Cisco has rolled out a Windows-based network management package that gathers Industrial Ethernet network events and alerts IT to the event for quick impact analysis and troubleshooting, the company said.
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The product, Industrial Network Director, builds an integrated topology of all network automation and assets and lets operators zoom in on specific devices for real-time monitoring of device status and traffic statistics, Cisco said. The system can integrate into other existing industrial asset management systems which lets customers and system integrators build dashboards customized to meet specific monitoring and accounting requirements.
“Traditionally, networks have been opaque to the operations teams in context of device connectivity and application visibility in relation to the automation processes. Industrial Network Director breaks through this challenge with a simple, task-driven user experience optimized for common operational roles,” stated Vikas Butaney, US Director Product Management in a blog announcing the product. “We have accelerated the learning curve with step-by-step guided tours that walk users through all essential features to help them get started with the system.”
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Cisco said the Industrial Network Director package features:
- Automation endpoint discovery using Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) and PROFINET industrial protocols
- High-performance topology framework that provides an interactive experience in visualizing connectivity between automation and networking assets
- Optimized alarm management with real-time alerts of network events and reporting of effects to automation assets to simplify troubleshooting issues
- Real-time monitoring of device metrics, traffic statistics, and network infrastructure status for improved network health, performance, and uptime
- Role-based access control with customizable permission mapping to restrict system access to authorized users on a per-feature basis
- Detailed audit trails for operational visibility of network changes, additions, and modifications
- Integration with Cisco Active Advisor, a free cloud-based service providing essential network lifecycle information to make sure security and product updates are current.
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