Item: Cisco Catalyst IE3200 Rugged Series Switches
Rating: 9
Author: Nick Davis

Overall Satisfaction with Cisco Catalyst IE3200 Rugged Series Switches

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

This product enabled us to deploy gigabit switching in our production holding freezers where we keep our food products. With our regular fleet of switches, we were unable to do so because of the harsh cold temperatures in the freezers. The PoE capability on the switches also enabled us to power freezer temperature sensors over ethernet. Also the generally small form factor fits perfectly in the space.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Ease of management
Operating temperature range
PoE Capability

Cons

Did not use the Alarm I/O which could have reduced the overall size of the device
USB-C Console would be nice
Above were my only 2 complaints

Most Important Features

Operating temperature range
PoE+ Capability
User-friendly GUI and/or familiar CLI

Return on Investment

We haven't had to replace any of the switches so far due to failure
We haven't had any power delivery issues to our temperature sensors
The deployment of the switch in the freezer was simple and cost-effective as it did not require us to purchase any sort of insulated enclosure

Network Management

We do not use Cisco DNA Center. The majority of our switch fleet is Aruba switching, but for the handful of Cisco switches we do have, we just manage them independently, whether with Web Interface or CLI.

We may be purchasing more Cisco switches down the road, and at that time, we can look at Cisco DNA Center as a solution.

Network Segmentation

We do segment our network. We are running these Cisco Catalyst IE3200 Rugged Series Switches as layer 2 switches however all the devices in our freezers are considered as the same device family, so they are on the same VLAN. Upstream of these switches though we are segmenting at layer 3 with VRF's and to pass traffic inter-VRF that needs to be permitted by our Palo Alto firewall to cross zones.

Durability

I have these switches in production freezers varying from -20 to 0 degrees Celsius and have not had any fail yet.

Key Insights

Do you think Cisco Catalyst IE3200 Rugged Series Switches delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Cisco Catalyst IE3200 Rugged Series Switches's feature set?

Yes

Did Cisco Catalyst IE3200 Rugged Series Switches live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Cisco Catalyst IE3200 Rugged Series Switches go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Cisco Catalyst IE3200 Rugged Series Switches again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

In areas with harsh temperatures like freezers they are an awesome fit, as I mentioned in the first part of this review. I would not recommend this switch in an area where it may be exposed to other elements like water. For example, in a washdown area like in our food production plants, we are constantly hosing down / steaming the area to sanitize. The only way I would recommend it in an area like that is if it is physically located inside of some sort of enclosure, but in that case you might as well purchase a less expensive non-ruggedized switch and do the same.

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Cisco Catalyst IE3200 Rugged Series Switches Review