There was a request made in a comment to an earlier posting on this blog for a good book on DCS. I have also seen other such requests made in LinkedIn recently from people looking for a good resource on the topic.
Since the demands on and functionality of the DCS have evolved to far more than basic control in the last decade, let me recommend an ISA publication from 2010: Collaborative Process Automation Systems by Martin Hollender and other contributors. Martin is a colleague at ABB and undertook this book as a project to provide a text book on the modern DCS that fits into the title that stems from the ARC Advisory Group CPAS vision (link 1) (link 2).
Quoting from the back cover of the publication …
“Providing a comprehensive overview of the state-of-the-art in Collaborative Process Automation Systems (CPAS), this book discusses topics such as engineering, security, enterprise connectivity, advanced process control, plant asset management, and operator efficiency. Collaborating with other industry experts, the author covers the system architecture and infrastructure required for a CPAS, as well as important standards like OPC and the ISA-95 series. This in-depth reference focuses on the differences between a CPAS and traditional automation systems. Implications on modern automation systems are outlined in theory and practice. This book is ideal for industrial engineers, as well as graduate students in control and automation.”
Check it out. It may not be a page-turner like a great mystery, but it is a real good source of information. The book is available at ISA.org.