Software Toolbox Technical Blog

Software Toolbox has provided AVEVA™ (formerly Wonderware) users, integrators, OEMs, and channel partners in over 100 countries with best-in-class connectivity solutions since 1996. Many of you will be familiar with our TOP Server for AVEVA that offers a wide range of device connectivity options and client interfaces such as SuiteLink, OPC DA, and OPC UA. While TOP Server is known for its extensive list of driver options that allow for connectivity to thousands of device types, they are only part of how TOP Server helps with integrating your industrial data with AVEVA software. How does the device data actually make its way into AVEVA?

In this video blog, we'll show you how to make a basic connection from AVEVA InTouch to TOP Server using SuiteLink, a communications protocol that runs over TCP/IP at the application layer, created by Wonderware to succeed FastDDE in the mid-1990's. Unlike OPC DA, SuiteLink doesn’t rely on COM or DCOM technology, making SuiteLink a common choice for remote connectivity to Software Toolbox solutions. With an integrated SuiteLink interface, no OI Gateway or FSGateway is required to get your InTouch application connected to a wide range of additional device types.

The TOP Server^® from Software Toolbox and KEPServerEX^® from the Kepware division of PTC^® are well known connectivity solutions for extracting industrial automation data from PLCs and other devices, and integrating that data with virtually any HMI, SCADA, MES, Historian, or database on the market. These products have a global installed base serving sophisticated users across every industry imaginable.

Welcome to the next installment of our Data Storage Deep Dive series! For years, Software Toolbox has been synonymous with terms like “device connectivity” and “data integration” thanks to our variety of connectivity solutions that help collect real-time data for all your industrial automation operations. Beyond just real-time data, our team recognizes the value of historical data within the industry, and we aim to help businesses make larger data backed decisions over time.

Welcome to the kickoff post of our Data Storage Deep Dive blog series! In this series, we will explore the crucial role of data storage solutions and Historians in industrial automation. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be looking into how solutions delivered by Software Toolbox can be utilized with Historians, helping you make the most of your industrial data.

Welcome back to our Summer of IoT blog series! In this third installment, we continue our journey through the fascinating world of IoT, delving deeper into the transformative technologies Software Toolbox has to offer for shaping our connected future. Today, we will be highlighting the TOP Server MQTT Client driver and demonstrating how it can effortlessly integrate real-time data from MQTT brokers into your existing industrial automation systems, such as your HMI, SCADA, MES, or Historian.

Welcome to the kickoff of Software Toolbox’s Summer of IoT blog series! Over the next few blog posts, we’ll discuss how our products can play a role in the exciting world of Internet of Things (IoT), but more importantly, how they can be used to further your success in Industry 4.0 and Digital Transformation initiatives. The IoT landscape has grown exponentially over the past decade, transforming industries by connecting devices, systems, and people in unprecedented ways. IoT is reshaping how we interact with technology. At Software Toolbox, we recognize the power of IoT and are committed to providing solutions that facilitate this technological revolution.

Originally developed by the American Heating Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, BACnet (short for Building Automation and Control Network) is a communications protocol primarily used in building automation systems to control the data exchange between different devices and components. If you're reading this, you’re likely familiar with the building automation and control industry and might have a BACnet controller being used in your industrial process.

The TOP Server OPC server is known for its ability to collect real-time data from a wide range of devices, using off-the-shelf industry standard protocols. However, challenges arise when not all devices can consistently share data in real-time due to limitations in connectivity mediums or networks. This is particularly evident in critical SCADA-heavy industries like Power & Utilities, Renewable Energy, Oil & Gas and Water/Wastewater, where precise control of polling is crucial due to their limited bandwidth availability. With traditional cyclic polling, for example "once an hour", you can end up with high bandwidth utilization at the top of an hour and the communications link being idle the rest of the time. Rather than do that, it's better to spread that usage out over the full hour.

The TOP Server Scheduler Plug-In is used to accomplish this spreading out of polling. With it, users can create a customized polling schedule for these devices for any TOP Server driver, which in turn optimizes communications between your SCADA, HMI, MES, or Historian and devices in the field. This eliminates the need to rely on your client applications or direct device configurations to achieve reliable collection crucial operational data from field devices.