Cisco Releasing Switch for Industrial Edge

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Cisco is introducing a switch with enterprise-grade capabilities for harsh environments at the industrial edge.

The Cisco Catalyst Industrial Ethernet 9300 was developed to connect and secure the growing number of industrial devices, according to Cisco this month. 

The switch integrates enterprise functionality with industrial protocols in a form factor built for rugged industrial spaces, as a unified solution for IT/OT to “ensure business success.”

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The Catalyst IE9300 supports critical infrastructure, like utilities, oil and gas, roadways, and rail. 

It is an expansion of the Cisco Catalyst 9000 portfolio, based on the Unified Access Data Plane (UADP) ASIC silicon.

The Catalyst IE9300 features advanced visibility, security and edge compute. It is based on the Cisco IOS-XE Operating System and managed by Cisco DNA Center. The switch provides security through the Cisco Identity Services Engine, enabling clients to use their IT knowledge and investments to modernize and secure their industrial and outdoor networks.

Other Catalyst IE9300 Switch Features

• Performance at scale: Enhanced network scalability and reliability with features such as the ability to stack up to eight switches and manage them as one, zero packet loss failure recovery, and high precision time synchronization. 
• Visibility to assets and applications: Improve efficiencies by identifying connected endpoints for asset inventory, automatically enforcing QoS policies via application traffic recognition, and proactively detecting and resolving issues with network health monitoring.
• Enterprise-to-edge, industry-leading cybersecurity: Assess and strengthen the security posture of connected industrial assets and enable zero-trust security with the embedded Cisco Cyber Vision sensor and SD-Access fabric edge capability. 

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“Our customers are taking on massive challenges, like transitioning to cleaner power sources and enhancing electric grid reliability, and the critical nature of these environments demands a network infrastructure with enterprise-grade security, visibility, and automation for scale,” said Vikas Butaney, VP/GM of Cisco IoT. 

“We’re empowering our customers to modernize their large-scale industrial environments and build an agile network, while protecting their assets from cyber threats.”

Adam Nathan, utility and energy industry practice manager at WWT, said to “truly modernize the power grid, utilities need to ensure their substations are efficient and resilient.”

The Catalyst IE9300 switch “empowers utilities to accelerate substation modernization with the agile connectivity needed to power a high-demand future,” Nathan said.

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