ethernetnetwork_r9opt.pdf

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Know Your Cables and Connectors

Recipe for a Robust EthernetNetwork

Building and Installing a Reliable

Industrial Ethernet Infrastructure

04

CONTENTS

HOW TO BUILDAN ETHERNET

NETWORK

15

02

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KNOW YOUR CABLES ANDCONNECTORS

Although the physical layer of cables and transmission rates may often be the same,there are number of signicant differences between industrial grade and

commercial grade Ethernet cables and connectors.

By David Greeneld, Media & Events Director, Automation World

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O ne of the primary drivers behind the growing adoptionof Ethernet on the plant oor is the simple fact thateveryone is familiar with it. But not all Ethernet is

the same. There are some distinct differences at the physicallayer—cabling and connectors—that set industrial Ethernetapart from its commercial counterparts.

Some of the more common aspects of industrial Ethernetcabling include: 4x22 AWG, TC braid and foil shield, PVCand TPU jacketing, and stranded and solid conductors.Wiring inside the cable can be in two twisted pairs or as two

star-quad pairs.

Aside from the physical layering of the cables, perhapsthe biggest differentiator between commercial and industrialEthernet is at the connector level. Though the commonRJ45 connector used in commercial applications can alsobe found in industrial Ethernet, the connector is typicallyreinforced in some way. Both 8 pin and 4 pin types are usedin both male and female congurations available in moldedor eld-installable versions. They are also commonly offeredin IP20- and IP67-rated versions.





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Know Your Cables and Connectors

A bayonet-style mating interface on IP67-rated RJ45 offersindustrial strength protection for the connector. Plus, thequarter turn required to connect the cable to the node matesthe RJ45 plug to the outlet and ensures that it is properlylocked and sealed.

Beyond RJ45 connectors, M12 and M8 style connectorsare also used for industrial Ethernet connections. The M12connector is available as a 4- or 8-pole connector and can offerIP67/IP69K protection. Like RJ45, M8 and M12 connectorsare available as molded or eld wireable connections.

One of the more recent developments to emerge on theindustrial Ethernet connector scene is the X-Code connector.X-Code connectors are distinguishable by the way in which the8 wires in the Ethernet cable are segmented into 4 shieldedpairs. This connector types has developed to keep pace withthe increasing use of Gigabit Ethernet on the plant oor.HARTING, Inc. of North America, Phoenix Contact, Metz andEscha have released this type of connector and Turck expectsto release M12 and RJ45 eld wireable X-Code connectorsin Q3 2012. '

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There are two things we know about Ethernet used inmanufacturing and production and one thing to beaware of for the future. First, Ethernet has become the

de facto standard network in many industries. Its use even tothe input/output (I/O) level has become common. Second,since Ethernet is used by both enterprise and industrialsystems, it has become the focal point for the age-old battlebetween automation and control engineers and informationtechnology (IT) engineers.

The best way to reduce bickering and animosity betweenthose departments is for automation and control engineersto realize that they must add “network engineer” to theirexpanding list of roles. The purpose of this article is to surveythe basics of an Ethernet TCP/IP network and whet yourappetite for further learning.

David McCarthy, president and CEO of TriCore, Inc. (www.tricor.com) in Racine, Wis., says, “Industrial Networking is

By Gary Mintchell, Co-Founder and Editor in Chief

Ethernet has gained critical mass as the industrial network of choice. Automationand control engineers can dig into some of the details of cabling, managed switches

and topologies here, and leave satised with ways to achieve optimummanufacturing network performance.

RECIPE FOR A ROBUSTETHERNET NETWORK





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Recipe for a Robust Ethernet Network

a whole new business area. The plant oor, front ofce and boardroom are allconverging from an information-ow standpoint. Many of the plant oor networks inuse today are not commonly understood well by corporate IT staff. Front ofce andenterprise networks are often not commonly understood well by engineering staff.Designing a robust network solution that satises the needs of the maintenancestaff, engineering, production managers, plant managers and users of corporateIT systems—not to mention system integrators and other suppliers who may be

remotely supporting a facility—requires a unique understanding of how all of thishangs together.”

