INDUSTRIAL NETWORK REVIEW

Review Industrial Network Architecture and Exposure

A structured engineering review of OT network topology, segmentation, communication paths, remote access and connections between industrial and external systems.

Understand what communicates, why it communicates and where controls are needed

Industrial networks often develop over many project phases, expansions and vendor packages. Over time, undocumented links, flat network segments, unrestricted protocols and remote-access paths can make the environment difficult to manage and protect. An industrial network review creates visibility of the current architecture and identifies practical improvements without treating the plant as a standard office network.

Review scope

Network architecture

Physical and logical topology
Switch structure
Ring or redundant architecture
Network hierarchy
Control-system boundaries
Package-unit connections
IT and OT interfaces

Segmentation

VLAN design
Subnet structure
Broadcast domains
Routing boundaries
Zone definitions
Safety-system separation
Control and supervisory layers
Engineering-access paths

Communication flows

PLC-to-PLC communication
PLC-to-SCADA communication
HMI communication
Historian connections
OPC communication
Modbus TCP
Time synchronisation
Engineering traffic
Vendor communication
Internet or cloud-connected paths

Protective controls

Industrial firewalls
Access-control lists
Router rules
Switch port security
Unused-port management
Remote-access gateways
Jump hosts
Demilitarised zones where applicable
Monitoring points

Availability and resilience

Single points of failure
Redundancy
Loop prevention
Broadcast exposure
Network storms
Critical communication dependencies
Time-source dependencies
Recovery configuration
Configuration backups

Documentation

Network drawings
IP address lists
VLAN lists
Port maps
Firewall rules
Communication matrices
Device inventory
Remote-access documentation
Zones-and-conduits diagrams

Typical deliverables

Current-network summary
Architecture observations
Network diagram updates
Communication-flow findings
Segmentation findings
Exposure points
Remote-access findings
Availability concerns
Documentation gaps
Prioritised recommendations
Proposed target architecture at an agreed level
Optional engineering workshop

Review planned around operational constraints

The review is normally performed using available drawings, configuration exports, interviews and agreed non-disruptive observations. Active scanning or intrusive testing is not performed unless it is explicitly agreed, appropriately authorised and considered safe for the industrial environment.

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