200-601 IMINS2 Managing Industrial Networks for Manufacturing with Cisco Technologies

200-601 IMINS2
Managing Industrial Networks for Manufacturing with Cisco Technologies

Exam Number 200-601 IMINS2
Associated Certifications CCNA Industrial
Duration 90 Minutes (65 - 75 questions)

This exam tests concepts and technology commonly found in the automated manufacturing environment. This exam tests candidates on the Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) and ProfiNET industrial protocols and the underlying support network infrastructure design to maximize efficiency within Industrial Ethernet.

Exam Description
The exam Managing Industrial Networks for Manufacturing with Cisco Technologies (CCNA IMINS2) certification exam (200-601) is a 90 minute, 65 – 75 question assessment. This exam tests concepts and technology commonly found in the automated manufacturing environment. This exam tests candidates on the Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) and ProfiNET industrial protocols and the underlying support network infrastructure design to maximize efficiency within Industrial Ethernet.

The following topics are general guidelines for the content likely to be included on the exam. However, other related topics may also appear on any specific delivery of the exam. In order to better reflect the contents of the exam and for clarity purposes, the guidelines below may change at any time without notice.

1.0 IP Networking 20%
1.1 Describe the difference between enterprise environments and industrial environments
1.2 Describe the components for making the data flow highly available and predictable in an industrial environment (QoS, IP addressing, protocol, and hardware resiliency)
1.3 Interpret and diagnose problems that are related to QoS
1.4 Describe the differences between redundancy and resiliency requirements / approaches between the Enterprise and the plant floor
1.5 Differentiate the capabilities of switch types
1.6 Describe the life cycle of a multicast group
1.7 Describe and configure the operation and use cases for NAT
1.8 Describe and configure the operation and use cases for static routing
1.9 Describe and configure VLAN trunking to a virtual switch
1.10 Describe and configure Layer 2 resiliency protocols (Spanning Tree, REP, Flex Links, and Etherchannels)
1.11 Configure switch ports ( macros, threshold alarms)

2.0 Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) Knowledge and Configuration 19%
2.1 Explain the CIP connection establishment process
2.2 Explain producer/consumer models and implicit/explicit message models
2.3 Recognize communication abilities and capacities in different hardware/hardware generations (revisions)
2.4 Identify and describe the technologies that enable CIP Motion and CIP Safety
2.5 Identify the applicability, limitations, and components of a DLR implementation
2.6 Implement multicast features for CIP within a LAN
2.7 Optimize RPI on a CIP connection given a set of parameters
2.8 Enable and configure IEEE 1588 PTP at the system level
2.9 Configure the Stratix using the Add On Profile (AOP) in Studio 5000

3.0 ProfiNET Knowledge and Configuration 19%
3.1 Describe the differences in ProfiNET support between Cisco catalyst and Cisco Industrial Ethernet (IE) switches
3.1.a Support for VLAN 0
3.1.b Support for ProfiNET LLDP
3.1.c Support for GSDs (integration into SIMATIC STEP 7)

3.2 Describe the operation and purpose of ProfiSAFE
3.3 Describe the three basic ProfiNET devices and conformanceclasses
3.4 Describe the ProfiNET application classes and communication channels
3.5 Describe DHCP and how it can be used for IP addressing of devices and configuration pushes
3.6 Describe ring network requirements for ProfiNET
3.7 Enable ProfiNET on the switch
3.8 Enable Layer 2 QoS to ensure ProfiNET is prioritized
3.9 Integrate the Cisco Industrial Ethernet Switch in SIMATIC STEP 7
3.10 Configure and monitor ProfiNET alarm profiles on IE switches

4.0 Security 12%
4.1 Describe the defense in-depth approach to securing the industrial zone
4.2 Identify how a security component (hardware/software) applies to a network device to meet the network security definition of defense in depth
4.3 Describe network device hardening
4.4 Describe the concept and mechanisms of implementing logical segmentation
4.5 Identify possible options to control traffic between zones (ACLs, firewalls, VLANs)

5.0 Wireless 10%
5.1 Describe the differences between 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
5.2 Describe the components that you need to build multiple wireless networks on a single access point
5.3 Describe the difference between autonomous and controller-based access points and wireless workgroup bridges
5.4 Demonstrate a typical switchport configuration for autonomous and controller-based access points
5.5 Describe the limitations of using a workgroup bridge with a control communication

6.0 Troubleshooting 20%
6.1 Troubleshoot advanced Layer 1 problems such as mechanical deterioration, electromagnetic noise issues, and infrastructure mismatches
6.2 Troubleshoot VLAN trunking
6.3 Troubleshoot an error disabled port
6.4 Troubleshoot basic spanning tree port state and root priority problems
6.5 Troubleshoot Layer 3 problems by inspecting route tables and NAT tables
6.6 Troubleshoot Layer 3 problems in a VRF-lite enabled environment
6.7 Demonstrate the ability to find the location of a device within a multi-switch network given an IP address
6.8 Identify methods for troubleshooting a communication problem in a CIP environment
6.9 Troubleshoot CIP using an Ethernet/IP browse tool, command line, and a web browser
6.10 Troubleshoot device communications performance
6.11 Identify the source of cable and device faults in a DLR
6.12 Identify methods for troubleshooting a communication problem in a ProfiNET environment
6.13 Troubleshoot ProfiNET using SIMATIC STEP 7 to view network topology, use the switch command line

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SDN and NFV: The brains behind the “smart” city

In major metropolitan areas and smaller cities alike, governments are adopting software-defined networking (SDN) and network function virtualization (NFV) to deliver the agility and flexibility needed to support adoption of “smart” technologies that enhance the livability, workability and sustainability of their towns.