Cooperation with ITBryce Nakatani, a product support group senior engineer with Opto22 (www.opto22.com), Temecula, Calif., says, “Ethernet is really robust and forgiving.On the other hand, some people corner themselves without realizing it. Werecommend that people use isolated segments, so they don’t encroach on the ITworld. The problem comes in not dening a segment, or subnet size. They maydene a 255.255.255.0 subnet without realizing they’ll have more devices thanthat IP address series will allow.”

Jim Toepper, product marketing manager for Moxa Americas (www.moxa.com),Brea, Calif., says, “We’re seeing a challenge in getting IT buy off. For example, whileworking with a mass transit authority, IT guys had to implement the network, but








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they said they wanted Cisco: ‘We don’t know your network,and rings aren’t proven technology.’ Well, not proven to them.So we had to discuss a whole different philosophy to showthem about averting downtime. In other major commercialvendor’s philosophies, you don’t have different topologies.For industrial, it’s okay to have a at network, so rings areokay. We sort of had to unteach them, then teach them again.”

Mark Fondl, president of Network Vision Software (www.intravue.net) in Newburyport, Mass., has been preachingEthernet for industrial applications since the late 1990s.He offers some cautions and pointers for beginning to thinkabout applying the network. “The rst fallacy is the thoughtthat Ethernet is a single network. One of the rst things Iteach is that you won’t have single networks,” he adds. “I’mworking with a client that will have 900 separate networks—not only replacing PLC (programmable logic controller) toHMI (human-machine interface), but also to drives, I/O andpeer-to-peer. In the old days, maybe we’d have SERCOS,

Remote I/O, Modbus Plus, and so on. Now it’s all going intoEthernet. But even if it is a common technology, be carefulabout how you break it up and apply it.”

As soon as you start using a technology found in the ofcefor manufacturing applications, inevitably conict betweenenterprise IT engineers and automation engineers arises.

Chuck Tommey, PE, is senior business development engineerwith A&E Engineering Inc. (www.aeengr.com) in Greer,S.C.—a full service electrical engineering / automation houseoffering drawings, functional specications, programming,HMI development and more associated with SiemensIndustry products. Tommey says, “From a consultant pointof view, my approach is to get the two sides to sit down andtalk. In a lot of places, animosity has built up over the years.Getting them together can be a task, but usually it helpsthings greatly. We just help each side understand what theother is trying to do. The problem is getting a little less, sincethe automation suppliers have heard and understood there’s





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difculty between the two, and have started making productsa li ttle more IT-friendly.”

Security sticks outSecurity is another sticking point with IT people, who neverbelieve that automation people take it seriously. Tommey adds,“From engineering point of view you can implement VLANs(virtual local area networks), Layer 3 switching, rewalls withDMZs to combat the security issues. Think in zones andconduits. Know the trafc between zones and watch then alertif something not known is seen. And (remember that) there isnever enough separation of networks on the control side.”

Carl Henning, deputy director of Pronet/Probusassociation PI North America (www.us.probus.com) inPhoenix notes, “We see some improvement in the controlengineer vs. IT thing. When we did the Executive LeadershipForum in Miami, quite a few comments related to IT weremade and they were mostly positive. We talk to IT in the



























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beginning and then set up a line of demarcation—usually aswitch or rewall, which is my preference. Even if there istension, there is room for a control engineer to learn andleverage tools from the IT world. What I’ve seen over thepast seven years is improvement in the relationship.”

One of the problems seen by Mark Cooksley, productmanager-software tools for Hirschmann Products, a Beldencompany (www.hirschmann.com) in Chambersburg, Pa., isthat “engineers assume the network will just work—just likethe old serial networks. They are sort of a big black hole ormystery.” Cooksley says that his people still spend a lot oftime in the sales cycle on the basics of Ethernet and TCP/IP,the differences between ofce and industrial applications,and the differences between protocols such as email andle transfer.

