By Guest Blogger, Marc Handley This month we will focus on Network optimization. This is a very broad topic to cover so I will only cover a few of the areas that we see the most concerns with. Network Infrastructure There are many technologies that can offer you optimization in your network, starting with your…
Industrial IT is an area where we are seeing increased interest from our customer base. This as control systems and their supporting networks become ever more sophisticated, more critical to plant operations, and more integrated into higher level business systems to aid in business optimization and critical decision making. Because of this growing interest and…
We have combined previous blog posts on the subject of legacy migration with a description of project we performed to create a white paper on this very important subject. Download the Legacy Control System Migration white paper.
Google has chosen Jackson County as the site for a $600 million data center that will be built on 350 acres of land on the former Widows Creek coal plant. The land is owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority. According to a release from the Alabama Department of Commerce, the data center could create up to…
There are many reasons legacy control systems migration projects go bad. These include incomplete or inaccurate drawings, the wrong team, lack of guidance, poor methodology, poor communications, and lack of teamwork. A FEED (front-end engineering & design) study is the starting point for preventing and avoiding these issues. The FEED Plus study takes this process…
by Guest Blogger Jeremy Ruppert (photo courtesy of ABB/Google) There are many ways to make a system more efficient, but this post will address ways a variable frequency drive can improve a customer’s pump performance, lower costs, and extend the life of the equipment. Though initially not the cheapest option, a VFD can save the end-user…
legacy-II-600 In Part I of our series, we discussed the definition of legacy controls migration and the reasons it has become a critical issue in many plants. This segment will address other issues related to implementing such a migration strategy. Developing a Migration Plan: Complete vs. Partial Although an immediate full migration would be the most effective remedy…
Fiber optical Throughout most of the history of personal computers, serial ports have been the most basic way to transfer data. Serial communication is a standard, accessible way to communicate with a large variety of devices including modems, mice, and most importantly (from a control engineer’s viewpoint) programmable logic controllers (PLCs). During this period, and extending into…
Dust One of the most serious issues currently facing plant/facility managers across all industries is that of legacy control system migration. What is this all about, and why is it such a serious issue? This post will be the first in a series and will address these specific questions. The term “legacy” was originally used…
45383368_secureflatscreenCR The Stuxnet computer worm was discovered in 2010. It targets Siemens PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) through Siemens Step7 software. Through a rootkit, Stuxnet can control VFDs (Variable Frequency Drives) attached to the PLC. Allegedly, it damaged or destroyed many Iranian centrifuges. More information about the Stuxnet infection process can be found at http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/exploring-stuxnet-s-plc-infection-process. Although it is not the first…