Is there anything that can be done to speed up upload and download performance to a Rockwell ControlLogix when using a remote connection (VPN). Its an L83 processor so it should be fast. Locally it takes about 5 min to do an upload and about 30 min remote. We have plenty of bandwidth at each end and the ping times from remote to plc is about 60-70ms. I think its the extra times that are causing the issue more so than the bandwidth, but is there anything that can be done to improve this?
Use VPN to connect via RDP to an Engineering Workstation that is in the local subnet of the PLC. Work from the EWS.
Depends on the VPN. Some of them have bandwidth limits that you can adjust. Ping measures latency. Longer ping times may be an indicator of lower bandwidth but it’s not for sure.
How often do you upload or download that this is an issue?
Can you change the VPN? Most VPNs are built on old protocols which cause ‘saw tooth behvaiour’ which when combined with high latency (60-70ms is high for a VPN) causes huge drops in throughput and performance. I can recommend better VPNs if its changeable.
Upload/Download speeds to Rockwell controllers have been very sensitive to network latency. However, Rockwell has recently done some improvements in this area and details them along with suggestions in this document:
Optimizing Controller Download Performance for Studio 5000 Logix Designer
Main suggestions for improving remote download speeds are:
- Use FactoryTalk Linx >=v6.21 (requires Logix Designer >=v31)
- Use Logix Designer >= v34
Agree. I’ve always heard this called a jump box or jump server. Faster DL, and it means the projects are always stored locally, no need to go find it.
I should of clarified. Is there anything I can do with the Rockwell L83 PLC’s to make them upload or download faster?
Latency is the most important measure here. There’s a lot of handshaking going on during uploads and downloads. The programs aren’t even very large at just a couple megabytes.
Make sure that if you have a lot of Ethernet traffic such as explicit messaging and class 1 control connections via Ethernet that your program tasks aren’t all continuous. Put your programs in scheduled tasks. Also make sure that time slice and priorities are set properly.
A lot of people with tell you this stuff doesn’t matter in the newer PLCs, but I can promise you it does. It’s still in the manuals.
I can even demonstrate on the 1769 and 5069 series how important this is and what a huge difference it will make in your upload times. Real PITA task handling is in Rockwell PLCs.