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RuggedRouter – designed with the Smart Grid utility in mind By Erich Gunther Feb 19, 2008 - 3:00:00 AM
Date of Tech Take: February 19, 2008
RuggedRouter™ consolidates the services and functionality of numerous physical devices using standardized interfaces and modular design. Utilities should consider installing the RuggedRouter™ as part of their Smart Grid infrastructure. However, to get the most out of its flexibility, utilities must possess sophisticated integration expertise.
The role and importance of the SGN Scorecard
The SGN Scorecard was developed for a very important reason: most of today's products do not adhere to Smart Grid principles. They do not support the requirements envisioned by Smart Grid researchers such as the Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI), the California Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research program, the Modern Grid Initiative and the Department of Energy’s (DOE's) GridWise program. Nor do they adhere to the mandates in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
Several elements of the EPRI IntelliGrid Architecture are particularly critical to implementing a Smart Grid:
· Proven, Internet derived communication technologies
· Service based architecture at the enterprise level
· Self healing technology
· Well defined interfaces and points of interoperability
· Application of industry and international standards
· Built in security and network management
Because of their failure to address these basic elements, most of today's communication networks are inadequate -- whether for automatic meter reading (AMR) or for advanced meter infrastructure (AMI). While these networks may support "least common denominator" Smart Grid applications such as meter reading, they are not adequate for distribution automation, plug in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) management, microgrids, demand response and many other future applications.
SGN Warning: To avoid buying dead-end products, utilities must provide their vendors with a comprehensive and prioritized list of requirements covering current and future functionality. Then they must get written assurances from vendors that their products meet those requirements.
The SGN Scorecard is a checklist that measures whether products meet minimum standards for a Smart Grid. We will use it as the benchmark for all Tech Talk reviews. We invite you to use it free of charge for your own evaluations. For a further explanation and a blank version that you can copy freely, download the PDF version of the Scorecard.
The purpose of substation networking equipment
The electric utility substation is a core element of the electric power transmission and distribution infrastructure. It has been the location of important Smart Grid technologies long before the term “Smart Grid” was coined. The Smart Grid technologies and applications found in a substation include (i) sophisticated protective relay systems that protect equipment from damage, (ii) automation systems that improve the reliability of the power system by managing power system behavior during temporary system disturbances, (iii) measurement and control equipment that facilitate local and wide area management of the power system. Over the past decade, these automation devices have increasingly applied Internet based technologies such as Ethernet and TCP/IP based communications to link them together to enable smarter, more complex functionality in a highly reliable manner.
The RuggedCom product lineup
RuggedCom offers a full suite of networking equipment for harsh environments. These products include:
§ 19” Rack Mountable Ethernet Switches – From 9 to 19 ports, most with Gigabit, available with Power Over Ethernet, or even in MIL-STD format.
§ Small Form Factor Managed Ethernet Switches – 8 to 10 ports, with options such as Gigabit up or down links, fiber optic uplink ports, IP66/67, and MIL-STD ratings.
§ EoVDSL Ethernet Switches – 6 ports, 8 ports, Serial and Ethernet Device Servers.
§ Unmanaged Ethernet Switches – 5 ports with fiber, 4 ports with speed/media converter.
§ RuggedRouter™ – with and without RuggedCom Gauntlet™
§ RuggedWireless™ – Serial, Ethernet, EoVDSL with up to 8 ports
§ RuggedServer™ – 2, 4, and 16 ports in a variety of configurations, both Serial and Ethernet
§ RuggedMC™ – Copper or Serial to Fiber Media Converters
§ RuggedNMS™ – Fully-featured, enterprise grade network management software
§ RuggedCom Gauntlet™ – NERC CIP compliant solution providing an electronic security perimeter
Be careful what you wish for
Utilities should be aware that these devices are intended for application by experienced network professionals. Such experts will have a sincere appreciation for the flexibility and power present in the RuggedRouter™. Novices, however, may be in for more of a learning curve.