Today there are billions of devices and sensors being deployed that can automatically collect data on everything from traffic to weather, to energy usage, water consumption, carbon dioxide levels and more. Once collected, the data has to be aggregated and transported to stakeholders where it is stored, organized and analyzed to understand what’s happening and what’s likely to happen in the future.

There’s a seemingly endless list of potential benefits. Transportation departments can make informed decisions to alleviate traffic jams. Sources of water leaks can be pinpointed and proactive repairs scheduled. Smart payments can be made across city agencies, allowing citizens to complete official payments quickly and reducing government employee time to facilitate such transactions. And even public safety can be improved by using automated surveillance to assist the police watch high-crime hotspots.

Of particular interest is how healthcare services can be improved. There is already a push to adopt more efficient and effective digital technology management systems to better store, secure and retrieve huge amounts of patient data. Going a step further, a smart city is better equipped to support telemedicine innovations that require the highest quality, uninterrupted network service. Telesurgery, for example, could allow for specialized surgeons to help local surgeons perform emergency procedures from remote locations — the reduction of wait time before surgery can save numerous lives in emergency situations, and can help cities and their hospital systems attract the brightest minds in medical research and practice.

The smart city of today
While the smart city is expected to become the norm, examples exist today. Barcelona is recognized for environmental initiatives (such as electric vehicles and bus networks), city-wide free Wi-Fi, smart parking, and many more programs, all of which benefit from smart city initiatives. With a population of 1.6 million citizens, Barcelona shows that smart city technologies can be implemented regardless of city size.

But even smaller cities are benefitting from going “smart.” In 2013 Cherry Hill, New Jersey, with a population of only 71,000, began using a web-based data management tool along with smart sensors to track the way electricity, water, fuel and consumables are being utilized, then compared usage between municipal facilities to identify ways to be more efficient. Chattanooga, Tennessee, population 170,000, along with its investment to provide the fastest Internet service in the U.S., has recently begun developing smart city solutions for education, healthcare and public safety.

How do cities become smart? The most immediate need is to converge disparate communications networks run by various agencies to ensure seamless connectivity. To achieve this, packet optical based connectivity is proving critical, thanks largely to the flexibility and cost advantages it provides. Then atop the packet optical foundation sits technology that enables NFV and the applications running on COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) equipment in some form of virtualized environment. SDN and NFV allow for the quick and virtual deployment of services to support multiple data traffic and priority types, as well as increasingly unpredictable data flows of IoT.

Decoupling network functions from the hardware means that architectures can be more easily tweaked as IoT requirements change. Also, SDN and NFV can yield a more agile service provision process by dynamically defining the network that connects the IoT end devices to back-end data centers or cloud services.

The dynamic nature of monitoring end-points, location, and scale will require SDN so that networks can be programmable and reconfigured to accommodate the moving workloads. Take for example, allocating bandwidth to a stadium for better streaming performance of an event as the number of users watching remotely on-demand goes up—this sort of dynamic network-on-demand capability is enabled by SDN. Additionally, NFV can play a key role where many of the monitoring points that make the city "smart" are actually not purpose-built hardware-centric solutions, but rather software-based solutions that can be running on-demand.

With virtual network functions (VNF), the network can react in a more agile manner as the municipality requires. This is particularly important because the network underlying the smart city must be able to extract high levels of contextual insight through real-time analytics conducted on extremely large datasets if systems are to be able to problem-solve in real-time; for example, automatically diverting traffic away from a street where a traffic incident has taken place.

SDN and NFV may enable the load balancing, service chaining and bandwidth calendaring needed to manage networks that are unprecedented in scale. In addition, SDN and NFV can ensure network-level data security and protection against intrusions – which is critical given the near-impossible task of securing the numerous sensor and device end points in smart city environments.
Smart city business models

In their smart city initiatives, cities large and small are addressing issues regarding planning, infrastructure, systems operations, citizen engagement, data sharing, and more. The scale might vary, but all are trying to converge networks in order to provide better services to citizens in an era of shrinking budgets. As such, the decision on how to go about making this a reality is important. There are four major smart city business models to consider, as defined by analysts at Frost & Sullivan (“Global Smart City Market a $1.5T Growth Opportunity In 2020”):

Build Own Operate (BOO): In a BOO model, municipalities own, control, and independently build the city infrastructure needed, and deliver the smart city services themselves. Both operation and maintenance of these services is under the municipality’s control, often headed up by their city planner.

