What is the Purdue Model ?

The Purdue Enterprise Reference Architecture (PERA), also known as the Purdue Model, is a reference model for enterprise architecture developed in the early 1990s by Theodore J. Williams and members of the Industry-Purdue University Consortium for Computer Integrated Manufacturing. It provides a framework for modeling enterprise systems in multiple architectural levels and phases of the enterprise life cycle.

Key Components of PERA.

  1. Enterprise Life-cycle Framework: This life-cycle helps in planning, designing, implementing, and maintaining enterprise systems.
  2. Levels of Automation: PERA defines levels of automation from physical processes to business logistics systems.
  3. Physical and Logical Architectures: It divides enterprise systems into physical and logical architectures.
  4. Reference Data Flow Models: Example reference data flow models are provided for different industries.
  5. Example System Architectures: Example logical and physical system architectures are provided from various industries.
  6. Hardware and Software Mapping: Mapping of example hardware and software products are provided within the PERA framework.

Typical Levels of the Purdue Model
Although 5 levels is most common, larger corporations or consortiums may define more.

- Level 0: The physical process (equipment that produces products).
- Level 1: Intelligent devices (sensing and manipulating physical processes).
- Level 2: Control systems (supervising, monitoring, and controlling physical processes).
- Level 3: Manufacturing operations systems (managing production workflow).
- Level 4: Business logistics systems (managing business-related activities).
- Level 5: Enterprise networks (corporate-level services).

The Purdue Model is widely used in industrial control systems (ICS) and cybersecurity to segment and secure networks. It helps in creating a defensible environment by segmenting industrial control system networks from corporate enterprise networks and the internet. Sometimes additional "DMZ zones" may be identified such as Level 3.5 for plant/office "firewalls".


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