Networking a Mfg Plant.What is the common practice to have unlimited IP addresses?

[Baker in Virginia]

Good Morning ,

We plan on networking our entire plant. We have well over 255 machines. We have a block of IP Addresses we were thinking of using example 142.218.138.000 to 142.218.138.255. O.f course I would run out of IP addresses. This is going to be a 2018 project , but any upgrades or new machinery that we purchase , I want it to fall within our 2018 scheme . When we do this project I would like to at least sound like I know what I am doing .

Could you guys please give me some tips or links on how I can have a much wider net of IP addresses, like 142.218.138.000 to 142.218.139.255.. I imagine you do something with the subnet , correct ?

Thanks so much,

 

[mendonsy]

A subnet mask of 255,255,255,0 gets you the 255 IP addresses.
A subnet mask of 255,255,254,0 gets you 512 IP addresses, etc.
You need to be aware that some devices need special setup if you use a subnet mask other than 255,255,255,0.

 

[gclshortt]

http://accautomation.ca/what-everybody-ought-to-know-about-ip-addressing/

There are a defined number of IP addresses that have been defined as private IP addresses. These addresses are not allocated to any specific organization and anyone can use these without approval. Choose the one with the range that will fit your application.

Class Private IP Addresses
A 10.0.0.0 – 10.255.255.255
B 172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255
C 192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255

Regards,

 

[Baker in Virginia]

Thanks . What about Panelview Plus HMI's , Compactlogix PLC's , etc. ?

 

[labeledas]

all of your Ethernet devices can be assigned whatever ip(aside from duplicates)/ subnet mask you wish but for private networks you are supposed to stay within the ranges gcl listed.

depending on the volume of traffic you may want to split your network into zones

 

[Paullys50]

For that much equipment, what are your plans for the actual physical layer??

 

[Baker in Virginia]

I'm sorry for my dumbness. What do you actually mean by "Physical Layer" ?
Do you mean devices ?

 

[thebuj]

This is the way we are setup in our plant.

We have one main network that connect all racks with a cpu. This is the network where your programming pc will be attached.
Seen in black on the diagram.


Then every rack that has a cpu gets a 2nd network card, and this card will connect every other slave rack, flexio, drives, hmi, field device that is controller by that cpu.

The subnet could be any number really (even the main one) since its not physically connected to the plant one. for clarity, I recommend not using the same though.

This way, you can have 255 cpus with each 255 field devices and still using 255.255.255.0 mask.

 

[RonJohn]

Baker,
Our local A-B distributor was quite helpful in giving us direction regarding plant-wide networking of our controls. Rockwell has an Industrial Network Technologies web page which contains lots of stuff to consider when undertaking such a task. The CPwE Design & Implementation Guide & the Top 10 Recommendations for Plantwide EtherNet/IP Deployments white paper were of much interest to us.

The CPwE guide is "big city phone book" thick but don't be intimidated.