Cisco Industrial Ethernet 5000 Switches

About the Cisco Industrial Ethernet 5000 Series

The Cisco Industrial Ethernet (IE) 5000 Series sits at the top of Cisco's industrial switching range. Where the IE 1000 is a compact DIN-rail unit and the IE 4000 an aggregation layer for a plant, the IE 5000 is the ruggedised, rack-mountable switch that a substation, a transportation control room or a heavy-process plant uses as the spine of its network.

Two things distinguish it from an office Catalyst switch in the same rack space. First, the hardware is built for the electrical and thermal environment — wide temperature operation, redundant power inputs, and compliance with the substation and industrial standards that utilities and transport operators specify. Second, the port layout is fibre-first: a large block of SFP ports for the field runs, plus a smaller block of copper PoE ports for the devices that live inside the control room.

The two models stocked here read in the pattern IE-5000-<SFP>S<PoE>P[-10G]:

• First number — the number of SFP fibre ports. This is the field-facing side of the switch.
• Second number — the number of copper Gigabit PoE ports for local devices.
• -10G — where present, indicates 10-Gigabit uplink capability, which is what pushes that model's price well above its port count alone would suggest.

Both are supplied as Cisco ONE platforms. Cisco ONE is a software-subscription entitlement model rather than a perpetual licence, so if your procurement process requires a single perpetual SKU, say so before ordering and we will quote accordingly.

How to Choose a Cisco IE 5000

1. Work out whether you need the 10-Gigabit uplink

This is the decision that moves the price the most, and it is worth being deliberate about:

• IE-5000-16S12P — 16 SFP ports and 12 PoE copper ports, with Gigabit uplinks. The right answer where the switch aggregates field devices and its own uplink runs into a control-room switch at 1G.
• IE-5000-12S12P-10G — 12 SFP ports, 12 PoE copper ports and 10-Gigabit uplinks. Choose this where the switch is itself an aggregation point fed by several other IE switches, so that the uplink, not the access ports, is the bottleneck.

Notice that the -10G model has fewer SFP ports but costs more. That is not an error: the 10G uplink capability and its associated hardware are what the extra money buys. Count your field runs first, then decide on the uplink — not the other way round.

2. Keep the fibre terminations in the plan

Most of the ports on both models are SFP cages, so the switch does not arrive with usable links — the transceivers and the fibre patch cords are separate items. Industrial fibre runs are commonly long and often single-mode, and the module choice depends on the distance and the fibre already in the ground. Tell us the run lengths with the switch order and we will quote the complete link set.

3. Check the power and mounting design against the site

Substation and transport installations usually require redundant DC feeds and a specific rack or panel arrangement. Confirm the supply voltage, the redundancy scheme and the earthing practice required by your site standard before ordering — these are properties of the chassis and cannot be changed afterwards.

4. Confirm the software entitlement your process requires

Because these are Cisco ONE platforms, the entitlement is subscription-based. If your organisation must capitalise the purchase as a perpetual licence, or if it requires a specifically named licence tier, raise that at the quotation stage rather than after delivery.

Cisco IE 5000 Model Comparison

Prices are our current selling prices in US dollars, excluding shipping. Click a model number for the full specification table and availability.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the -10G suffix mean on the IE-5000-12S12P-10G?

It indicates 10-Gigabit uplink capability. The uplink is the port through which this switch connects to the rest of the network, so -10G matters where the switch collects traffic from several other switches and would otherwise be limited by a 1G uplink. It is the single feature that accounts for most of the price difference between the two models on this page.

Why does the 16-port model cost less than the 12-port model?

Because they are priced by capability, not by port count. The IE-5000-16S12P has Gigabit uplinks; the IE-5000-12S12P-10G has 10-Gigabit uplinks and the associated hardware that comes with them. If 10G is not required anywhere in your topology, the 16-port model is both cheaper and has more SFP ports.

Are the SFP modules included?

No. The SFP cages are empty and require transceivers plus fibre patch cords, which we stock separately. Industrial runs vary widely in length and fibre type, so the correct module depends on your installation — send us the distances with your order.

What is Cisco ONE?

Cisco ONE is Cisco's software entitlement model under which the platform is purchased with a software subscription rather than a one-off perpetual licence. It affects how the purchase is accounted for and renewed, not the hardware. If your procurement requires a perpetual licence SKU, tell us before quoting.

Can these be mounted in a standard equipment rack?

They are designed for ruggedised installations in control rooms, substations and transport cabinets, and the mounting arrangement is part of the installation standard for those environments. Confirm the rack or panel dimensions and the clearance for fibre bend radius at the planning stage.

Do these switches support PoE for control-room devices?

Yes — each model provides 12 copper Gigabit PoE ports alongside its SFP ports, which is what makes an IE 5000 able to serve both the field fibre ring and the local devices from one chassis. As always, add up the rated draw of the powered devices rather than assuming every port can run at maximum simultaneously.

Do you supply the IE 5000 as a complete system or as a chassis?

As the platform part number listed above. Because the usable configuration depends on the SFP modules and the fibre you deploy, most customers buy the switch and the optics together — send the port and distance plan and we will quote the whole bill of materials.