Connect PLCs and Sensors to the cloud(Server)

With just one PLC manufacturer, one communication protocol, and one cloud solution, life is so much easier.

Unfortunately that’s not the case, so I’d like to find a solution that covers as many different “constellations” as possible.

What do you need and why should it be a cloud solution?

sensors, gauges and PLCs today provide users with a variety of data they want to monitor, record and display in the form of dashboards To do.

In fact, today’s consumers expect to be able to access their important data from anywhere using their smartphones and tablets. We also expect push notifications to be sent when issues arise, and nice-looking data analytics with just a few clicks.

All of this can be developed on-premises at great expense, or you can use existing cloud solutions that provide these capabilities out of the box.

How do I get my data into the cloud?

Option A: Use standardized protocols

There are not many standardized cloud protocols, but MQTT seems to have an edge in the race between MQTT and AMQP. Both of these are very simple protocols that allow communication between sensors and brokers.

MQTT requires very little network bandwidth and is easy to understand. However, many cloud applications interpret these messages differently because the “topic” payload is not clearly specified.

Also, for PLC, MQTT development is not easy and data cannot be restored if the connection fails.

Option B: Using Cloud Adapter

Generally, an IoT gateway is required whenever data is acquired via local fieldbus protocols such as Modbus, OPC-UA, BACnet, M-Bus. As these are master/slave protocols, they are not suitable for direct communication with the cloud and never open communication ports in firewalls to allow cloud communication.

In this way, the cloud adapter acts as an on-site data collector, establishes an encrypted connection to the cloud, and transmits data without requiring large amounts of network bandwidth.

Also, if the internet connection fails, all data is buffered locally.

Pure Technology is a software development and IT consulting firm with decades of experience guiding clients through their digital transformation.

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