What are the fieldpoint basics? Have I understood correctly?

Question

Sorry for being a complete newcomer on this subject.
I've got a bit of distributed I/O in a lab at work, and instead of cabling up PCI devices centrally from all over the room, I've begun thinking that a networked approach would be better. Of course I know of "Fieldpoint" as a topic within NI, but I've no experience of it whatsoever.
Am I correct in assuming that.....
Fieldpoint is a network-based distributed I/O architecture (Ethernet)?
Fieldbus is the communication protocoll used to communicate with Fielpoint controllers?
I need "LV Realtime" to be able to use Fieldpoint?
The individual host-controllers can be accessed from anywhere on the ethernet network?
How does Fieldpoint compare to a USB-based VXI or PXI solution. Aside from the USB/Ethernet differences which is clear to me. Which is easier to expand? Which is more flexible?
Sorry for the newcomer questions, but everyon's got to start somewhere.....
Thanks
Shane.
Using LV 6.1 and 8.2.1 on W2k (SP4) and WXP (SP2)

Answer 1

Am I correct in assuming that.....
FieldPoint is a network-based distributed I/O architecture (Ethernet)?
Yes, FieldPoint is a distributed I/O architecture. It can be ethernet, serial (RS-232 or RS-485), CAN, or FieldBus based.
FieldBus is the communication protocol used to communicate with FieldPoint controllers?
No. The serial controllers use the Optomux protocol. The ethernet controllers use a custom protocol developed by National Instruments. The Fieldbus and CAN controllers use FieldBus and CAN messaging protocols, respectively.
I need "LV Realtime" to be able to use FieldPoint?
No. You can use FieldPoint modules over a network without LabVIEW Real-Time. To embed programs within the [c]FP-2xxx series of RT controllers, you will need LabVIEW RT.
The individual host-controllers can be accessed from anywhere on the ethernet network?
For the ethernet based controllers, assuming you have not enabled security, you can access them from anywhere on the same subnet. If you are on a different subnet, you will need to know the IP Address in advance to acquire data from them.
How does FieldPoint compare to a USB-based VXI or PXI solution. Aside from the USB/Ethernet differences which is clear to me. Which is easier to expand? Which is more flexible?
Generally speaking, FieldPoint is slower, but has better isolation and is more rugged. Additionally, FieldPoint is better as a mix and match system, but does not have the breadth of offerings of VXI/PXI. Furthermore, FieldPoint as an I/O system and not a DAQ system, does not offer deterministic sampling, triggering, or synchronization.
Regards,
Aaron