Industrial Network Infrastructure
Network infrastructure is one of the most vital yet undervalued business assets. Lose the network and you lose phones, email, Internet, access to business systems or control/visibility of the manufacturing process.
Many businesses strive to provide optimum versions of the devices connected to the network, such as computers, phones, machines, etc., yet attempt to economize on the network infrastructure that supports these devices.
This article discusses essential knowledge and tactics in current, near future, and distant future time domains that guide your network plans. It also suggests resources and strategies to assist you in the design, implement, operation, and maintain phases.
Current Day
Today industrial networks are a composite of Ethernet protocols and what industry experts term, “legacy protocols.” Legacy protocols are a telling term because like other legacies, we must live with them for a while. Legacy protocols age and become more difficult to support over time. This issue is further exacerbated by the aging workforce megatrend.
A large portion of the support staff for legacy protocols has reached retirement age. Forward-thinking organizations instituted plans to retain this outbound knowledge. Other companies meet the need by engaging professional services organizations backed by major automation manufacturers. read full pdf