Power over Ethernet (PoE)—a technology that allows network operators to provide electric power to many types of devices through the same cable as data is transmitted—has become fairly commonplace in office IT environments. Unfortunately, industrial OT environments have not yet embraced it to the same extent. And that’s a shame, because the benefits of PoE may carry even greater weight on the plant floor. However, PoE in OT areas also carries some additional challenges—challenges that your IT folks may not be aware of. Here’s how to bring the “power” of PoE to bear at your facility—while maintaining optimum reliability in both data transfer and power flow. 

When it comes to industrial Ethernet network installation, field termination—the onsite preparation of each end of each cable and then joining it securely to an RJ45 connector—can be among the most vulnerable steps in the process. With eight conductors per cable and potentially hundreds of cables in a midsized installation, occasional errors are not uncommon, which can lead to intermittent data failure and interruptions that are often challenging to track, further adding to downtime and frustration. Of course, best practice dictates that every termination be tested upfront, and estimates suggest that resulting rework rates are as high as 8-10%. 

Odds are, if you’re reading this, you’re among the growing majority of OT network operators who have made the jump from traditional fieldbuses and have implemented Ethernet in your operations.

The Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) is a global organization working to accelerate the successful adoption of the tools of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) within organizations of all kinds. It was founded in March 2014 by an agreement among AT&T, Cisco, General Electric, IBM and Intel, and currently has more than 260 members located in 30 countries, with hundreds more non-members beneficially tapping into its resources.

It seems axiomatic that a zero-day vulnerability is undefendable. At the moment a particular exploitable bit of software code is discovered by a malicious hacker and the clock starts ticking from zero-day forward, clearly, by definition, there is no protective patch or workaround yet available. And so the hacker has free rein to wreak havoc while the good guys work frantically to play catch up.