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Converged Networking Architectures Offer Security and Simplicity for the Industrial Market

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Converged Networking Architectures Offer Security and Simplicity for the Industrial Market

 
May 22, 2015

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  By Laura Stotler, TMCnet Contributing Editor

Manufacturing plants have unique challenges when it comes to architecting and managing their networks. Unlike typical enterprises, which are mainly concerned with Internet connectivity, storage and archiving as well as connecting workstations, manufacturing plants have multiple separate networks accomplishing very different jobs. Convergence (News - Alert) of these disparate networks has always been a challenge.


In a recent blog post, Panduit, a company that specializes in solutions to unify physical infrastructure with operational and management goals, outlined some of the networking challenges in the industrial and manufacturing space. These types of companies typically require a network for running protocols at the device level as well as a separate network governing M2M communications. Another network, often Ethernet, connects the machines to data acquisition and storage units for reporting and archiving, while an additional network is often required to tie in workstation access to workflow.

Basically, manufacturing organizations often take this segmented approach to networking to separate manufacturing controls from office operations, including order management, quality control and security. Convergence can be a tricky proposition, and the use of vLANs with a common infrastructure is an obvious choice for maximizing switch and server usage. This converged approach creates challenges though, if cross-patching or installation errors should occur that can create security holes in one of the networks.

Increasingly, the industrial market is adopting the use of a standards-based Ethernet network to converge these segmented operations and simplify the entire network architecture. One common logical networking architecture developed by Rockwell Automation and Cisco (News - Alert) is the Converged Plant-wide Ethernet Architecture. This approach is designed to unify disparate plant networks into a single network that uses vLANS to segment traffic across Layer 2 and 3 network infrastructure. Meanwhile all plant control traffic resides below a “Demilitarized Zone” layer, with any information needed by enterprise operations accessed via a server that resides in this zone. This prevents direct traffic between the enterprise and manufacturing systems, ensuring safety protocols remain intact and disparate while the network architecture is unified and more efficient.

The partnership between Cisco and Rockwell is part of a larger initiative to serve the connected enterprise with an emphasis on M2M communications and the growing importance of the Internet of things (IoT). The companies have developed several guides and training courses designed to help the manufacturing market, while Panduit has extended their converged architecture to the physical plant layer through the Panduit Industrial Ethernet Physical Infrastructure Reference Architecture Design Guide.

"The industrial plant floor is transforming as information and operational technologies expand IP networking and Ethernet connectivity,” said Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn, vice president and general manager, Learning@Cisco. “An opportunity exists here to re-skill system engineers and plant technicians on networking in order to help them more effectively do their jobs while decreasing downtime."

“Today we see an inrush of technology that’s changing the landscape, from labor intensity to highly productive production processes; from older industrial-age plants to clean, safe, efficient production facilities; from isolated operations to an integrated, responsive supply chain,” said Keith D. Nosbusch, chairman and CEO of Rockwell Automation (News - Alert). “The Connected Enterprise brings together people, processes and technology to achieve enhanced productivity, sustainability and economic performance. It is enabled by integrated control and information that allows us to provide a smarter, more productive and more secure environment.”




Edited by Maurice Nagle
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