Need to Speed Up OPC UA Development? Use a Framework

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Developers who want to put OPC UA on an embedded device typically use an SDK (Sofware Development Kit) to speed up the project. Although an SDK can be helpful, using one to build an OPC UA server is still a big task, typically taking 12 to 18 months for an expert in OPC. Thankfully, there is another approach—use a framework. This article explains the three main advantages of using a framework:

  1. It resolves protocol blocking, a challenging obstacle to development .
  2. It can convert the OPC UA to the protocol the device may be using.
  3. You don’t need to learn OPC UA.

Using a framework (like the one provided by Skkynet’s ETK) allows a developer to bridge between the application logic and the OPC UA protocol and speed up development time.

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The Kaspersky Report: It’s Not Really About OPC UA

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Automation.com, a leading online publisher of automation-related content, recently ran a commentary on a new report from Kaspersky Labs about OPC UA. The Kaspersky report identified 17 critical security flaws in OPC UA software. But although the Kaspersky methodology may be sound, the commentary in Automation.com suggested caution in drawing conclusions.

It turns out that the flaws noted by Kaspersky were simply because an OPC UA must listen for connections on a network, just like any other server on a TCP/IP network. The real problem is deeper, according to the commentary. Put simply, the standard approach to industrial data communications is not suitable for untrusted networks like the Internet. A better solution is not to allow any inbound connections at all.

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Pairing OPC UA with a Good IIoT Protocol

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Automation.com, a leading online publisher of automation-related content, recently ran an article on the value of pairing OPC UA with a good IIoT protocol like DHTP. The article discusses how OPC UA was initially expected to serve as an IIoT protocol, but more recently the trend seems to be towards using OPC UA at the plant level only. Other protocols, such as MQTT and AMQP are being offered as candidates for connecting outside the plant, but they are not ideally suited to IIoT. This article explains why, and introduces 9 criteria for good IIoT data communication.

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Red Lion adds new platforms for cellular RTUs that further IIoT connectivity

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Red Lion Controls, a global expert in communication, monitoring, and control for industrial automation and networking, announced that its RAM industrial routers and cellular RTUs now support the Microsoft Azure, Cumulocity, and Nokia IMPACT IIoT platforms.

This follows the recent announcement that Red Lion’s RAM products now support the MQ Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol. The addition of these two platforms moves Red Lion RAM products to lead the market in the greatest number of platform integrations, providing greater flexibility for industrial customers to quickly connect to their choice of leading IIoT cloud platforms.

In addition to those announced, RAMQTT, Red Lion’s embedded MQTT client, simplifies implementations with pre-configured profiles for AT&T M2X, AWS IoT Core, AutoDesk Fusion Connect and Telenor Connexion. Customers connect using a simple drop-down menu to select their cloud platform of choice. Also, using the RAM Software Development Kit (SDK), connectivity can be enabled with additional platforms, including LEC IQ Web SCADA, Set-Point IPwebcontrol, Skkynet SkkyHub, and Telit deviceWISE.

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Secure by Design for IIoT

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Securing the Industrial IoT is a big design challenge, but one that must be met. Although the original builders of industrial systems did not anticipate a need for Internet connectivity, companies now see the value of connecting to their plants, pipelines, and remote devices, often over the Internet. The looming question: How to maintain a high level of security for a mission-critical system while allowing remote access to the data?

As you can imagine the answer is not simple.  What’s called for is a totally new approach, one that is secure by design.  This blog entry, published on the ARC Advisory’s Industrial IoT/Industrie 4.0 Viewpoints blog, gives an overview of why standard industrial system architecture is not adequate to ensure the security of plant data on the Internet, and introduces the two main considerations that must go into creating a more secure design.

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Will this be the year that your enterprise makes the IIoT leap?

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For the second January in a row, we’re using this lead issue to look ahead at the industry conversations likely to follow over the next 11 months. Like last year, there’s still no bigger buzz than the impact that digital transformation and the industrial internet is having both on work and on the people who do work.

I’m writing this note on the 10-year anniversary of the launch of the iPhone, which marks a genuine milestone in the history of both internet-enabled communications and mobile computing. As the iPhone evolved and the iPad emerged, savvier organizations and IT workers caught on early to the opportunities available to digitize operations. For example, a close friend who works in commercial real estate directed his teams early on to rethink his organization’s processes as each new Apple device launched, reducing business friction in the field and moving toward nearly paperless operations.

Many other contributors this month round out the digital conversation:

  • IFS CTO Dan Matthews identifies three myths that cause organizations to hesitate on IoT projects.
  • Skkynet’s Bob McIlvride examines how to combine in-house skills with outside expertise to build systems that enable deeper data-driven insights into your assets.
  • Bruce Hawkins and Scott Bruni review the foundational IIoT steps that plant teams can take, noting that roughly 60% of the instrumentation needed for critical assets often already exists.
  • Tech Toolbox’s Sheila Kennedy surveys the network security solutions landscape in an age of IT-OT convergence.
  • Jeff Shiver of People and Processes outlines six steps that can improve the speed and quality of cultural change in your organization.
    Finally, in her Big Picture Interview, Bentley Systems’ Anne-Marie Walters looks ahead to the role that 3D modeling will play in the internet-enabled asset management landscape.
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