responsible for lost revenues caused by mistakes and other incidents.

Without such a clause, automation providers arguably are putting their entire
company’s existence at risk for every project they perform. (Perhaps it goes
without saying, but manufacturing companies often would prefer not to
include such a clause—although it’s probably the right thing to do regardless!)

Best Practice: Cover all elements in your plan:

Technical Organizational Legal

4.2 Understanding your industrial automation network architecture

Fundamental to the development of a plan will be understanding the

way to communicate with your equipment. This section reviews the
communication structures common to devices new or old and the
infrastructure required for communication.

There are typically three methods to physically connect to any device on the
plant floor that uses a microprocessor. These devices have a local port for
configuration, a port for higher speed I/O communication, and a multi-drop
communication to coordinate with other microprocessor devices.

Physically there are three types of connectors:

1. USB or serial port
2. Fieldbus connection
3. Ethernet connection

2021 I Practical Guide for Remote Access to Plant Equipment 39