Build Operate Transfer (BOT): Whereas in a BOO model, the municipality is always in charge of the operation and management of smart city services, in a BOT model that is only the case after a little while – the smart city infrastructure building and initial service operation is first handled by a trusted partner appointed by the city planner. Then, once all is built and in motion, operation is handed back over to the city.

Open Business Model (OBM): In an OBM model, the city planner is open to any qualified company building city infrastructure and providing smart city services, so long as they stay within set guidelines and regulations.

Build Operate Manage (BOM): Finally, there is the BOM model, which is where the majority of smart city projects are likely to fall under. In this model, the smart city planner appoints a trusted partner to develop the city infrastructure and services. The city planner then has no further role beyond appointment – the partner is in charge of operating and managing smart city services.

SDN and NFV: The keys to the (smart) city
With the appropriate business model in place and the network foundation laid out, the technology needs to be implemented to enable virtualization. Virtualized applications allow for the flexibility of numerous data types, and the scalability to transport huge amounts of data the city aims to use in its analysis.

SDN and NFV reduce the hardware, power, and space requirements to deploy network functions through the use of industry-standard high-volume servers, switches and storage; it makes the network applications portable and upgradeable with software; and it allows cities of all sizes the agility and scalability to tackle the needs and trends of the future as they arise. Like the brain’s neural pathways throughout a body, SDN and NFV are essential in making the smart city and its networks connect and talk to each other in a meaningful way.

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Are your IT certifications Helping your career?

There is no shortage of ways to advance your career, or your earnings potential. Racking up a bunch of certifications is one of them. But be careful it doesn’t have the opposite effect.

Specialization creates tremendous value in our economy. Adam Smith’s economic theory on the merits of specialization has been proven true over and over again. Yet, can you have too much of a good thing? That’s an important question for technology professionals and leaders to consider.

Key facts about IT specialization

How rampant is the scope of the IT specialization? Consider these facts:
IT specialization by industry. Following the 2007-2009 recession, many IT professionals have changed their focus to healthcare because that sector is adopting technology rapidly to improve care and comply with regulations. A 2015 Modus survey found that healthcare and education are forecasted to have the most significant need for technology talent. The increasing rise of start-ups focused on niche markets and products is another factor encouraging specialization.

IT certifications. There are more than 100 certifications available to IT professionals, including such popular one as the Project Management Professional (PMP), Microsoft certifications, ISACA certifications, Cisco certifications and Oracle certifications. Oracle, it should be noted, offers more than 30 certifications related to their products.

IT job titles. There are dozens of popular IT job roles in the market. Some titles reflect seniority (e.g. Developer vs Senior Developer, Software Engineer I vs Software Engineer II) while others speak to a technical focus (e.g. Infrastructure Manager and Java Developer).

Specialization means different things to different people. A college graduate might think of specialization in terms of hardware or software engineering. In contrast, a highly experienced developer may specialize in a certain flavor of Linux or the C# programming language.

Surely all this specialization leads to economic value, right? One way to answer that question is to look at data collected by recruiters.
The recruiter’s perspective: specialization boosts salaries … to a point

Recruiters have a unique perspective on technology talent and in-demand skills. After all, they’re interacting with a large number of candidates each year, and are able to determine which skills are valuable. According to Robert Half’s 2016 Salary Guide for Technology Professionals, some of the most valuable skills in demand in the U.S. right now include the following:

Microsoft SQL Server database skills: Adds 10 percent to salary.
Java development skills: Adds 9 percent to salary.
Microsoft Sharepoint skills: Add 9 percent to salary.
Cisco network administration skills: Adds 9 percent to salary.
Virtualization skills: Adds 8 percent to salary.

Those salary increases will vary by region and vertical industry, of course. But the above trends suggest a clear pattern: Becoming a specialist with a given company’s technology suite (e.g. Cisco and Microsoft) is an excellent way to build your compensation bracket. It’s also worth noting that Cisco and Microsoft are both large, well-established companies that have built loyal customer bases across corporate America. Specializing in software offered by smaller companies offering similar products and services may not add value because employers will not be able to understand or make use of them.

The way forward for your development: technical and leadership skills

Developing your career in the technology industry is a major challenge. In some cases, you may receive guidance from your managers and peers. In other situations, you’ll be left to your own devices. As you navigate to career success, there are two tracks to pursue in your professional development.

First, pursue the technical skills and knowledge you need to be successful in your current role. For example, you may specialize in Microsoft or Oracle products – applications that are in high demand according to recent research. These technical skills, especially for individual contributors, give you the ability to create results and earn credibility.

Second, look for nontechnology training and development to distinguish yourself from other technology professionals. If you frequently work with vendors, pursuing study in communication and negotiation training make sense. If your company is based in another country, you may want to add language skills to your toolbox.

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