Software Toolbox Technical Blog

Video Tutorial: Using Registers in an OmniServer Protocol

1 min read

By Kevin Rutherford on Aug 10, 2017 2:00:00 PM


A Register Number is a time-saving special OmniServer element that allows you to configure one item that is requesting the same type of memory or offset in a device instead of one item for each memory or offset location.

In this video blog, I show you how to get started using registers to more efficiently build an OmniServer protocol without having to manually create an item for every piece of data whenever possible.

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Does Your OPC Tunnel Give You Control Over Bandwidth?

3 min read

By Win Worrall on Dec 14, 2016 2:00:00 PM


It's common with OPC for users to not realize that it is the OPC client that typically defines how quickly the OPC server should poll or send requests to the underlying control devices and equipment the server is communicating with.

This blog post will discuss how important it is for an OPC tunneling solution to have some level of control over this frequency of polling in order to maximize efficient usage of your precious bandwidth.

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Analyzing OPC UA Communications Using Wireshark

4 min read

By Colson Dunlap on Oct 24, 2016 2:00:00 PM

As more and more companies are making the switch from OPC-DA to OPC-UA, it is becoming increasingly important to be able to troubleshoot OPC-UA communications.     One of the easiest ways to analyze the communication between an OPC-UA client and server is to use Wireshark.

This blog will cover step-by-step how to use Wireshark to troubleshoot communications between your OPC-UA client and server applications.

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Is Your OPC Tunnel Compatible with Any OPC Application?

2 min read

By Win Worrall on Oct 18, 2016 2:00:00 PM


It's common in the automation space to just throw out the term "OPC" without any qualifiers when talking about what a software solution supports with respect to open connectivity to other software.  But what does "OPC" mean for your specific software solution?

This blog post will discuss how important it is to know what an OPC tunneling solution is actually compatible with when talking about "OPC" since not all tunneling solutions use the same methods.

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How Much Experience Does Your Tunneler Solution Have?

2 min read

By Win Worrall on Oct 4, 2016 2:00:00 PM


There’s nothing like knowing that you aren’t alone, and someone else has had the same problems or successes that you have in similar situations.  That's just as true in the industrial automation world as it is in life.

This blog post will discuss how the peace of mind garnered from case studies and real-world examples when choosing a tunneling solution can be a deciding factor.

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Introduction to OPC UA Seminar

1 min read

By Marc Holbach on Sep 27, 2016 2:15:46 PM

The OPC UA specification is an evolution on the original OPC Classic specifications that has been designed by the OPC Foundation to supplement, but not render obsolete the existing OPC standards such as DA, HDA, & A&E.  OPC UA is designed to make enterprise-level integration easier, while ensuring compatibility and interoperability with existing OPC DA, HDA, and A&E servers and clients. OPC expert Marc Holbach gives a seminar on all of the details below.

Topics: OPC UA OPC
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Can You Tunnel Remote Data From Many Locations?

3 min read

By Win Worrall on Sep 20, 2016 2:30:00 PM


Collecting data from multiple remote sites or aggregating, as it is generally referred to, is a big part of geographically distributed control operations.  Having a macro picture of your operations over all of your locations is key.

And efficient, reliable performance is always a concern.  This blog post will discuss performance as it relates to aggregating data from multiple remote sites using a tunneler solution and why it's important for tunneler solutions to support multiple tunnel connections in the same instance.

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Can You Tunnel Remote Data Without Opening the Firewall?

2 min read

By Win Worrall on Sep 7, 2016 1:00:00 PM


The more regulated your industry, the more likely it is that you have a cybersecurity team that is extremely vigilant about gaps in security.  Traditionally, remote OPC tunneling has generally always required that network firewalls have at least one port open for data transfers to work successfully.

But what if you work in one of these highly regulated industries and your IT/cybersecurity department won't allow you to open any firewall ports for remote data sharing?

This blog post will discuss why it's important for a tunneler solution to support alternatives to the traditional methods of tunneling with open firewall ports to ensure network integrity.

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