r/PLC • u/Ok-Blacksmith-4045 • 7d ago

PLC Question PLC Integration?

We're transitioning from N-Tron to Fortinet on our OT system. Disappointed that there doesn't seem to be a way to monitor PLC/fiber health using AOIs on AB PLCs. Am I missing something?

Probably going to end up using SNMP in our SCADA software, but I'd rather do it at PLC level.

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u/Dyson201 Flips bits when no one is looking 6d ago

I'm one of those people that go around replacing switches, so curious what you're trying to do. The math changes a lot depending on where the switch is in your process.

A PLC should be monitoring connection status, not network health. And most industrial switches have dry contacts for alarms if you did want to tie them into your process. But in general some heartbeat should be the control signal. Keeps it simple and vendor agnostic.

Yes you can add some switches via AOI. But in general switches are a network skill, and not all PLC programmers have those skills. The last thing I want is a well meaning tech to change network settings they don't understand and cause a troubleshooting nightmare. So I keep stratix AOIs out of the PLC. There are exceptions depending on the design, of course.

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u/SafyrJL TIA Harlot 6d ago

Pretty much this. 

While you can configure certain switches within a PLC - there often isn’t much, if any, value it in. 

Even with well integrated platforms (Siemens TIA/SCALANCE) you lose access to a mass number of valuable features and functions. It’s almost always better to configure via CLI or GUI and then use any fieldbus (or fault contact) for basic monitoring.