GEI-100693B
GE Energy
WorkstationST* Network Monitor
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Contents
Section Page
Introduction .................................................................................................... 3
Configuration.................................................................................................. 4
System Information.................................................................................. 5
Networks .................................................................................................. 8
Network Switches .................................................................................... 9
Assigning Ports ...................................................................................... 12
Controller Example ................................................................................ 13
Network Status Display.......................................................................... 13
Alarms .......................................................................................................... 22
2 • WorkstationST Network Monitor GEI-100693B
Introduction
The WorkstationST* Network Monitor provides the status of all devices (controllers,
computers, network switches) that are defined in the system, and connected to at
least one of the Ethernet-based networks. Information is also provided about the
health of each network switch and its ports. The Network Monitor also allows
proactive network maintenance by providing visual indications and alarms of
abnormal conditions. These include devices not connected in their configured
location, unknown devices being connected to a switch, or attempts to gain
unauthorized access to switch Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) data.
During system startup, the Network Monitor determines where the devices are
physically connected. During normal system operation, changes in network topology
should not occur, therefore, any changes would indicate an abnormal condition. For
example, devices may be incorrectly reconnected after a network switch is replaced
or new network cables are run. This feature is also an important debugging tool
because it allows network issues to be spotted or ruled out very quickly. The
Network Monitor also enhances network stability and security by providing alarms
in the event of an unauthorized connection to the network.
ToolboxST System
Overview Screen
Computers, Controllers, Network Monitor Service
Network Switches...
Network Monitor Network
Data Client Monitor Data
Device Status Connection Client
Monitor threads
Network Monitor
Data Client Network Status Display
Connection Utility
Alarm Queue
Network
Network Monitor
Monitor Data
Alarm Client
Client
connection
WorkstationST Alarm
Viewer
Alarm Server
Alarm Client
Network Alarm Client
Connection
Monitor
Alarm Client
Network Monitor Data Flow
GEI-100693B WorkstationST Network Monitor• 3
Configuration
To configure Network Monitor
The Network Monitor is configured in a WorkstationST component.
1 From the System Editor, open a WorkstationST component.
2 From the General tab Tree View, select Features.
3 From the Summary View, in the Enabled column for Network Monitor,
select True. The Network Monitor tab displays.
4 Click the Network Monitor tab. The Network Monitor Configuration
screen displays.
5 Select the alarms or events to be generated by the Network Monitor.
The data acquisition rate parameters allow the level of SNMP network traffic to be
adjusted based on network bandwidth rather than display update rate needs. The
switch data request rate is separate from the device SNMP data because the amount
of SNMP data exchanged with the switches is very large compared to the data
retrieved from the devices. Specifying a fast device scan rate allows for fast detection
of a device going online or offline, while fast switch data rates detect an unknown
device being added to the network or a device being moved to a different port.
Knowing the device location is less important than knowing whether the device is
online. The network bandwidth necessary to retrieve the forwarding database from
the switches can be large in large systems, so separate parameters allows for
tradeoffs to be made between bandwidth and the speed of detection of abnormal
conditions.
The devices monitored are not directly configurable. The Network Monitor
automatically monitors all devices (controllers, workstations, network switches) in
the system that are configured to have at least one connection to one of the Ethernet
based networks defined in the system.
4 • WorkstationST Network Monitor GEI-100693B
System Information
The system network drawing displays all physical networks, as well as network
switches and devices, their physical locations, and their interconnection. The host
name and IP address of each device network connection on a per network basis, as
well as the switch and port where the physical connection is made is also provided.
This information is entered for the network switches and devices as they are added to
the system in the ToolboxST* application. Samples of information contained in the
system network drawing are as follows.
Mark VI
EX2100
Unit Data Highway (UDH)
OSM see
note 6
CRM 1_SVR
recyle HV
Dedicated
phone lines
Router
Plant Data Highway (PDH)
System Network Example (1 of 3)
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System Network Example (2 of 3)
6 • WorkstationST Network Monitor GEI-100693B
SW1 - Vlan Port Identifications for ST Electric Room
PDH UDH ADH TRUNK
Mark VI - R - 9 - -
-S - - - -
-T - - - -
Excitation - 12 - -
F/O to control room - - - 25
Switch spanning port - - - 20
Spare ports 1-8 10, 11, 13-16 17-19 21-24, 26
SW2 - Vlan Port Identifications for ST Electric Room
PDH UDH ADH TRUNK
Mark VI - R - - - -
-S - 10 - -
-T - 11 - -
Excitation - 13 - -
F/O to control room - - - 25
Switch spanning port - - - 20
Spare ports 1-8 9, 12, 14-16 17-19 21-24, 26
System Network Example (3 of 3)
Plant Data Highway (PDH) address for HMI servers
IP Address Name Description Location
[Link] CRM1_SVR Remote ST HMI Control room
PDH addresses for network switches
IP Address Name Description Location
[Link] SW1 Network switch 1 Electrical room
[Link] SW2 Network switch 2 Electrical room
[Link] SW3 Network switch 3 Control room
[Link] SW4 Network switch 4 Control room
[Link] RTR Router Control room
UDH address for HMI servers
IP Address Name Description Location
[Link] UCRM1_SVR Remote ST HMI Control room
UDH addresses for ST
IP Address Name Description Location
[Link] S1-R ST1<R> controller Electrical room
[Link] S1-S ST1<S> controller Electrical room
[Link] S1-T ST1<T> controller Electrical room
[Link] X1 ST1 primary steam EX2100 Electrical room
[Link] X1R ST1 secondary steam EX2100 Electrical room
GEI-100693B WorkstationST Network Monitor• 7
Networks
Information from the system network drawings must be entered into the ToolboxST
System Editor, as well as the ToolboxST devices. When a new system is created in
the ToolboxST application, it automatically includes a Unit Data Highway (UDH)
network. This is the default controller-level network to which all controllers are
connected. The Network Monitor only attempts to monitor devices configured as
Ethernet, IP networks. Additional networks are added as needed.