Cooksley points out that 35 percent of network failures are just cabling. Learning to install cables correctly solves a lotof problems before they occur. Further, 25 percent of failurescome from the data link layer composed of switches, he says.

Bad installation practicesJim Laurita, technical services manager for HirschmannProducts, adds, “We nd a lot of cable mismanagement andinefciencies, poor cabling and bad installation practices.People do things such as taking four lefts to make a right.The biggest thing is people are not utilizing the capabilitiesof products they purchased. Some have ‘turn it on disease’where they turn on everything needed or not. They purchasea managed switch but run a at network. Or they won’t putin redundancies or won’t purchase network managementsoftware. People generally look at components as anafterthought. They may spend tens to hundreds of thousandson control equipment, then buy a product cheaply that’sessentially the heartbeat of the infrastructure.”

So, what do we need to know about the physical media ofan Ethernet TCP/IP network?

Don Nester, product manager for Chainex continuous excables at igus Inc. (www.igus.com) in East Providence, R.I.,says, “If you are specifying an Ethernet cable for a static





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application, there are a number of different options available. While factorssuch as price, availability, life expectancy and manufacturer loyalty will affect thedecision, most standard Ethernet cables share a similar design and will deliver asatisfactory performance.”

Nester continues, “However, when a standard Ethernet cable is used in amanufacturing application, its mechanical quality will be tested in different waysversus if it were used in an ofce setting. In this type of application, it is mostimportant that the cable meets electrical and mechanical requirements and alsomaintains data rates after years of cycling. Some of the key design considerationsshould be temperature, exposure to oils and chemicals, abrasion points andwhether continuous movement is required.”

Craig Zagorski, market and applications manager for automation at HARTING,Inc. of North America (www.HARTING-usa.com) in Elgin, Ill. says, “With today’sEthernet speeds, especially on the industrial oor, there is the necessity to havea good quality data cable that can withstand the harsh environment. Shielding in,or on, the cable is especially critical. It is essential to eliminate any interferencecoming from its surroundings. If there is the requirement to run a network cablealongside a power cable, two things should denitely be considered: A shieldedcable is a must, but also consider a raceway or wire-way type of product.









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Mike Hannah, manager of product development fornetworks at Rockwell Automation (www.rockwellautomation.com), Milwaukee, adds, “You’ve got to assure good groundplane, cable management, grounding, bonding, shieldingand good control panel design. Everyone knows Ethernet,but in an industrial setting, things happen like the tabs breakoff the RJ45 connector. When a machine has a fault and theoperator calls maintenance, it may have just been the cableor a loose connector.”

Using off-the-shelf CAT5 cables and commercial RJ45connectors is often not optimum, agrees Shaun Kneller,key accounts sales manager for B&R Automation (www.br-automation.com) in Roswell, Ga. “Our connectors havea metal shield, and you connect to hubs, switches andinterfaces that all have metal shields. So you have groundingthrough the whole network. Also consider using two twistedpair cables that have independent shielding around each,then a shield around the whole cable. And use a jacket thatis resistant to oils, cleaning agents and water.”

TopologiesAnother interesting characteristic of Ethernet networking is

the exibility it offers for layout—or what is known as topology.Diane Davis, vice president of product management forN-Tron/Red Lion (www.redlion.net) in Mobile, Ala. says thestar topology still most common. This topology, most used inofce environments, has every device connected to a centralcomponent—a switch, hub or router, for example. Davis adds,“But now ring topology is used for redundancy. Usuallypeople use a hybrid of several (topologies) in their networks.We are seeing more rings, since people do like having theredundancy for the self-healing networks. They can isolatethese using VLANs, although VLANs can make it tough forthe night operator.”

