Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1132978
44 I ICT TODAY There are now a growing number of BAS-BACnet monitoring and analytics tools available by different companies for facilities and the IT team to consider (Figure 6). Each has its pros and cons. The tool chosen should allow BAS professionals to manage and analyze their networks without needing to tweak and adapt the tool to their BACnet systems. At minimum, the monitoring/ analytical tool should include the following features: • Built with both IT and BACnet in mind while addressing BAS network behavior, security needs, and the user's profes- sional training; a tool designed also for IT can encourage increased collaboration between IT and facilities managers • Assesses the health of the BACnet system FIGURE 6: A monitoring and analytics tool should bring IT-level management and detail to the OT-level. 6 • Tracks trends in network health over time and exposes recurring issues or sudden changes • Uses graphs to show network activity, anomalies and patterns • Instantly pinpoints problems with advanced diagnostic checks • Sends alarms when the network health decreases unexpectedly • Pinpoints the devices that need reconfiguring and discloses which vendor to contact for service help • Performs site monitoring, allowing controls engineers to understand the network at the site level (view entire campus network), area level (drill down into problems a particular building is having), and capture node level (pinpoint the problem such as a specific IP device causing a broadcast storm) • Uses a shared dashboard to share site, area, and capture node levels with service technicians, colleagues and other relevant parties • Schedules captures to upload on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis • Generates advanced reports, including detailed breakdown of network health in a shareable PDF format IT needs to work with BAS professionals to implement not only management monitoring and analytics tools, but also energy analytics solutions, such as BUENO Systems, BuildPulse, or CopperTree Analytics for expanded network security. BACnet AND SECURITY There was an increase in the adoption of BACnet especially when BACnet moved from BACnet MS/TP to BACnet IP at a controller level. 7 It continues as the predominant protocol as it has throughout the years (Figures 7 and 8). To maintain that position, BACnet also needs to adapt and advance to meet the age of IoT, smart buildings, and security. BACnet/SC, an endeavor for the past five years by SSPC-135 IT-WG and not yet ratified, is a promising step in that direction. As mentioned earlier, many BACnet networks are overloaded with traffic making the network vulnerable to cyberattacks. When devices become overwhelmed with sending and receiving traffic, the computer inside the device simply stops functioning. It just cannot handle that level of activity. Many