Switches are essential pieces of equipment for networking. Whether you are talking about a home network, central systems for internet service providers, or anything in between, switches usually show up.
In most cases, switches are used to connect core devices in a network while end users might not connect directly through a switch. Because of that, switches can specialize in how they support networking and the tasks they perform, and that allows for design enhancements.
One family of those enhancements caters to toughness and longevity, and that is why we have industrial switches. How do they compare to other kinds of switches, and do you really need one? You’ll find those answers and more in this quick guide comparing industrial switches to commercial switches.
What Is an Industrial Switch?
The name says it all. An industrial switch is one designed specifically for industrial applications. In many cases, the name of the switch will include the word “industrial” in it to identify its design intent. When that isn’t the case, the switch’s literature will still typically mention industrial design elements.
An industrial switch works according to the same principles as any other switch; it’s just designed for harsher working conditions. Additionally, industrial switches are usually designed for medium and larger networks. You can find industrial switches for small networks, but they are less common.
What Are Key Design Factors for Industrial Switches?
When you break it down, the elements that make a switch suitable for industrial work mostly relate to durability, longevity, and reliability. While those topics are related, they don’t perfectly overlap.
A durable switch can work normally in harsh environments. As an example, industrial switches are often rated for regular operation in temperatures well below freezing and well above the hottest temperatures you can find naturally. Many industrial switches are designed to withstand heavy vibrations and electrical surges too.
In general, industrial switches use harder or more durable materials for the outer shell, creating this extra toughness. They also may utilize designs that prevent the ingress of small objects and even water. If you need a switch for a car wash that can handle hot jets of water, you need an industrial switch.
With this durability, you get longevity too. Industrial switches typically have longer warranties than their non-industrial counterparts.
Lastly, industrial switches overcome sources of downtime that aren’t common in non-industrial applications. For instance, power losses or surges may challenge a manufacturing plant. Traditional switches typically have one power supply. Meanwhile, it’s normal for an industrial switch to have two power supplies, creating more opportunities for uptime and redundancy in the case of damage to a power supply.
What Is a Commercial Switch?
A commercial switch is a non-industrial switch. Typically, the term ‘commercial’ refers to professional applications, but this is not a hard definition. You can certainly distinguish between enterprise switches and consumer-grade switches (such as for home use). Whether or not both of those fit into the category of commercial is arguable.
For the sake of simplicity, we’ll be referring to any non-industrial switch as a commercial switch today. We can further divide that category into enterprise and consumer applications. Enterprises represent larger, faster, and more powerful networks. Consumer applications relate to homes and small businesses.
How Are Commercial Switches Designed?
There are many different kinds of commercial switches serving virtually countless applications. That said, a universal design philosophy can distill the common elements pretty succinctly. Commercial switches are designed to provide as much performance as possible at the lowest price point possible.
Because of this, commercial switches ditch many of the expensive durability considerations you find with industrial switches. Since commercial switches won’t face freezing temperatures, they aren’t designed to withstand such temperatures.
Broadening this idea, commercial switches often cater to specialization. A switch might maximize bandwidth as far as possible utilizing the latest in fiber optics. Another switch might aim for efficiency by utilizing Power over Ethernet features. Yet another switch might come with the very best in security features. Yet another switch might minimize all aspects of performance to get the cost as low as possible.
Breaking Down Industrial vs Commercial Switches
To directly compare and contrast industrial and commercial switches, we can look at two categories. We can look at the components and how they perform. Or, we can zoom in on applications and what that means for switches and their designs.
Components and Performance
In terms of networking performance, commercial and industrial switches can do all of the same things. But, the enhanced durability and reliability of industrial switches come at a premium. So for the same level of performance, you expect the industrial switch to cost more.
Additionally, commercial switches cover a broader range of applications, so you will see a wider range of capabilities. The very fastest switches in the world are rarely rated for industrial work. The same holds true for the slowest modern switches.
Ultimately, this means that any comparison between commercial and industrial switches will focus mostly on those two points: cost and toughness.
Use Cases
Still, a final comparison might make the most sense. By looking at common use cases, we can see why design philosophies matter so much.
Industrial switches really focus on the environment. You will find them in outdoor environments, maritime applications, industrial processing locations (like manufacturing facilities), construction sites, and the like.
Commercial switches cover the rest of networking. Whether you’re trying to optimize your own home network or building up the infrastructure for a major data center, you will use commercial switches. By de-emphasizing durability, these switches can push the edges of performance and/or save money for consumers.
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