The heart of an Ethernet TCP/IP network is the switch—except that it’s not so simple. You’ll hear about managedversus unmanaged and Layer 2 versus Layer 3. Routers areanother component that is higher-end, more intelligent thana managed switch.

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PI’s Henning says that with today’s industrial switches, “Youdon’t need a Ph.D. in Cisco to run them. But, you will either usea managed switch or wish you had.” His quick differentiationis that unmanaged switches give you blinking LEDs, whilemanaged switches give you information to minimize downtime.“Yes, you can buy a $35 Linksys switch, but will it survive inthe plant and will it give you the information you need?” heasks.

Charlton Buck, product manager for communicationsand power networks at HARTING, Inc. of North America,differentiates between the types of switches: “Managedswitches are feature rich with access to parameter settingsthrough a web browser. The parameter congurations allowfor trafc boundary settings, increased security and portspeed regulation. Congurable switches are feature enabledevices, routinely used to set port speed, port accessibilityand monitor data trafc. Unmanaged switches are plug andplay devices with predominately no parameter settings.”Get Your FREE

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Larry Komarek, business development manager at PhoenixContact (www.phoenixcontact.com) in Harrisburg, Pa. says,“Speed is a consideration in using routers. They can be slower.There’s an old IT adage, ‘switch if you can, route if you must.’You need to balance speed versus functionality. Some industrialprotocols, especially if multicast, can have a ooding effect onunmanaged switches, overloading the CPUs and causing a lossof communication. If you are using redundancy with managedswitches, the standard IT rapid spanning tree protocol is slowfor control applications. You’ll want to use standard IEEEredundancy or one of the plethora of ring protocols.”

Alex Lin, product manager industrial communicationat Advantech (www.advantech.com) in Cincinnati, adds,“Unmanaged switches are easy. You only need knowledgeof standard wiring practices. If you use a Cisco managedswitch, you’ll need a lot of training. However with complexitycome lots of features. We also deal a lot with protocolconverters—from serial to Ethernet. A lot of people haveforgotten about serial, but there is still a lot of it in the plant.

You would use a managed switch if you want redundancy,network stability or if it’s a critical network.”

To obtain a quick denition of Layer 2 versus Layer 3switches, wiki.answers.com has the, er, answer. “Basically aLayer 2 switch operates utilizing MAC (hardware) addressesin its caching table to quickly pass information from port toport. A Layer 3 switch utilizes IP addresses to do the same.A Layer 2 switch will learn about MAC addresses connectedto each port, and passes frames marked for those ports.Layer 3 switching is a hybrid of a router and a switch.… Inroute caching, the switch required both a Route Processor(RP) and a Switch Engine (SE). The RP must listen to therst packet to determine the destination. At that point theSwitch Engine makes a shortcut entry in the caching tablefor the rest of the packets to follow. Layer 2 switches enablea at topology scheme, whereas a Layer 3 switch allows forhierarchical layers of networks.”

Gregory Wilcox, business development manager for





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networks at Rockwell Automation in Milwaukee, says, “They’re building large atLayer 2 networks, but networks still need a structure and hierarchy. You shouldbuild domains then into a Layer 3 switch where they can see things. You usestructure and hierarchy to avoid network sprawl.”

Since Layer 3 switches use IP addresses, setting those addresses for devicesbecomes crucial to nding them on the network. Wilcox, again, “There are a coupleof ways to set IP addresses. One is on most devices we deploy 3-switch method.It could be rotary or push pin. You set last octet number. Since 192.168.1 is therst three octet default, so the 3rd shift guy only needs to look at the device, seewhat the setting is, set the new one, plug in and run.”

