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ICT Today January/February/March 2020

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26 I ICT TODAY Selecting appropriate media for a robust and reliable industrial Ethernet network is imperative. Three viable media types are optical fiber, balanced twisted pair and wireless. Their various characteristics are defined and use criteria outlined herein to help ICT physical infrastructure designers identify the correct media choice for the industrial environment and its specific applications. Prior to starting the process of media selection, there are some fundamentals to review. Industrial networks are designed to control time sensitive processes that, if compromised, can have a significant negative impact on both safety and production. Therefore, reliability, redundancy, and low latency are key design criteria that are always considered as part of the logical design and, hence, become equally important when designing the physical infrastructure. Added features of the physical infrastructure include designing for redundancy, longevity, expandability, and the sharing of media with other networks. A designer should consider the infrastructure to have a 20 year life span without a significant overhaul; based on experience, some end-user clients prefer joint use cabinets typically at the distribution level. This means that not only will the media need to support the business information technology (IT), but also the industrial network operational technology (OT), including building automation systems (BAS) and security (e.g., CCTV, access control and intrusion). As a designer, it is a necessity to table this scenario and secure a clear definition of exactly what the infrastructure is expected to support. By Luke Young, RCDD THE PROCESS OF SELECTING MEDIA FOR INDUSTRIAL ETHERNET NETWORKS

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