Industrial network monitoring

A method for monitoring a data network, the method comprising:

• acquiring, by a plant server communicatively coupled to at least one switch of the data network associated with plant components, traffic data flowing through the data network;
• performing, by the plant server, an analysis of the traffic data to generate a network profile;
• monitoring, by the plant server, further traffic data flowing through the data network;
• and
• while monitoring the further traffic data:
• determining, by the plant server, a deviation of the further traffic data from the network profile;
• and
• issuing, by the plant server based on the deviation, at least one alarm concerning a health state of the data network.

A system for network monitoring, the system comprising:

• plant components including at least one controller, a sensing device, an actuator, and a human-machine interface;
• at least one switch in communication with a data network configured to communicatively couple the plant components;
• and
• a plant server communicatively coupled to the at least one switch, the plant server being configured to:
• acquire traffic data flowing through the data network, the traffic data including at least Internet Protocol (IP) addresses and broadcast data;
• perform an analysis of the traffic data to generate a network profile;
• monitor further traffic data flowing through the data network;
• and
• while monitoring the further traffic data:
• determine a deviation of the further traffic data from the network profile;
• and
• issue, based on the deviation, at least one alarm regarding a health state of one of the data network and at least one of the plant components.