Supervisory Layer - GE Mark VIe System Manual

3.4 Supervisory Layer

The Supervisory layer contains the Plant Data Highway (PDH), which connects to WorkstationST servers, Alarm Viewers,
printers, historians, and other HMIs. Additional cyber security management equipment can also reside on the PDH. The PDH
has no direct connection to the Mark VIe controllers, which communicate over the UDH.
The PDH network is used to further partition equipment and to restrict access or prevent disruptions to the Mark VIe
controllers (which are busy broadcasting data across the UDH). The PDH should be used to copy or transfer large files from
HMI to HMI (for example, CIMPLICITY projects).
PDH uses redundant cables to form one single logical network, and the
hardware consists of edge Ethernet switches with single-mode fiber-optic trunks connected to root switches, then standard Cat
5e outputs to HMIs and other devices. Redundant Ethernet switches and cables prevent complete network failure if a single
component fails. The PDH and the UDH are physically the same network of switches, but use different ports for the particular
data highway.
Mark VIe
Mark VIe
HMI
Historian
Ethernet Networks
Printer
Plant Data Highway (PDH)
Supervisory Layer Example
Public Information
mesh architecture is identical to the UDH. The
SecurityST
Cyber
Security
Management
System
GEH-6721_Vol_I_BP System Guide 91