Networking together gate security cabinets

[Engineer_UA]

Greetings guys,

I have a project where I've got several local security cabinets that supervise automatic electric gates at an industrial site. All the local security cabinets are in turn supervised/monitored by the main security cabinet in the Admin building.
For this type of network, should this be a ring configuration or is it typically individual fiber drops to each local security cabinet from the main cabinet?

This is my first job of this kind, and wanted to get some feedback.

Thank you,
EE

 

[GaryS]

I assume that this is a new installation and you need to choose the communication system for the gates.
What is the budget for this ?
How secure do you need this to be ?
Can you run underground between the gate panels and main panel ?
Is this site a temporary construction site or are you looking at a permanent installation ?
With out having a full understanding of the final goal or te level of security toy are looking for all I cn do is put this out there for thought.
Having said that I would look at ring configuration using fiber optics network underground.
If you think you need additional security / reliability then add an encrypted wireless VPN network.
With the ring if one gate drops out the others will be still be read / controlled with the loop
Consider having the master poles both networks reading the same data through each network
And compare the received data if they don’t match flag that gate as needing attention
If it’s warranted send a signal to lock out that gate or whatever action the think should be done.
I would also think about a UPS supply in each gate panel
If you are using a PLC as the master I would look at using a Safety PLC due to it’s secure packet communication with remote I/O