Infrastructure
Network, Communication & Server Design
Plant networks, links between buildings and the servers behind your controls, designed, documented and kept up to date.
Most plant networks grew one machine at a time. The result works until one switch, one cable or one old server takes down a line. We map what you have, design what it should be and move you there without stopping production.
We also look after the servers that sit behind your controls: HMI and SCADA servers, historians, engineering workstations and their backups, so they are patched, recoverable and documented.
What we do
- Survey of the existing network with an up-to-date drawing and device list
- Network design: addressing, VLANs, managed switches and separation of machine networks from office networks
- Firewalls and secure, logged remote access for vendors and your own team
- Links between buildings and to remote equipment over fiber, wireless or cellular
- Server setup and management: virtualization, user accounts, patching and monitoring
- Backup and recovery plans for servers, PLC programs and HMI projects, tested with a restore
- Cable installation coordinated with licensed contractors
What you get
- A network drawing that matches what is installed
- Machine traffic kept apart from office traffic
- Servers you can restore in hours, not days
Questions about network, communication & server design
Do you replace our IT department?
No. We work with your IT staff or provider on the plant-floor side, where machines, controllers and their servers have needs that office IT does not usually cover.
Can you redesign the network without shutting the plant down?
Yes. The change is planned in stages and cut over during planned downtime or shift changes, with a way back at every step.
Do you install cabling?
We design the cabling and test it. Installation is done by licensed contractors where Florida law requires it.
Need help with network, communication & server design?
Tell us what the machine does today and what you want it to do.