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		Uninterruptible power supplies and cybersecurity - 02/04/12 InTech, February 2012 By Michael A. Stout Every network connected device in a data or SCADA network is a potential backdoor—even a UPS connected to the company’s Ethernet network for remote monitoring and management could be compromised by a hacker.

		How open standards can increase OEM product sales - 11/14/11 Automation World, November 2011 By Jack McIntyre, Open Automation Software Increasing data visibility by using OPC Systems.NET from Open Automation Software to visualize real-time data directly from the source using popular Visual Studio-capable graphics packages.

		Has Open Architecture Delivered? - 10/28/11 Automation.com, October 2011 By Bill Lydon Since the 1980s, the automation industry has been adopting standards for networked industrial communications, software, and applications. Have users gained all the benefits originally envisioned?

		OPC UA: Entering the Practical Phase - 10/21/11 Automation World, October 2011 By Kai Binder OPC UA has yet to invade users’ experience and products still are a scarce commodity. But that situation is about to change.

		Effective OPC security for control systems - Part 2 - 07/22/11 What’s New in Process Technology, July 2011 By Darek Kominek, Matrikon Any OPC server or product has the option to implement one of three levels of security: disabled, DCOM or OPC security. Each level offers more security and control over who has access to data within the OPC architecture.


		From the Field - ABB Automation and Power World 2011 - 05/11/11 Automation.com, May 2011 By Bill Lydon, Editor Here are a few highlights from ABB Automation & Power World 2011. The event attracted a record number of participants, totaling more than 4,200, and featured over 400 educational workshops and hands-on training sessions, over 45 customer-presented case studies, and an exhibition of ABB and partner products.

		Identifying Automation System Tribbles - 04/25/11 Automation.com, April 2011 By Roy Kok How did Scotty know? How do you know when your systems are normal? Are the Dilithium crystals at their proper temperature and vibrational frequency for this Warp Speed and area of space? Could he be sure he caught every last Tribble, and none are blocking the cooling ducts to the Anti- Matter Drive?

		OPC Unified Architecture infrastructure for the future - 04/09/11 InTech, April 2011 By Thomas Burke OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA) provides the automation industry a tremendous opportunity to gain efficiencies and create new solutions with the seamless interoperability of systems.

		Skid Integration Problems Solved by PLCopen Standards - 03/29/11 Automation.com, March 2011 By PLCopen North America The use of skid mounted equipment has become popular for a number of reasons but they pose some unique automation and control challenges that can be solved by using IEC 61131-3 and PLCopen standards.

		Smart-Energy Consumption via an Open Ecosystem - 03/20/11 Automation.com, March 2011 By Tony Paine, Kepware Technologies Expect in 2011 to see smart grid solutions, smart meters, and a real-time, automated, metering infrastructure (AMI) to be rolled out across the country.

		Pharmaceutical Automation Roundtable (PAR) - 5 Part Article Series - 01/25/11 Automation.com, January 2011 This 5 part article series is based on the recent Pharmaceutical Automation Roundtable (PAR). Automation professionals from leading life sciences companies gathered together to discuss MES, visualization, software development, system life-cycle planning, executive governance, electronic testing, wireless and more.

		Pharmaceutical Automation Roundtable (PAR) - Part 2 - Virtualization & Software Configuration Management - 01/11/11 Automation.com, January 2011 This is the second article in a series that are the result of the annual Pharmaceutical Automation Roundtable (PAR). A PAR member started the discussion by relating their experience deploying Virtual Machine (VM) technology. Then the discussion turned to Software Development Environment & Configuration Management.

		OPC: The next generation - 01/09/11 Control Engineering, December 2010 By Jeanine Katzel Open connectivity through open standards began as a way for suppliers to achieve interoperability from factory floor devices to first-tier visualization applications.

		Multiple flavors of Ethernet - 01/09/11 Control Engineering, December 2010 By Jeanine Katzel The evolution and proliferation of Ethernet has smoothed the path to integrating the automation space, enabling open protocols such as OPC to function optimally.

		Trees and Rings - 12/18/10 Industrial Networking, December 2010 By Ian Verhappen The lower you go in the OSI model, the more failures there are, and 72% of failures occur in the first three layers. These faults include hardware failures, cabling failures, power losses, programming misconfigurations, etc.

		Get closer to history with OPC - 12/12/10 What’s New in Process Technology, November 2010 By Matrikon Offline analysis of historical process data is an integral part of process optimisation and production tracking. OPC helps maximise the return on process history investments by providing a standardised mechanism for collection of real-time process data and by enabling scalable multivendor and distributed historical analysis solutions.

		Look At What Makes OPC Usable - 11/21/10 Automation World, November 2010 By Gary Mintchell OPC, a standard for device communication, has become a widely used technology for communicating data among devices manufactured by many different suppliers.

		OPC UA Adoption Update - 11/21/10 Automated Buildings, November 2010 By Manny Mandrusiak No one is certain where technology trends in BAS will take us in 2011 but one thing is certain: OPC UA will be the protocol of choice in taking data from the field and making it useful information in the cloud.