RuggedCom does offer expert support for their customers and reportedly, their support is as stout as their equipment. They also offer solid training on their solutions. The RuggedRouter™ points out the evolving knowledge base needed by the utility workforce. Participating in network training offered by RuggedCom and others is key to implementing the Smart Grid.
Evaluating the components
The phrase “industrially hardened” can mean a variety of things to different people depending entirely on the context. RuggedCom specializes in making top-notch networking components that they have specifically designed to withstand the rigors of the substation and the plant floor. Even within this world, RuggedCom has endeavored to set themselves apart from the competition. Their routers meet the High-EMI Immunity standards of IEC61850-3 and IEEE 1613, and have an operating range of -40°C to +85°C.
As impressive as the environmental specifications sound, the RuggedRouter™ RX1000 and RX1100 are much more than mere industrially hardened routers. Both of these devices build firewall and virtual private network (VPN) functionality onto a hardened Linux kernel. Utilities can therefore use these products to establish an electronic security perimeter around critical cyber assets. The RX1100 adds Intrusion Detection Services (IDS) built on the Snort open source platform and the RuggedCom Gauntlet™ solution for NERC CIP compliance.
Both devices include advanced self-healing and high-availability features, specifically tailored to utilities’ needs for redundant communications and equipment. The RuggedRouter™ offers a dizzying array of choices for management, providing the customer with choices such as a web-based graphical user interface, SNMP v2/3, Command Line Interface (CLI), or remote access via secure shell (SSH) protocol. The customer can also download a description of the management interface in a standardized format (called a “MIB”) and integrate the devices with third-party network management equipment such as HP OpenView.
However, if the customer does not already have a significant investment in such software, RuggedCom has recently started offering RuggedNMS™ – their fully-featured, enterprise-grade network management software platform. This solution offers the luxury of managing an entire fleet of network devices, generating custom views and reports, and making uniform changes to all devices that meet designated criteria.
Like other products in the RuggedCom family, the RuggedRouter™ offers impressive flexibility in physical configuration. Users can swap modules in and out, offering a variety of interface formats and speeds; they can even extend modules to add a very sophisticated clock. The clock module allows the RuggedRouter™ to serve as an accurate time source for devices in the substation using NTP, GPS, and/or IEEE1588.
RuggedCom competitors
There are currently few competitors to RuggedCom. However, we expect more to surface as the Smart Grid matures and the demand for hardened substation networking equipment increases. One RuggedCom competitor is LANstore in
SGN’s Smart Grid Checklist:
RuggedCom claims that their substation hardened cyber security appliances (RuggedRouter™) provides protection against cyber attack and a secure method for implementing inter-substation communications. RuggedCom also claims that they design their products for Mean Time Between Failures (MTBFs) greater than 500,000 hours and network availability greater than 99.999%. Our analysis based on our metrics generally confirms this claim. In general, the RuggedCom RuggedRouter™ embodies key elements of the EPRI IntelliGrid Architecture that we believe are critical to implementing the Smart Grid through well-integrated applications:
► Self healing technology
► Technology layering and isolation
► Well defined interfaces and points of interoperability
► Application of industry and international standards
► Internet derived communication technologies
► Integrated network and systems management
RX1000/1100 Smart Grid Checklist scores -- total score of 89 (out of 100)
In short, the RuggedRouter™ consolidates the services and functionality of what has traditionally occupied numerous physical boxes. The bonus is that RuggedRouter™ offers this consolidation using standardized interfaces and modular design. The customer can easily choose exactly which pieces they need and precisely how to use them. Anyone deploying the substation-based components necessary to implement the Smart Grid should take a close look at the RuggedCom product suite.
Erich W. Gunther is Chairman of EnerNex Corporation. He chairs the UtilityAMI / OpenHAN standards group and serves on the GridWise Architecture Council.
EPRI IntelliGrid Architecture Web site
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