Twenty years ago, Ethernet was dismissed for industrial networking. But slowly, out of the rat's nest of front-office data networks, Ethernet has reached out and touched the plant floor, More than touched, in fact. Analyst firm ARC Advisory Group Inc. (Dedham, MA) forecasts that the use of Ethernet-ready products on device-level networks will explode., Explains Harry Forbes, senior analyst at ARC, "Ethernet is becoming an intrasystem interface." Forbes suggests that people are looking at ways to utilize Ethernet for factory control applications that push the proverbial envelope vis-a-vis its networking capabilities.

For a number of reasons, Ethernet is Enticing for industrial networking applications. It's tried and true; that is, it's popular, widely used, and used for years by information technology (IT) departments (and offices) worldwide. Moreover, compared to proprietary networks, Ethernet networks are easier to install and maintain; the networking technology is readily available, and far less expensive.

There's another enticement: The ability to standardize an entire enterprise--from the plant floor to the corporate boardroom--on one network. Such a network would greatly amortize the costs of installation, maintenance, and training. What's more, it would also promise greater access to production data throughout the enterprise, from anywhere around the world.