In today's era of IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) increasingly permeating all walks of life, industrial switches serve as the nerve center connecting intelligent devices and systems. Their selection is not only related to the smooth and efficient network transmission, but also the key to ensuring the stable operation of the entire industrial networking system. Next, let's delve into the "Industrial Switch Selection Secrets: Improving the Overall Performance of Industrial Networking", and uncover how to maximize the potential of industrial switches through precise selection, laying a solid foundation for the intelligent transformation of industry.
Industrial switches are network devices specifically designed for industrial environments, and they have stronger environmental adaptability and higher reliability compared to ordinary switches. Industrial switches are mainly divided into three categories: access layer switches, aggregation layer switches, and core layer switches.
Access layer switch: responsible for connecting devices such as computers and AP access points to the network, focusing on port number, speed, and whether it supports POE Power Over Ethernet power supply.
Convergence layer switch: located between the access layer and the core layer, it requires high performance, high switching speed, and fewer interfaces. Special attention should be paid to switching capacity, packet forwarding rate, and the choice of layer 2 or layer 3 switches.
Core layer switch: As the backbone of the network, it is necessary to choose a Gigabit or 10 Gigabit switch with high bandwidth, good reliability, and strong performance to ensure overall performance.
Before selecting, we need to consider the following key factors to ensure that the selected industrial switch can meet the actual needs.
The selection of industrial switches must first meet industry standards. In high-risk situations, such as chemical and power industries, it is necessary to choose products that meet the corresponding certification standards. For example, the rail transit industry needs to choose products that are recognized by the rail transit industry to ensure safety and reliability.
Industrial switches are usually deployed in extreme environments, so special attention needs to be paid to factors such as temperature and humidity, EMC electromagnetic compatibility, protection level, device methods, and power supply. For example, some industrial environments may require switches with dust-proof and waterproof ratings such as IP67, or the ability to operate normally in high and low temperature environments.
Switch ports are divided into 100M, 1G, and 10G, and the appropriate port should be selected according to business requirements. For example, for applications that require the transmission of large amounts of data, such as video surveillance and big data processing, gigabit or 10 gigabit ports should be selected to ensure sufficient bandwidth.
Non-managed switch: Plug and play, suitable for scenarios with simple network architecture and no need for complex management.
Network management switch: It has more powerful functions, such as QoS communication quality, VLAN virtual local area network, port mirroring, IGMP Snooping multicast interception, ring network redundancy, etc., which are suitable for scenarios that require advanced network management and maintenance.
It is necessary to calculate the required number of RJ45 interfaces and fiber optic interfaces, and consider future expansion requirements. Short-distance communication usually uses twisted-pair cables with a transmission distance of less than 100 meters; For long-distance communication, optical fiber is required. The communication distance of multimode fiber can reach 2 kilometers, and that of single-mode fiber can reach 120 kilometers.
Although managed switches are more expensive, their powerful features make them the first choice for many industrial applications.
The QoS function allows the switch to assign high priority to specific data frames, ensuring the transmission quality and real-time performance of critical business data.
VLAN technology isolates devices through logical grouping, preventing traffic interference between different device groups even if all devices share a physical switch.
The port mirroring function allows one port to monitor the traffic of one or more ports, facilitating real-time monitoring and analysis of network communication data.
The IGMP snooping function can actively send multicast frames only to those devices that request them, avoiding the waste of multicast traffic on devices that do not need them.
Ring redundancy is a common feature of network management industrial Ethernet switches, ensuring high reliability and stability of the network through redundancy protocols.
The selection of industrial switches is a complex and important process that requires comprehensive consideration of multiple factors such as standardization, working environment, communication rate, and network management functions. Through scientific and reasonable selection, the overall efficiency of industrial networking can be significantly improved, and the rapid development and application of industrial Internet technology can be promoted. We hope this article can provide you with valuable reference and help you better choose and use industrial switches.
