TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the disclosure are related to computing hardware and software technology, and in particular to industrial automation applications.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

Software applications that run on computing systems commonly provide some type of user client interface to present information to the user and receive user inputs. In a typical client-server architecture, an application running on a client computing system receives data transmitted from a server over a communication network for display to the user on the user client interface.

Industrial automation environments utilize machines and other devices during the industrial manufacturing process. These machines typically have various moving parts and other components that are driven by instructions received from industrial controller systems and continually produce operational data over time, such as pressure, temperature, speed, and other metrics. Machine builders, solution providers, and other content creators typically produce the control logic needed to run on these controllers to control the machines.

In addition to controller logic, other content may be employed or generated during industrial automation operations, such as data sets, drive parameters, cam tables, product formulations, recipes, production data, and human-machine interface (HMI) components. An HMI receives and processes status data from the machines to generate various graphical displays. For example, an HMI graphical display might indicate status metrics of a drive, the pressure of a pump, the speed of a motor, or the output of a robot. The HMI may also provide a mechanism for an operator to send control instructions to an industrial controller system that controls a machine. For example, an operator might use the HMI to direct the control system to update drive parameters, turn on a pump, speed-up a motor, or stop a robot.

Overview

Techniques to facilitate redundancy in a distributed control system architecture used in an industrial automation environment are disclosed herein. In at least one implementation, at least one user workstation is connected to at least two enterprise access switches. Separate physical connections are established between at least one application server and the at least two enterprise access switches. The separate physical connections between the at least one application server and the at least two enterprise access switches are configured into a single virtual interface for the at least one application server to provide physical media redundancy between the at least one application server and the at least two enterprise access switches. At least two redundancy switches are connected to the at least two enterprise access switches and the at least two redundancy switches are connected to a first local area network (LAN) and a second LAN, wherein the at least two redundancy switches are assigned unique internet protocol (IP) addresses but are configured to communicate using a same default gateway IP address to serve as redundant default gateways. The at least two redundancy switches are configured with a redundancy protocol that enables transmission of duplicate data packets over the first LAN and the second LAN. At least two redundant industrial controllers are connected to both the first LAN and the second LAN, wherein the at least two redundant industrial controllers utilize non-swapping IP addresses.

This Overview is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. It should be understood that this Overview is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