Then there is the industrial Ethernet protocols that use standard Ethernet physicallayers but use their own protocols on the wire. For example, EtherCat, sponsoredby Beckhoff Automation (www.beckhoff.com) in Verl, Germany, dispenses withthe TCP/IP part of the equation. According to Joey Stubbs, North Americanrepresentative of the EtherCat Technology Group, says, EtherCat “stops shortof requiring any active routing infrastructure to service the eldbus network. Thismeans that with EtherCat, there is no need for IT involvement, IT experience or IT













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W ith industrial Ethernet becoming the preferreddata communications infrastructure for mission-critical industrial automation and control, the

challenge is to design a system made to withstand extremeand often hazardous environmental conditions.

Built on the same standards-based networking platformas enterprise Ethernet (Ethernet LAN standard IEEE802.3), industrial Ethernet provides secure and seamlessinteroperability when connecting the plant to the centraladministration ofce and the Internet. As a result, more

companies in the oil, gas and petroleum-related industriesare looking to leverage the capabilities of Ethernetcommunications across all their operations.

Perhaps no other industry group faces the type ofharsh conditions that can threaten the performance ofcommunication system components. Whether installed inan oil or natural gas exploration site, extraction operation,processing plant or renery, the signal transmission mustbe tough enough to withstand the destructive effects oftemperature extremes, moisture, humidity, dust, mud, oil,

In the oil, gas and petroleum processing industries, an integrated, environmentallyhardened communications infrastructure is essential to high network performance, reliabilityand uptime. Here are six basic factors to consider in designing a communications network

infrastructure for use in extreme conditions.

BUILDING AND INSTALLINGA RELIABLE INDUSTRIALETHERNET INFRASTRUCTURE





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Building and Installing a Reliable Industrial EthernetInfrastructure

solvents and potentially corrosive chemicals. The network’ssensitive electronics may also be exposed to sunlight,electromagnetic interference (EMI), and the ever-presentdanger of re and explosion.

Here are six practical guidelines oil, gas and petroleumplants should consider in planning, building and installing adata communications network rugged enough to stand up tothe environmental rigors and hazards to which it is exposed.

1. Calculate the real cost of downtime. Analysts reportthat a large percentage of unplanned downtime in industrialoperations can be attributed to network infrastructurefailure. In fact, as many as 72 percent of network faultscan be attributed to failure at the OSI (Open SystemsInterconnection) Layer 1 (Physical Media), Layer 2 (DataLink) and/or Layer 3 (Network).

In mission-critical operations, downtime is not an option. Ifa switch, connector or cabling system should fail, the cost ofparts replacement and repair represents only a tiny fractionof the overall costs associated with downtime. The indirectcosts of Ethernet system failure include lost productivity,delayed processes, cost of system shut-down and start-up, possible lapses in security and safety, and the loss ofservice to customers relying on the plant’s mission-criticaloutput. These indirect effects can send total downtime costssoaring to hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars.

2. Be sure to specify industrial-grade network components.In ofce settings, the Ethernet infrastructure is typicallyinstalled in a clean, quiet setting in which cables, hardwareand connectivity components are fully protected. Industrialfacilities present a starkly different reality. Here, manynetwork components reside in harsh environments whicheven well-made commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) Ethernet





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systems cannot withstand. Sunlight, moisture, dirt and other contaminants canall degrade the cables’ physical integrity and electrical performance, resulting inintermittent outages or even total system shutdown. Only eld proven, industrial-grade components offer the rugged construction and durability required to provideoptimal performance over a long service life.

3. Choose standard-based cables and connectivity components to t eachapplication. Industrial-grade cables that conform to the Ethernet LAN.IEEE 802.3standard are made to resist the effects of sunlight, volatile temperatures, moistureand chemicals. They operate effectively in a wider temperature range (-40ºC to+85ºC) than commercial cables (0ºC to +60ºC).

Depending on the application within the plant, some industrial Ethernet productsto look for include:

• Heavy-duty, all dielectric, indoor/outdoor-rated optical ber cabling in single-mode and multimode constructions. Many feature water-blocking agents foradded protection in moisture-laden environments.