The UDH network has a default
Media value of Ethernet and a
default Transport value of IP.
8 • WorkstationST Network Monitor GEI-100693B
Network Switches
Add network switches to the system after the networks have been added. This allows
the device network connections to be defined as the devices are added to the system.
After adding a switch to the system, configure the switch as follows.
To add a switch to the system
1 From the System Editor Tree View, right-click the system and select Insert
New and Network Switch.
GEI-100693B WorkstationST Network Monitor• 9
2 From the Tree View or the Summary View, double-click the network switch.
The Network Switch screen displays.
Configure the switch
using the properties
defined in the
property editor.
Definitions of properties used to configure a selected network switch.
Connected Network is the communication path to the switch.
Description is the description of the switch
GE Part Number is an optional setting.
Host Name is part of the communication path.
IP Address is part of the communication path.
Number of Ports displays a physical attribute of the switch.
SNMP Community displays a password that retrieves data from the SNMP switch.
This value must match the SNMP Community value configured in the switch.
Switch Type is a physical attribute of the switch.
Vendor Configuration Tool is an optional setting.
10 • WorkstationST Network Monitor GEI-100693B
Select each port to
modify its settings,
as necessary.
Port Type displays speed, and specifies whether the port is copper or fiber-based.
Trunk Node indicates whether the port is used to connect multiple switches,
routers, and hubs.
Note When another switch port is connected to the port, or multiple devices
(through a router or hub) are connected to a port, configure the Trunk Node as True.
The system network diagram specifies which ports are configured as trunk nodes.
GEI-100693B WorkstationST Network Monitor• 11
Assigning Ports
Each device in the ToolboxST application with a network connection contains one or
more network adapters. The switch and port information from the system drawing is
entered for each network adapter.
Computers can be
connected to
all networks in the
system or a subset of
them. A network adapter
is added for each
network connection.
Each network adapter is
configured according to
the system network
drawing.
Network Switch and
Port Number are
assigned for each
Network Adapter.
12 • WorkstationST Network Monitor GEI-100693B
Controller Example
Each controller is connected to the UDH network, and depending on redundancy,
can have up to three connections to the controller network. The network
configuration for a TMR controller displays as follows.
Note Network Adapter 0 represents the connections to the controller network, and
each connection can be assigned a unique switch and port location according to the
system network drawing.
Network Status Display
The system network status can be used to troubleshoot issues with the network. The
system network status can be viewed in several ways.
System Editor Summary View
The Summary View in the ToolboxST System Editor displays all system devices and
their simplified connections to the defined networks. It also displays the composite
health of the connection of each device to each network by displaying healthy
connections with a green line and unhealthy connections with a red or orange line.
GEI-100693B WorkstationST Network Monitor• 13
An example of a
network error
Click on a network
connection or
device to open the
Network Status
Viewer for more
detailed information.
An example of a
healthy network
14 • WorkstationST Network Monitor GEI-100693B
Network Status Viewer
The Network Status Viewer allows you to troubleshoot network issues down to the
device level. This utility retrieves status data from the Network Monitor.
To open the Network Status Viewer
From the View menu, click Network Status Viewer.
The Network Status Viewer screen displays.
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Network View Tab
The Network View tab displays the network hierarchy; the networks are the top-level
items. The switches are at the next level, followed by the devices.
16 • WorkstationST Network Monitor GEI-100693B
Device View As Configured Tab
The Device View As Configured tab displays the devices in their configured
locations, as well as deviations of the device connections from their configured
locations. This is used to find occurrences of a device connected to the wrong port
that is masking the location of an offline device configured to be connected to that
port.
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The following screen displays the configured and connected device views with the
switch connections expanded.
18 • WorkstationST Network Monitor GEI-100693B
Device View By Connection Tab
The Device View By Connection tab displays the actual location of each device by
the network switch and port.
GEI-100693B WorkstationST Network Monitor• 19
Expand a port item to
display status.
Network Troubleshooting Example
The following is an example of the Network Status Viewer being used to determine
any network issues, the devices affected, and the cause.
This sample screen displays no issues with the LegacyUDH, one
error on the UDH, and a topology error on the PDH networks.
20 • WorkstationST Network Monitor GEI-100693B
To display the UDH network
issues, expand the UDH item.
Expand Switch2 to display all
issues related to that switch.
This example displays that
multiple devices configured to
be connected to this switch are
offline, and several others are
online but not connected in
their configured locations.
GEI-100693B WorkstationST Network Monitor• 21
Alarms
The Network Monitor generates alarms and maintains them in an internal queue. The
WorkstationST Alarm Server feature can be configured to connect to the Network
Monitor, which allows you to receive and display Network Monitor alarms.
Under Network Monitor Interface click Connect to Network
Monitor and set to True. Then click Network Monitor Hostname
and enter the appropriate IP Address.
22 • WorkstationST Network Monitor GEI-100693B
Network Monitor-generated Alarms Example
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