Network/Cable Redundancy Support
About this task
CIMPLICITY network/cabling redundancy for Allen Bradley Communications requires each Allen-Bradley PLC to be connected to two different physical networks.
Following are some examples of redundant networks as regards Allen-Bradley PLCs and CIMPLICITY software.
- The CIMPLICITY computer has two KT (or KTX) cards. (A combination of one KT and other KTx is also allowed). An Allen-Bradley PLC is connected to computer using two Data Highway plus networks (cables).
In order to have these networks redundant, user has to take following steps.
Procedure
- Configure a driver in RSLinx for each card (AB_KT-1 and AB_KT-2). The Data Highway Plus node address for the two drivers have to be different.
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In CIMPLICITY device configuration, provide two network addresses for the device. You can specify these addresses by separating them by a ";" (semicolon).
For example, if the two network addresses for a device are AB_KT-1,AB:LOCAL,22 and AB_KT-2,AB:LOCAL,22, the Network Address field in device configuration is:
AB_KT-1,AB:LOCAL,22;AB_KT-2,AB:LOCAL,22
- The CIMPLICITY computer has one Ethernet card and one KT (or KTx) card. An Allen-Bradley PLC is connected to computer using the Ethernet and Data Highway Plus networks.
In order to have these networks redundant, user has to take following steps.
- Configure a driver in RSLinx for each card (AB_ETH-1 and AB_KT-1).
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In CIMPLICITY device configuration, provide two network addresses for the device. You can specify these addresses by separating them by a ";" (semicolon).
For example, if the two network addresses for a device are AB_ETH-1,AB:LOCAL,22 and AB_KT-1,AB:LOCAL,22 , network address field in device configuration is:
AB_ETH-1,AB:LOCAL,22;AB_KT-1,AB:LOCAL,22
Important: CIMPLICITY software currently does not support network redundancy for Allen-Bradley Communications when the computer has two Ethernet cards.