Among all the fanfare and hoopla over the Industrial IoT, the more practical-minded among us quietly but persistently raise the question, “So, where’s the value?” It’s a fair question. The IoT represents a new area of influence for industrial automation. Before embarking on such a venture, it’s good to have some idea what the benefits may be.
Industrial systems are like snowflakes–every one is unique. Each facility, factory, pipeline, or power plant relies on a wide range of machines, tools, and sensors, using proprietary and home-grown software and data protocols. Industrial IoT should connect to any of these with a minimum of fuss. It should be compatible with multiple data protocols and legacy systems, and integrate seamlessly with future hardware and software. Like putting on a new suit, the ideal is to ease into the IoT without disrupting anything.
The Industrial IoT is different from the regular IoT. Mission-critical industrial systems are not like consumer or business IT applications. Performance is crucial. Most IT systems are built around a relational database, a repository of data that clients can add to or access, where a response time of a second or two is acceptable. IT data is typically sent across a network via HTML or XML, which adds complexity to the raw data, and consumes bandwidth. Although fine for office or home use, these technologies are not sufficient for the Industrial IoT.
Sal Spada, Research Director of Discrete Automation at ARC Advisory Group, highlights the value of the IoT for machine builders looking to improve their aftermarket services.
Anyone who has attempted to network OPC DA knows that it is challenging, at best. The networking protocol for OPC DA is DCOM, which was not designed for real-time data transfer or industrial systems. DCOM is difficult to configure, responds poorly to network breaks, and has serious security flaws. This article will look at how tunneling solves the issues associated with DCOM, and show you what to look for in a tunneling product for OPC.
Renesas Synergy developers can now connect their projects to the Industrial IoT quickly, securely, and free of any royalty or development license fees.
Skkynet has been helping organizations securely share real-time data for more than 25 years. We offer privately-hosted or fully managed solutions for moving data in industrial, embedded and financial systems, from anywhere to anywhere.
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