In recent years, industrial automation technology has been embraced by several industries, including electronics assembly, food and beverage processing, pharmaceuticals, and automotive manufacturing. The trend is expected to continue as companies look for ways to improve efficiency and competitiveness. Yet, integrated automation is not without its challenges.
Extreme temperatures, humidity, vibration, electrical noise, and harsh contaminants in industrial automation environments can affect installed automation equipment that the network depends on, potentially leading to failure of a control system, machines, automated devices, and unscheduled downtime for connected production lines.
In this blog, Antaira will review advantages of our managed Industrial Network Switch models that are suitable for deployment in industrial automation environments. Along the way, we will explore how Antaira devices can enhance network operations and provide better performance, flexible automation, and scalability for industrial applications and your infrastructure network.

Cost of Downtime in Network Automation

Unscheduled downtime can be one of the most expensive events to occur in a manufacturing process, control system, assembly line or in any network automation facility. Downtime can be particularly disruptive to automated systems such as a production line. The analyst firm Aberdeen Research estimates that unexpected downtime in the manufacturing sector can cost a business up to $260,000 per hour. The Ethernet switch is the building block of industrial automation technology, enabling connected devices to “talk” to each other and share critical data across the network infrastructure.

Industrial Network Switch Design

Just as you need personal protection equipment human operators on a plant floor for safety, you need a hardened industrial-grade Ethernet switch to keep network resources and ensure the most reliable connections to programmable logic controllers, sensors and HMIs. Essential features include: a rugged metal housing with IP30 or IP67 weatherproof ratings, Class I Division 2 certification (where required), redundant dual power supply option, tolerance to extreme temperatures ranging from -40 to 75°C (-40 to 167°F), fast network recovery, and resistance to power surges, EFT/ESD, shock and vibration. Hardware features that increase quality such as M12 connectors are ideal for where dust, debris, water and heavy vibration could jeopardize connections. Using the provided management function such as VLANs, port security, and authenticated access will further safeguard network systems.

ERPS and Industrial Automation

There are several ways to implement ring networking topographies, but with Ethernet, ERPS (Ethernet Ring Protection Switching) is the gold standard. When used correctly in automation solutions, it protects Ethernet traffic and maintains recovery times under 50 milliseconds. 
ERPS, sometimes referred to as G.8032 and defined in ITU-T G.8032, is ideal for automation networks. ERPS uses Ethernet switches to create a highly reliable and stable ring topology solution from which a robust network is built. An Ethernet ring consists of a series of multiple managed switch devices that form a closed physical loop. Subsequent rings are connected to each other by joining two nodes from each. This redundancy is what enables the fast network recovery when any single point fails. Since each ring switch is running ERPS on the ports which interconnect them, critical loops that affect network operation and service availability are eliminated while path redundancy remains. Another plus is that ERPS rings can be easily integrated into existing networks — the standardization behind G.8032 makes it simple to add network rings ad hoc without destabilizing an existing design.
Devices like the Antaira LMP-1002G-10G-SFP-24 and the entire managed switch line come preconfigured for use with ERPS and other ring redundancy protocols including RSTP and MSTP.

Industrial Switches for Automation Solutions

No matter what industry, budget costs, or traffic requirements, Antaira has an Ethernet switch that is designed to increase the productivity and reliability of your network. With downtime costs escalating, the case for deploying Antaira industrial-grade Ethernet switch device has never been stronger. Our comprehensive family of products includes:
• Rackmount Switch: Antaira’s industrial rackmount network switch series deliver a high degree of modular flexibility with 26-port (such as the LMP-2602G-SFP) or 32-port (such as the LMX-3228G-10G-SFP-AA) switching capabilities perfect for high-density connectivity. Available either managed or unmanaged, these flexible Gigabit switch models offer a mix of copper and fiber slots, PoE options, extended temperature ranges, fast millisecond-level multicast traffic redundancy, and dual DC power supplies, all contained in compact metal 1U rackmount housings. 

• DIN-Rail Managed Switch: Compact and rugged, Antaira's managed Ethernet switch series empower you to configure, monitor and manage network settings for greater control over industrial LANs and for the remote access of endpoint devices. Choose from models from Fast Ethernet 10/100TX, Gigabit 10/100/1000Tx, to 10G pre-loaded with network management software and supporting a user-friendly web console interface for easy configuration. To simplify powering edge devices, many of our switch models feature PoE, PoE+ or PoE++ that supply up to 90W per port. Check out our M12 IP67 water resistant Gigabit PoE+ models, like the LMP-1802G-M12-10G-SFP-67-110-T with the scalability of 16 Ethernet ports and two 10G fiber slots.

• DIN-Rail Unmanaged Switch: Antaira's unmanaged Ethernet switch series are user-friendly and high in performance. They are available with PoE and speeds up to 10 Gigabits, delivering high bandwidth, reliable communication in extreme environments. The Antaira LNP-1204G-10G-SFP, for instance, has two 1G SFP slots and two 10G SFP+ slots that provide options for long-distance fiber connections, along with eight Gigabit Ethernet ports with PoE+ (30W/port).

Automate with Antaira

According to Fortune magazine, the worldwide industrial automation market is projected to grow to $395 billion by 2029, offering enterprises across all business sectors unprecedented transparency, flexibility, scalability, and efficiency. Antaira provides simple connectivity solutions to support industrial network automation applications.
Since 2005, Antaira Technologies has been at the forefront of supplying the highest quality industrial networking devices to increase productivity. Contact our technical team today at sales@antaira.com to discuss your automation network requirements. We have the switch solutions you need to automate.