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443-1 network traffic?

Created by: xarisss at: 8/21/2008 12:29 PM (8 Replies)

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8/21/2008 12:29 PM	Rate (0)
xarisss Posts: 43 Rating: (0)	I use the 443-1 Ethernet module, in order to connect to a switch, where the ethernet card from the SCADA PC is also connected. Is there a way to check the speed, the traffic and other characteristics of the network through the 443-1 module? This is about a problem i am facing. If i connect another ethernet network on the same switch with the 443-1, then the SCADA (which takes data through theOPC server from 443-1 becomes extremely slow). If anyone knows, it would be a great help. Thanks in advance, Charis
xarisss Posts: 43 Rating: (0)	Last edited by: xarisss at: 8/21/2008 3:03 PM Last edited by: xarisss at: 8/21/2008 1:32 PM
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8/21/2008 4:15 PM	Rate (0)
jklm Platinum Member Joined: 12/22/2006 Last visit: 1/25/2022 Posts: 1742 Rating: (308)	Hello, 1) Are you sure that the switch is really a switch and not a hub? If it is a hub, the bandwidth is shared among all devices on the network. 2) You can see if the CP has 100 Mbps and full-duplex either via the LEDs on the CP or in the NCM diagnostics. One possible way to start the Diagnostic is: HWConfig ==> sect the CP ==> Tab diagnostic ==> start diagnostic. For the PC, in network connections, you can see the status of the interface and check the speed. 3) You could also use a tracing tool like wireshark (www.wireshark.org) to measure - the traffic on a given port of the switch (please activate port mirroring) - the broadcast load on the network
	Best regards jklm Suggestion was helpful? Feel free to rate it.
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8/21/2008 4:44 PM	Rate (0)
J_Bell Posts: 5822 Rating: (412)	Hello, sadly you did not mention what version of the CP you use in your system therefore it is hard to say if maybe a FW update would fix some issues here. Additionally I would have to say that monitoring the Ethernet Traffic on a Switch is not easy, you may have to use a Switch that allows you to configure a mirroring port so you can receive all the traffic on the Port the CP uses. That way you can record everything with Wireshark. In some cases the Problem is not the CP or the PC but the configuration of the transferred data. If you create many items of just one Boolean and you collect them one by one this may take forever, in such cases it is more useful to collect whole DB’s and split them within the PC. Just to mention. Best regards J_Bell (back home again)
J_Bell Posts: 5822 Rating: (412)
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8/22/2008 10:35 AM	Rate (0)
xarisss Posts: 43 Rating: (0)	J_Bell, the version of the firmwareis v2.3 . I face a problem when i have other participants in the switch. Actually, the problem is in the OPC server, in the SCADA PC, so i wonder whether some settings are needed, so as the data can be queued in another way, in order to avoid the collisions that may cause the network to be so slow.
xarisss Posts: 43 Rating: (0)
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8/22/2008 11:05 AM	Rate (0)
J_Bell Posts: 5822 Rating: (412)	Hello, is it possible that you have a CP 443-1 EX11? If so I would strongly recommend to upgrade the CP to the latest version V 2.7.3. You can find the firmware at: CP 443-1 Firmware Update V2.7 and Unrestricted Use on Every Hardware Release (6GK7443-1EX10-0XE0 and 6GK7443-1EX11-0XE0) I hope this will help. Best regards J_Bell
J_Bell Posts: 5822 Rating: (412)
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8/22/2008 12:27 PM	Rate (0)
xarisss Posts: 43 Rating: (0)	Thank you for your help J_Bell. Actually, i don't think it is a matter of firmware. The topology of my network is the following: 443-1 -----------> ETHERNET SWITCH<-------------> PC (Ethernet Card) ^ \| \-----------------------------> Mobile Internet Module (internet connection for the PC) If i disconnect the Mobile Internet Module (MIM), the network works ok. The SCADA (installed in the PC) controls the system properly, and the response of the SCADA to thePLC commands is about 500ms (from the time i press a button in SCADA to the time the PLC receives the signal). The opposite is a bit faster. When i connect the MIM on the switch, the signal exchanging in SCADA becomes very slow. First of all, i'd like to ask whether it is proper to connect more clients in a PLC network. My second issue is that although i use a switch, i haven't programmed it so as to send data to specific clients. I have done nothing to the ports. So, i think that the data from the MIM are sent to the 443-1 despite that they are irrelevant for 443-1, and that causes collisions and delays to the network. Maybe my switch is operating as a hub?
xarisss Posts: 43 Rating: (0)	Last edited by: xarisss at: 8/22/2008 12:44 PM Last edited by: xarisss at: 8/22/2008 12:33 PM
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8/22/2008 12:57 PM	Rate (0)
J_Bell Posts: 5822 Rating: (412)	Hello, please let me try to answer your questions: First of all, I'd like to ask whether it is proper to connect more clients in a PLC network. A: Sure it is, no question but be aware that the version of the Firmware you have is sensitive to Multicast or Broadcast traffic. This could be a problem as soon as you connect your Internet device. My second issue is that although i use a switch, i haven't programmed it so as to send data to specific clients. I have done nothing to the ports. So, i think that the data from the MIM are sent to the 443-1 despite that they are irrelevant for 443-1, and that causes collisions and delays to the network. Maybe my switch is operating as a hub? A: Yes, this is the case, if the device you use forwards all traffic to the local Network. Usually such a device uses a Firewall to prevent unnecessary Broadcast traffic in the Internet from entering the local network. If the traffic consists of Unicast telegrams than the CP has no problem because the Switch only forwards this traffic to the PC alone. By the way, the procedure to update the CP is mentioned in the FAQ: How do you download the firmware to Industrial Ethernet S7-300 CPs and S7-400 CPs using the firmware loader? I hope I could help. Best regards J_Bell
J_Bell Posts: 5822 Rating: (412)
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8/22/2008 1:44 PM	Rate (0)
xarisss Posts: 43 Rating: (0)	J_Bell Hello, A1: Sure it is, no question but be aware that the version of the Firmware you have is sensitive to Multicast or Broadcast traffic. This could be a problem as soon as you connect your Internet device. A2: Yes, this is the case, if the device you use forwards all traffic to the local Network. Usually such a device uses a Firewall to prevent unnecessary Broadcast traffic in the Internet from entering the local network. If the traffic consists of Unicast telegrams than the CP has no problem because the Switch only forwards this traffic to the PC alone. A1: Is the version of the firmware so critical for the operation of the 443-1? Is there a possibility when i change the firmware, the module operate different (worse let's say) than it was? A2: The problem with the switch is that i cannot program it at all, so as to define to which ports each piece of data is going. So, i think i have 2 options: The one is to try to find out if the firmware upgrade solves the problem, and the other is to add one more Ethernet card to the PC, so as to divide the ethernet networks. I remind you that the MIM data is irrelevant to the 443-1. Is there anything else i can do?
xarisss Posts: 43 Rating: (0)
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8/22/2008 2:24 PM	Rate (0)
J_Bell Posts: 5822 Rating: (412)	Hello, I think these two ways are the one's you can chose. I would prefer to try the Firmware update first. In worst case, if everything breakes you will have to try to load the Firmware with the emergency address but usually it works very well. If everything is lost the Firmware would have to beburned to the CP in a repair centre. The second way is the most save one, you save the Switch but you have to add this second Ethernet card in your PC. Usually this is no issue for the PC. Best regards J_Bell
J_Bell Posts: 5822 Rating: (412)
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