If you are familiar with the OmniServer, you probably already know that it can be used to retrieve information from devices that use ‘non-standard’ protocols to communicate – typically these are your weight scales, barcode readers, and printers.
However, did you know that the OmniServer can also retrieve data that are exposed via web services, or even websites? Keep reading to find out you can "scrape" web sites or services to integrate useful information into your systems using OmniServer.
There are some powerful new features now available with TOP Server V6.1. In case you missed it, I did a high-level post giving you an overview of the six biggest features from the V6.1 release - click here to see that post.
There are some powerful new features now available with TOP Server V6.1. In case you missed it, I did a high-level post giving you an overview of the six biggest features from the V6.1 release - click here to see that post.
You've likely already heard about the latest and greatest TOP Server just released on April 4 – so you've likely received one or more of our mailings announcing the release of TOP Server V6.1.
And I certainly wouldn't blame you for asking, “If I’ve already read those emails, what more is this blog post going to tell me?” I urge you to keep reading to find out more specific details about six of the most exciting features available in TOP Server V6.1.
You may have heard about the upcoming release of Cogent DataHub Version 8 on March 1. The new features in Version 8 are focused on enabling the Cogent DataHub to deliver high-quality data communication – secure, fast, and fully integrated within the plant and beyond.
In this blog post, to give you a bit more insight into what you can expect, I will provide further details on each of the new features.
At its core, a communication protocol is just the ‘language’ that devices speak, right? Just a collection of rules that govern how components of a system are going to interact with each other, and what the capabilities of the system might look like.
In this post, I will discuss why you should bother learning anything about communication protocols in the first place. I will discuss the value of knowing what a communication standard is and why some people (myself included) commit so much time to learning them.
In the Operations Technology or OT world that most of our users live in, it’s normal to have multiple versions of Windows and systems that may not always be setup consistently but we have to make it all work anyway. Connecting OPC clients and servers when the Windows computers are not on the same version, not in an Active Directory or, using older terminology, a domain, and having everything work well takes skill, and keeping it secure involves a lot of details.
In this blog post, our team asked me to explore with you the details involved to assist you with better understanding Windows Security and to converse more productively with your IT Team. I’ll also share how you can learn more about how to make things easier on yourself through the use of OPC UA or with Tunneling.
If you’ve seen any of our other posts on TOP Server V6 and its new capabilities, you may have seen us mention the Configuration API. Unless you’re a developer, you may have been wondering what is that and why would I care? We’ve been pleasantly surprised by how many of our users have had an interest in this new feature.
