, if port 2 receives a message with a particular identifier, the switch will then send all messages with that particular identifier to port 2. This intelligence avoids message collisions, improves transmission performance, and is a huge improvement over hubs. However, unmanaged switches cannot implement any form of traffic detection and redundancy configuration functions.

2.2 Managed Switches

The next step in the evolution of Ethernet-connected devices is the managed switch. Compared with hubs and unmanaged switches, managed switches have more and more complex functions, and the price is much higher - usually 3 to 4 times that of an unmanaged switch. Managed switches offer more functionality and are usually fully configurable through a web-based interface. It can interact with network devices automatically, and users can also manually configure the network speed and flow control of each port. Some old devices may not be able to use the automatic interaction function, so manual configuration function is indispensable.

Most managed switches usually also provide some advanced functions, such as SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) for remote monitoring and configuration, port mapping for diagnosis, VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) for grouping network devices, and A prioritization function to ensure the passage of priority messages, etc. With managed switches, redundant networks can be built. Using a ring topology, managed switches can form a ring network. After enabling the spanning tree protocol, each managed switch can automatically determine the optimal transmission path and backup path, and automatically block the backup path when the priority path is interrupted.