A solution to used to create smarter, safer, and faster industrial networks, as a switch designed for a wide variety of use cases across multiple industries. Rugged, the switch is designed to operate on production lines, inside electric substations, at the airport, and in roadway intersections.
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Dell PowerConnect Switches (discontinued)
Score 8.2 out of 10
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Dell PowerConnect were a series of managed and unmanaged ethernet switches for data centers, discontinued by Dell. They have been superseded by the PowerSwitch line of switches, from Dell.
As the Cisco Catalyst IE9300 Rugged Series Switches do not come with a fan, it is really good for the environment that requires quietness, as these switches are super quiet, not even with any air flow noise. Of course, if you are going to deploy it to a hot, humid environment, that's a no brainer. Plus, those switches have some built-in POE ports that make them quite handy for connecting PoE CCTV cameras and VoIP phones
We work in the electric industry. These should not be used in a high-heat environment. We like to keep the temperature of the room in the low 60's so they are not suited for our Substation locations due to extreme heat and cold. However, they perform great in a server room.
First of all, if I encounter something, it's really easy for me to find an answer from Google. That's because that's a very famous company, lots of people using that. And for example, what if we have a bot or something? Hard questions, hard problems. It's really easy to find out from the outside world because everybody use it.
we identified an unpublished bug that the devices are all generating the same engine id for snmp v3, hence could not get the snmp v3 working on all of the devices.
for improvement, maybe Cisco can introduce some edge computing or AI driven diagnostics to preemptively flag network anomalies.
we bought the 24 port version of the switches 9320, it would be good to introduce some switches modules that can easily get the switch port density upgrade in case we need to have more, rather than buying a whole new switch.
its slightly frustrating that even the AC power supplies which are using normal power ranges, still require a licensed electrician to complete the first time connections, and that the power modules are hot swappable from the rear, so ensuring front and rear access is a must for long term servicing of the unit. Other than those draw backs the Cisco Catalyst IE9300 Rugged Series Switches is fantastic and integrates into our SDA fabric
The Dell PowerConnect switch is a great switch in certain use cases. It really works well when training users to set up their own vlans in a technology class. We have a lot of different scenarios happening at this company, with 8 different buildings and multiple different affiliate entities. For some of the departments, the budget is the most crucial element. That is where the Dell PowerConnect switches are a really great option.
Dell ProSupport is outstanding. Dell ProDeploy is likewise outstanding. I prefer them even over traditional Cisco support. I've had repeated cases where Dell immediately addressed or fixed an issue with US-based support, including firmware hotfixes. Not even Cisco can boast that.
I would rate the IE9300 higher than the IE3300 where space permits for a full size switch installation and where PoE requirements are higher. The IE3300 has its place in networks for works like SCADA systems and lower PoE Draw The IE9300 is a more full fledged switch, where the installation environmentals are just too harsh for a normal Cisco Catalyst 9300
I selected Dell mainly due to previous experience using them in a business environment. I've never had a unit fail on me and when my budget for equipment like network switches has been less than a training class on how to use those switches, it's incredible to be able to find quality equipment at the price point Dell offers and even more so when their enterprise support has been as excellent as I have been accustomed to dealing with. In all honesty, even if I had a larger budget, I would have bought these same switches since they were exactly what I needed to suit my needs. We looked into HPE/Aruba network switches, and while they would have performed everything we needed and more, they were almost four times the cost of these Dell network switches. That's a hard sell when it comes to planning a tight budget.
