Network management software maximises up-time

A new, customisable network dashboard provides instant visibility to key network health indicators, making it easy to take corrective or preventative measures. The result is improved availability and security for industrial networks.

In many industrial facilities, Ethernet networks are growing and changing quickly, and it is increasingly difficult to manage and secure them. The SANS 2016 State of Industrial Control System Security Survey indicates that 67% of industrial organisations perceive severe or high levels of threat to control systems, up from 43% in 2015. The report also indicates that planned industrial control system security improvements are behind schedule.

“Network security is top of mind at industrial facilities worldwide,” said Mark Cooksley, Product Manager at Belden. “Industrial HiVision is an important tool for improving it. The latest version builds on an already rich set of security functionalities to make it easier to control and take action on factors that impact security. These include accurate device configurations and instant visibility to security status indicators that can be readily seen and acted on using the new network dashboard.”

The enhanced capabilities of Industrial HiVision 7.0 allow industrial manufacturers to:

• Improve uptime and security by always knowing the status of their network without having to look through multiple network maps to spot problems. The network dashboard displays key performance indicators, such as devices with warning or error statuses, security information, and the top ten worst-performing devices by response time. Network managers can customise it to meet their specific network supervision needs by adding or removing widgets on the indicators of their choice.
• Simultaneously configure hundreds of SNMP-enabled industrial devices, from any manufacturer, not just those from Hirschmann and GarrettCom. Industrial manufacturers can use this feature to configure devices both during commissioning and live operation. This new capability improves engineering productivity, as well as configuration accuracy, a key factor for high network performance and protection.
• Download a no-cost, fully functional 16-node trial version for unlimited use to get hands-on experience with the product’s features and benefits before buying the product.

Industrial HiVision is designed especially for automation networks and is in use worldwide in the power and utility, transportation, water/wastewater and discrete manufacturing industries.