1-15
Cisco IE 2000 Switch Software Configuration Guide
OL-25866-01
Chapter 1 Configuration Overview
Network Configuration Examples
Ethernet-to-the-Factory Architecture
This section is an overview of the Ethernet-to-the-Factory (EttF) architecture that provides network and
security services to the devices and applications in automation and control systems. It then integrates
those into the wider enterprise network.
EttF architecture applies to many types of manufacturing environments, but it must be tailored to the
industry type, the manufacturing type, and the production-facil ity size. Deployments can range from
small networks (less than 50 devices), to medium-sized networks (less than 200 devices), and to large
networks (up to and more than 1000 devices).
Within the EttF architecture are conceptual structures called zones that separate the various functions,
from the highest-level enterprise switches and processes to the smallest devices that control more
detailed processes and devices on the factory floor. See Figure 1-1.
For more information about EttF architecture, see this URL:
http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/manufacturing/ettf_overview.html

Enterprise Zone

The enterprise zone comprises the centralized IT systems and functions. Wired and wireless access is
available to enterprise network services, such as enterprise resource management, business-to-business,
and business-to-customer services.The basic business administration tasks, such as site business
planning and logistics, are performed here and rely on st andard IT services. Guest access systems are
often located here, although it is not uncommon to find them in lower levels of the framework to gain
flexibility that might be difficult to achieve at the enterprise level.
Tab l e 1-2 Providing Network Services
Network Demands Suggested Design Methods
Efficient bandwidth usage for
multimedia applications and
guaranteed bandwidth for critical
applications
Use IGMP snooping to efficiently forward multimedia and multicast traffic.
Use other QoS mechanisms such as packet classification, marking, scheduling,
and congestion avoidance to classify traffic with the appropriate priority level,
which provides maximum flexibility and support for mission-critical, unicast, and
multicast and multimedia applications.
Use MVR to continuously send multicast streams in a multicast VLAN but to
isolate the streams from subscriber VLANs for bandwidth and security reasons.
High demand on network redundancy
and availability to provide always on
mission-critical applications
Use VLAN trunks and BackboneFast for traffic-load balancing on the uplink ports
so that the uplink port with a lower relative port cost is selected to carry the VLAN
traffic.
An evolving demand for IP telephony Use QoS to prioritize applications such as IP telephony during congestion and to
help control both delay and jitter within the network.
Use switches that support at least two queues per port to prioritize voice and data
traffic as either high- or low-priority, based on IEEE 802.1p/Q. The switch
supports at least four queues per port.
Use voice VLAN IDs (VVIDs) to provide separate VLANs for voice traffic.