Schneider Electric Ethernet Switches
Schneider Electric’s Ethernet switches are reliable and secure devices for building networks in industrial and commercial settings. They're built tough to be the backbone of communications between automation systems, controllers, sensors, and monitoring devices in plants.
Schneider’s Ethernet switches are said to provide "smooth data transfer" across a range of network infrastructures. They couple well with Schneider’s EcoStruxure industrial control system for "connected operations" that are meaningful in a "data-driven" sense. Schneider Electric itself offers an array of Ethernet switches that cover the spectrum from entry to expert—unmanaged to managed switches, Power over Ethernet (PoE) switches, and several options in between.
These switches are built to international standards and work smoothly with Schneider's traditional and digital ecosystem devices. As industrial connectivity and digitalization grow, Schneider Electric Ethernet switches serve as vital components for Industry 4.0. They allow disparate systems to communicate over a single network and provide the flow of information between connected devices that is necessary for modern enterprise computing. Whether a switch is used to connect tens of thousands of field devices to upper-level controls in a smart factory, to connect lower-level controls to smart meters in a water treatment facility, or to serve as an upper-level switch in an infrastructure system, connected devices can rely on its performance.
Basics of Switches, Routers & Hubs
Ethernet hubs, switches and routers connect computers to networks, devices and other computers.
Ethernet hubs are the least intelligent of the three devices. They simply take any message that is received and transmits it to every other device connected to that hub. For example, if CPU 1 on a network wants to send a message to CPU 5, it will send that message through the hub.The hub will then take that message and send it out to every connected device on that hub regardless of the intended target. When CPU 5 receives that message and wants to respond, it will send its response through the hub which sends it to every connected device. Ethernet hubs do not manage any data that is sent and tend to bog down networks. They also do not offer much security for the network. For these reasons, Ethernet hubs are are being replaced with network switches.
Switches transmit data from one device to another on the same network. Unlike a hub, switches use a switch table to learn where data came from and where to send it. Switch tables store Mac addresses and device ports. By storing this data, a switch can operate more efficiently than a hub, greatly reducing the traffic within the network.
Routers transfer data between devices while learning the location of those devices within the network. They are also a junction between two or more networks. An example of this would be a home router where the home network is connected to the Internet. Another example would be when the router connects two or more networks with different business functions. In addition to connecting two or more networks, a router offers important security features that help protect the network.