/ PRP Networking
PRP networking for critical infrastructure.
Parallel Redundancy Protocol keeps the networks behind data centres, hospitals and building services running through a failure with no loss of data. TechFlo designs, installs and commissions PRP architectures across the UK and Europe.
/ What is PRP
A network that never has to recover, because it never stops.
Parallel Redundancy Protocol is a high-availability network standard defined in IEC 62439-3. Rather than relying on one path and a protocol that must first detect a fault before it can recover, PRP carries every frame over two independent parallel networks at the same time.
The receiving device accepts whichever copy arrives first and discards the duplicate. If a cable is damaged, a switch loses power or a transceiver fails, the second copy is already on its way over the other network — so the data still arrives with no interruption.
That characteristic is what separates PRP from conventional redundancy. Traditional designs converge after a failure, which means recovery measured in milliseconds or seconds. PRP has no convergence phase at all: recovery time is zero.
/ How it works
Four principles that make PRP resilient.
Two independent networks, always live
Every PRP device connects to both LAN A and LAN B over separate switches, separate cable routes and separate power. Neither path is a standby — both carry traffic all of the time.
Duplicate frames, not standby links
The sending node transmits each frame twice, once onto each network. The receiving node accepts the first copy to arrive and discards the duplicate, so a single lost frame never becomes lost data.
Zero recovery time
There is no spanning tree to re-converge and no routing table to rebuild. When a link, switch or transceiver fails, traffic is already flowing on the surviving path, so the failover is invisible to the application.
RedBox for single-attached devices
Equipment with only one network port — controllers, meters, operator workstations, IP cameras — connects through a redundancy box that provides the dual attachment on its behalf.
/ Where it is deployed
Built for environments where downtime is not an option.
PRP is specified wherever a network outage would mean losing visibility of critical plant, missing an alarm or interrupting a live operation. It is particularly common where building management and power monitoring systems must stay visible to operators at all times.
- Data centres — BMS, PMS, EPMS and access control networks that monitor every hall and plant room
- Hospitals and healthcare — clinical support systems and building services in live environments
- Airports and transport — operational systems where a control signal cannot wait for a re-convergence
- Industrial and energy plant — process control and telemetry across long cable runs
- Commercial estates — landlord monitoring and tenant services across multi-building sites
/ Our delivery
Designed, installed and proven — not just specified.
A PRP network is only resilient if the physical build matches the design. Diverse cable routes, correctly configured redundancy boxes and documented failover testing are what turn the standard into a working system. Our CNCI-certified technicians deliver all three.
Discuss a PRP project- Network design and segmentation aligned to the M&E and ICT scope
- Switch, RedBox and media specification matched to the protocol you run
- Fibre and copper installation with diverse routing between LAN A and LAN B
- Configuration, testing and commissioning with documented failover evidence
- Ongoing monitoring, maintenance and support across the UK and Europe
PRP sits alongside our wider networking and M&E services — see how the full scope fits together.
IEC 62439-3 · ISO 9001 · ISO 27001