PNFD Network Services

PNFD offers Preemptive Network Failure Detection for layer 2 applications

Our services include

• Preventative care
• **Eminent Failure Detection
• **Prescribing the Cure
• Post failure Analysis

Call us at 1-866-755-4287 to see how we can help you succeed with your network installation. Ask for Doctor Rizzi - the layer 2 Doctor is here.

Doctor Rizzi, can you give me some reasons why industrial networks fail?

By "fail" we should agree that we are talking about a reduction in performance, unreliable transmission, workflow stoppage within dependant systems and lack of metrics to determine if any of these issues are occuring.

As for the reasons a network fails:

1. Problems with the transmission medium (copper, fiber, wireless); the connectors themselves; dust, oxidation or other enviromental problems: attenuation: accidental disconnection of cables; incorrect reconnection of cables during maintenance; wireless transmission interferance.
2. Poor choice of hardware; consumer switches work well in IT office environments; but in a hot, humid, vibration prone, EMI ridden industrial environment the switches must be industrially-hardened to at least UL Class1, Div2 (like the N-TRON 700 series); power supply failure can bring a network down  - either wire two redundant power supplies to each switch, or choose one with minimum 500k hrs MTBF (like PULS ML30.100).
3. Poor documentation leads to accidents and mistakes when trying to make changes to the network, and incorrect reconnection during maintenance.
4. Lack of network diagnostics: you want to be able to view the status and activity of every port in the network (N-VIEW is standard on all 500 and 700 series); you want SNMP which monitors network attached devices for conditions that warrant administrative attention (standard on 500 and 700 series); you want rapid spanning tree protocal to prevent loops (standard); and you want IGMP snooping (standard).
5. Improper VLAN configuration leads to segmentation issues and broadcast storms; networks can be designed to be resilient against failures through teaming of switches, with automatic rerouting of data through redundantly placed switches.

Can Dr Rizzi help you?

Advanced Technical Sales offers industrial ethernet solutions from basic switches to process control switches with advanced management features, to managed switches for LAN applications. We stock media converters, remote access servers, industrial POE devices, serial communication devices; we have the ideal solution for surveilance applications that require hi-speed/hi-traffic capability. We stock power supplies with 600k hrs MTBF, and CAT5 shielded cables. We have network cameras and video recorders.

We offer free webinars to help you avoid the five mistakes companies make when setting up their networks.

And we offer Preemptive Network Failure Detection - our exclusive service - to monitor your industrial networks 24/7, and provide you ample time to correct pending faults; thus avoiding work-flow stoppage.

You have found the website; order on-line or call us at 1-866-755-4287. We are dedicated to helping our customers succeed.