Page 55: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Apr/May 2014)

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Production

Design with industrial programmable logic controllers, auto- segmentation will greatly reduce prob- ethernet infrastructure in mind mated equipment and subsea systems, lems during the installation and improve

First and foremost, an offshore vessel’s the network is usually large and dense. reliability once in operation.

communications network should follow If the network is also ? at, then perfor-

Ruggedize the system today’s best practices in network design. mance and uptime will be reduced. A to withstand elements Older SCADA (supervisory control and segmented network, on the other hand, data acquisition) and ICS (industrial con- is more manageable and makes isolating The extreme conditions faced by offshore trol system) systems were not designed network issues easier. facilities require the use of quality, rug- with security needs in mind. Due to To create an ideal network infrastruc- gedized equipment that will withstand

Making connections harsh environmental conditions, ? oating ture, divide your network into zones. the harshest environments. Extreme tem- • facilities have shorter lifecycles when Subnets – Dividing up devices into peratures, corrosive hydrocarbons, direct components used to build out the com- compared to other industrial systems; physical groupings based on function or sunlight and UV exposure are just a few munications infrastructure, particularly therefore, new vessels or retro? t projects location makes it easier to maintain and of the challenges for the network.

the physical media. can more easily shift to the improved secure them. Subnets prevent broad- Reliable signal transmission solutions •

The management of network traf? c to technologies available. cast messages, reducing the chances of that enable your offshore network to

The main trend is the increasing adop- protect the performance of automation network traf? c storms that can impact operate continuously while also con- tion of Ethernet networking technologies systems from advanced malware threats production. necting back to the control system on the for communications. Not or unintentional incidents. beach are not optional. Products designed

Floating production, stor- only is industrial ethernet As new offshore vessels are built for and tested in this extreme setting will age and o