While commercial-grade switches rely on fan cooling with holes on the casing, susceptible to dust accumulation, industrial-grade switches do not have fans, but rely on rugged design to resist heat better, and any buildup of dirt or dust. An industrial switch is one designed specifically for industrial applications. In many cases, the name of the switch will include the word “industrial” in it to identify its design intent. When selecting an industrial switch, network architects. An industrial switch, also called a hardened switch, is a type of network switch designed for use in industrial settings, it still belongs to the network switch, but cannot be replaced by a simple SMB ethernet switch, commercial switch, data center switch, etc,. Below is a detailed breakdown of the key differences between the two: 1.