Network cable between GC and computer

[lmha]

We have a HP 6890N GC connected to a computer with Chemstation software. I wanted to connect our computer to our local network, but discovered that the cable position on the computer was occupied by a cable connected to the GC. Does anyone know what the purpose of this may be, or what I could look for? Our other GC does not have this configuration.

[krickos]

Hi

Communication setup is not my strong side bu to share some experiances around chemstation and local networks:

First local differences, network performances,standards etc can of course be different.

Historically we had issues with connecting the PC via the network to the GC, it simply took too long to load methods etc. So we typically had dual network cards on the PCs and used hubs aswell as we on several places had both FID and MSD installed together wit a headspace injector beside the normal ALS.

So technically you should be able to either connect GC direct to GC or via the network, why you have different setups at your place perhaps the responisble instrument person can answer?

[lmha]

Thank you! I tried unplugging the network cable and the connection to the GC was lost, so obviously we have a setup of this GC that requires the cable. We would need external help to change the configuration, so I suppose we will have to live with the situation.

[CE Instruments]

A 6890N uses a network cable to interface to a Network and Data system, denoted by the N in the GC name. I think it should be possible for you to connect the PC to the Network and the GC to the network and they can communicate in that way. Otherwise you will need to add another network port to your PC. Contact your Agilent supplier they should be able to advise, your Network administrator should be able to do the re-configuration.

[Ron]

If you want network access, but don't want to control the GC system over the network the best solution is the addition of a second network interface card. Most instruments use (require) a static IP address, and network administrators often don't like that. With two different network interfaces you can have a static address for the GC and a dynamic address on the network, so you have the best of both worlds.

Most network administators are not happy about having analytical instruments on the network, they tend to generate a lot of network traffic, especially if a mass spec is involved.

[AICMM]

lmha,

The other thing you need to be aware of (had a customer who had this problem) is automatic updates. Updates to other software on your computer can cause issues for your Chemstation software. For this reason, said customer has an independent network for their GC's which is not connected to the outside (lab wide network.)

Best regards.

[jh1]

We have all instrument PCs hooked up with 2 network cards, one for the instrument and a second for the network. Just be sure you turn off automatic updates and only preform windows and instrument updates after backing up everything.

Also with newer chemstation software versions you may need to do some pinging to ensure that windows assigns the instrument and network cards correctly whenever you restart the computer.