Emerson Exchange 365

To answer your questions we first need to define what “non-DeltaV computer” really means as this received different connotations within the years. Non-DeltaV computer is a workstation or server that is not running DeltaV software, and there are several examples of said computers in the DeltaV system such as: Management Stations which can run WhatsUpGold (see BoL), Downstream Patch Management Server which is part of the Automated Patch Management solution, Management Server used for DeltaV Backup & Recovery, the Independent DeltaV Domain Controller (v14.3+), and as you said the server used as Agent Handler for McAfee deployments in DeltaV, among others.

All these computers do not run DeltaV software and they are connected to the DeltaV ACN. The rule you refer to actually says: Do not connect unauthorized devices to the DeltaV ACN, and by unauthorized devices I mean devices that are not supported by Emerson to be used within the DeltaV ACN. The examples provided above are of either complementary products or actual DeltaV products that are not dependent on DeltaV software installation but they are designed to connect to the ACN.

Unauthorized devices should not be connected directly to the ACN as this may cause unexpected behavior in the system and also represents a cybersecurity risk to the system.

As far as IP addresses, you are correct to say the ProfessionalPLUS station defines the addresses of nodes running DeltaV software, and therefore “non-DeltaV computers” need to be manually configured upon commissioning of the given solution. There are some reserved IP address ranges in DeltaV for such use cases, for example: the Independent DeltaV Domain Controllers will use 10.4.130.1/2 or 10.8.130.1/2, the DeltaV Smart Switches will use 10.4.128.x or 10.8.128.x, GPS Time Servers for SOE will use 10.4.128.1/2, and so on. Although based on range convention, when IP addresses are configured by DeltaV software there is a first check done to prevent duplicates on the network.

The Network Device Command Center in v13.3+ has a function to detect available IP addresses that can be used in the network for example.

More information about this topic can be found in BoL or the DeltaV Security Manual.

I hope this helps!

In reply to Alexandre Peixoto:

Wow, thank you so much !! This is fantastic, exactly the kind of explanation i was looking for. I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge, quick response too.