NETWORK MONITORING 41
NETWORK MONITORING 41
Evgeniy Vlasov , Business Development Manager , NEXANS Advanced Networking Solutions
www . nexans . co . uk
Limiting costs and enhancing flexibility are key to successfully managing complex networks , but that ’ s only half the challenge
Implementing , monitoring and maintaining a large , complex network is difficult enough . However , if you ’ re dealing with a mission-critical network , possibly located in a remote area , things become even more complicated – especially where conditions can be harsh . So how can this be made easier ?
If a mission-critical network should go down , this can have dangerous and even life-threatening consequences . Unsurprisingly , requirements for such networks are significantly higher than for other types of network . These mission-critical applications range from transport , traffic monitoring , oil & gas , Smart Grids and electrical substations to IP video surveillance and security in cities or on campuses . Let ’ s take a closer look at the specific requirements …
Mission critical networks need to be designed from the ground up for maximised operating time in harsh environments – this means taking a different approach to everything from hardware to functionality . Availability needs to be as high as possible , which requires ample transmission and power redundancy . Security levels also need to be as high as manageable to prevent everything from unwanted access to data losses . Another important practical consideration is ease of maintenance . It ’ s vital that maintenance can be carried out by a wide range of staff , not only the most highly qualified people . A mission critical network will typically cover a large area and many of its connected devices will be in difficult to reach locations . IT team resources need to be used in the smartest possible way . Further considerations A further vital aspect is interoperability . Mission critical systems need to work with many different types of equipment . In many cases , core switches might be sourced from one manufacturer , with aggregation and access switches coming from another – these might have been selected for their superior performance in harsh environments . A large number of ‘ non-traditional ’ devices are currently being connected to networks and these need to be monitored and managed by SCADAs ( supervisory control & data acquisition ), so SCADA interfacing is also important . Then there ’ s specific industry compliance to take into account . For Smart Grid installations , for example , compliance with IEC 61860 ( -6 , -7 , -8 , -9 ) is essential .
Today , we see that IP Convergence has resulted in migration of many new devices , such as controllers and sensors , to the network . These devices can generally be powered with PoE , which allows electrical power to be sent along with data over Ethernet cabling . Ensuring a high number of available PoE + ports is important . Although many devices are still ‘ non-IP ’, users want to connect these to their networks and manage them at the lowest possible cost .
Fortunately , this can be realised with discrete I / O modules of industrial switches .
Managing complexity Across a city , for example , a network serving multiple purposes might be installed and maintained by multiple vendors . As such networks will be spread across a vast distance , centralised control , the ability to collate and transport data from many different devices , from security cameras and access sensors to WAPs , is vital . When large areas are covered , the network must be managed and maintained in a smarter way than ever before , using a centralised approach . Of course , automated documentation is vital – finding and fixing faulty equipment or bad connections without up to date information is a waste of time and resources .
Today ’ s intelligent switches can provide diagnostic data regarding temperature , power level , port usage , PoE status and much more . Alerts can be defined for a wide range of parameters . This can enormously reduce the amount of time required to track and repair faults . It ’ s easy to dislodge a cable simply by opening a rack tray , and manually checking for faults is extremely time-consuming even in the most conveniently located network – this is multiplied enormously if you need to travel to remote , difficult to reach locations .
Power distribution More and more network devices need to be powered , but are located in very hard to reach places . Rolling out electrical cables all the way to the device , alongside data cables , requires a great deal of time and is costly . PoE ( Power over Ethernet ) is a smart and relatively inexpensive way of providing power to devices in tricky locations across distances of up to 100m . It ’ s advisable to only use the functions on each device that you really need , so as to draw only the power you genuinely require . When PoE is used in the final stretch of the network , up to around 100m ,
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