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• Industrial grade Cat 5e and Cat 6 cables with heavy-dutyoil- and UV-resistant jackets. Some Category cables featurea Bonded-Pair inner construction in which the conductorinsulation of the pairs is afxed along their longitudinal axisto ensure consistent conductor concentricity to prevent anyperformance-robbing gaps between the conductor pairsduring installation and use.

• Upjacketed and armored cables add extra protection inmore extreme enviro-nments.

• Continuous ex cables designed for use with continuousmotion machines and automation systems.

• Low smoke zero halogen (LSZH) cables, waterblockedand burial cables are also available.

• Cables designed for use with leading industrial automationnetworking and communications protocols, such as EtherNet/IP (ODVA), Modbus TCP/IP, ProNet and Fieldbus HSE.

• Industrial-grade connectivity components, such as: IP67-or IP20-rated UTP or FTP patch cords, connectors, modular

jacks and plug kits, adaptors, faceplates and surface mountboxes.

• Industrial-grade Cat 5e RJ45 and Micro (M12) cordsetsand patch cords, including high ex versions

4. Select ruggedized switches, active network devicesand accessories. A wide range of hardware is available toenable management of industrial Ethernet networks at theinformation, control and device levels. There are products





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to support both copper and optical ber media, as well asswitches capable of data speeds as high as 10 Gigabits persecond. At a minimum, all of these components – switches,connectors, and other hardware – should offer robustconstruction and resistance to high temperatures, vibrationand EMI.

Typical COTS hardware is designed to operate from 0ºCto +40ºC, while industrial-grade Ethernet hardware operatesefciently from 0ºC to +60ºC – extendable to -40ºC to+85ºC (a conformal coating is also available for humid/moist applications). Also, excessive moisture and corrosivechemicals can inict serious damage to the electronicsin commercial switches, whereas ruggedized industrialswitches are securely sealed to prevent ingress of thesesubstances.

Industrial Ethernet hardware components include:

• Hardened managed and unmanaged switches whichcome in a variety of copper/ber port congurations, portdensities, industry approvals and mounting options.

• Firewalls to secure and isolate a network while stillpermitting authorized data communications to pass through.Firewalls with VPN capabilities also allow secure, encryptedcommunication from a remote location through the Internet.

• Wireless Access Points, Clients and Bridges in eitherDIN rail mount or IP67 enclosure-less housings now alsosupport the faster, more secure and noise-immune 802.11nstandard.

• Related accessories such as hardened power supplies,SFP ber transceivers and even software that providesnetwork status, alerts and control from the automationnetwork’s software or PLC.





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5. Be sure to build in power source and data pathredundancy. Sometimes overlooked in selecting industrialEthernet switches are two kinds of redundancy essential tomaintaining uninterrupted signal transmission and maximumuptime.

• Power source redundancy means having an uninterruptiblepower source (UPS) to provide consistent and reliable switchperformance. Specifying switches that have dual power inputcapabilities means that if one power source fails, the otherimmediately takes over.

• Data path redundancy provides an alternative path for datato travel in the event that any link between switches fails,threatening to bring the system down. This is the inherent awin the daisy-chain network topologies used by many industrialplants to connect automated machinery and devices.

Well-qualied industrial network system designers andintegrators are knowledgeable about the best ways tocreate redundant power and data paths within the Ethernettopology.

6. Look for end-to-end integration to ensure seamlessinteroperability. In selecting industrial Ethernet components,it’s important to take the time to evaluate the market andselect a qualied supplier capable of providing a top-quality,end-to-end Ethernet framework tailored to the applicationand environmental conditions. Taking a “total system”approach eliminates issues of interoperability, ensuring thatall components are seamlessly integrated and ne-tuned todeliver consistently reliable performance day after day, yearafter year. And that, of course, is a primary objective forowners and managers of oil, gas and petroleum plants lookingto install a high performing industrial Ethernet network. '



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