Tuesday 6 November 2018

A secure connection to IT and IIoT.

The new gateway families Anybus Communicator IIoT and Anybus X-gateway IIoT with support for MQTT and OPC UA have been released by HMS Industrial Networks. These enable data connectivity between equipment on all major industrial networks and IIoT applications.

The new gateway families Anybus Communicator IIoT and Anybus X-gateway IIoT from HMS open a straight-forward and powerful path to IIoT thanks to the new support for MQTT and OPC UA in combination with a complete coverage of industrial communication standards.

System integrators, machine builders and device manufacturers can benefit from the fact that data from virtually any industrial equipment communicating on industrial Ethernet, fieldbuses, CAN or serial protocols can be transmitted to IT systems and IoT software in an easy and secure way.

Regardless if the data is generated in a single device, a series of machines or entire automation systems, Communicator IIoT and X-gateway IIoT allow the data to be seamlessly integrated, monitored and analyzed from modern IIoT-systems.

Data from new as well as existing industrial equipment can be integrated allowing for improved transparency and decision-making across facilities, increased productivity as well as a more sustainable approach to manufacturing.

Anybus Communicator IIoT specializes on providing data from devices on serial protocols and CAN, while Anybus X-gateway IIoT integrates data from fieldbuses and industrial Ethernet networks. Typical use cases for the gateways involve data integration from e.g. Modbus RTU and TCP, CAN-based protocols, PROFIBUS-DP, EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, EtherCAT, POWERLINK and CC-Link.
Existing users will feel at home since no programming is needed and the configuration logic of the existing Communicator and X-gateway stays the same in these new IIoT-versions. By using the free configuration tool Anybus Configuration Manager, ACM, users can easily configure, convert and tag the desired industrial data for efficient use in IT-systems or IIoT applications. When setting up the IT-connection, the gateways can be presented either as MQTT Client or OPC-UA server.

The fact that Anybus Communicator IIoT and Anybus X-gateway IIoT are standalone hardware between OT (operational technology) and IT, ensures a high level of security. After installation, only one-way data flow from OT to IT is allowed through the gateways, which means that the industrial equipment and systems that are connected to the gateways stay isolated from any potential attack from the IT side. For example, instead of being directly connected to IT, a PLC on an underlying industrial network can safely and securely connect and transmit data through the gateways, without risking to be attacked.

About OPC UA

OPC Unified Architecture (UA) is a service-oriented industrial communication standard for secure and reliable data exchange. OPC UA is platform-independent and ensures a seamless flow of information among devices from multiple vendors. OPC UA defines services for data exchange between Clients and Servers including access to real-time data, monitoring of alarms and events, access to historical data and other applications. The standard is managed by the OPC Foundation.
OPC UA is today applied in a wide range of applications and solutions stretching from straight-forward M2M communication to new upcoming solutions like IT/OT bridging and cloud connectivity. As any other IP based communication protocol, OPC UA can co-exist with other industrial protocols on the same network complementing real-time control with a secure and service-oriented data channel.
About MQTT

MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport) is a publish/subscribe messaging protocol ideal for IT/OT bridging and IIoT solutions. Based on its light-weight and straight forward approach, it has become one of the most popular protocols enabling industrial data and information exchange.
MQTT is based around a message broker to which industrial devices (clients) connect. The clients exchange information via the broker based on topics with a flexible syntax. The broker uses the topics to decide which clients to receive a message.
Compared to OPC UA, MQTT is more flexible and easier to implement. On the other hand, it lacks the data, service models and security schemes provided by OPC UA.

#IIoT @HMSAnybus #PAuto

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