		Industrial data now in the Cloud - 11/01/10 Automation.com, October 2010 By Bill Lydon Software Toolbox is now providing a cloud-based repository for industrial plant data which can be accessed with web-based clients. Industrial applications using cloud computing are starting to emerge. The IT world has been using cloud computing to lower ongoing support costs and provide greater flexibility.

		Worst Fears Realized - 10/19/10 Control, October 2010 By Nancy Bartels A scary piece of malware named Stuxnet is in town. Remember its name. Its arrival may make you want to change the way you think about control system security.

		The Straight Scoop on OPC and Security - 10/19/10 Control, October 2010 By Roy Kok So you're considering OPC for an application, and with today's concerns over security, you want to make sure your choice is a good one. Is OPC capable? In order to answer that question, we need to ask and answer a few others first.

		OPC: Standardizing Integration of Security and Energy Management - 10/19/10 Control, October 2010 By Eric Murphy Many organizations are putting intelligent infrastructure networks in place that enable them to add systems to make their operations more efficient. The key to integrating these systems, including security and energy management, is the adoption of open standards such as OPC.

		Cimquest INGEAR Finds Eclectic Customer Base to Assist in Automation Automation.com, September 2010 By Thomas R. Cutler I recently interviewed eight distinct companies about technology, efficiency, and automation trends. While the numerator was different, the technology solution selected by each company, the denominator, was remarkably consistent. Each of these individuals interviewed performed one act in common. Each Googled the phrase ".NET PLC driver."

		Energy – How much do we have, how much do we need, and where do we find it? - 08/22/10 Automated Buildings, August 2010 By Manny Mandrusiak, OPC Foundation PROFIenergy is a profile of the PROFINET communications protocol which enables the power consumption of automation equipment in manufacturing (such as robots in auto assembly cells, laser cutters and sub-systems such as paint lines) to be managed over a PROFINET network.

		OPC Xi Overview - 08/22/10 Automated Buildings, August 2010 By Randy Kondor, OPC Training Institute, et al This article briefly compares OPC Xi with Classic OPC and OPC UA, and provides an overview of OPC Xi.

		Getting OPC Security Under Control - 08/13/10 Control, August 2010 By Eric Byres, Byres Security If your company is like most, it will be a while before you can rid your plant of all traces of the DCOM-based OPC. So, until that day, you need to take a serious look at improving the security of your OPC.

		3 Reasons Linux Is Preferred for Control Systems - 07/20/10 Automation.com, July 2010 By Krista Duty, Inductive Automation Linux has long been on the "wishlist" for control systems. Until now, most systems have been locked-in to the Windows operating system due to reliance on classic OPC. The name of the game is changing, however, with the arrival OPC-UA. The new standard was designed for cross-platform compatibility, which makes room for Linux to gain popularity in the automated control industry.

		Visualize One Platform - 07/18/10 Control Design, July 2010 By Jeremy Pollard OPC connects the world, but there is no common graphics standard and no common interface protocols. File formats are so totally different that once you are in, you are in with both feet.

		How will the web influence the next generation of HMIs? Automation.com, July 2010 By Nathan Pocock, et al, OPC Foundation Thanks to OPC UA’s built in web services, corporations can now share critical data securely over mobile devices and to multiple operators via the web. This article illustrates how web services can be used to access the "cloud."

		The power of integration exemplified at ABB A&PW 2010 By Bill Lydon, Automation.com The "Connect, Learn, Succeed" theme of this event was about users forming stronger working relationships with ABB. The event brought the opportunity to connect across disciplines and apply products and knowledge - focusing on the power of integration, particularly between automation and power systems. The event attracted more than 4,000 people and offered more than 400 educational and hands-on sessions and a 100,000 sf. exhibit area.

		Thin Clients Can Eliminate Software Issues - 05/19/10 Control Design, May 2010 By Jeremy Pollard Appications are installed and run from the server, and the clients just need run software such as VNC, VMware client or RDP protocol to connect to the server to use the server-based applications. The applications could range from Open Office to HMI and SCADA software.

		Exercise Control of Software Versions - 05/19/10 Control Design, May 2010 By Frank Riordan The best version-control technology does you no good if you don't have the discipline to follow it consistently.

		Time For Action: When Windows Can't Protect You Automation.com, May 2010 By Torsten Rössel, Innominate Security Technologies The clock is ticking. In a few months, untold numbers of Windows 2000 systems will no longer have access to Extended Support and Security Updates, when these end in July 2010. Nor may there be adequate time for analysis and evaluation of alternatives, decision making, planning, preparation and implementation of a new operating system.

		Time For Action: When Windows Can't Protect You - 04/16/10 IMPO, April 2010 By Torsten Rössel The clock is ticking. In a few months, untold numbers of Windows 2000 systems will no longer have access to Extended Support and Security Updates, when these end in July 2010. Nor may there be adequate time for analysis and evaluation of alternatives, decision making, planning, preparation and implementation of a new operating system.

		OPC - What are my options in 2010? By Manny Mandrusiak, OPC Foundation The OPC Foundation has been receiving a lot of email lately regarding the different technologies that are now offered in the OPC portfolio in 2010. It is very easy to see where individuals could become overwhelmed with the number of options that now exist. Here at the OPC Foundation we have taken steps to bring some clarity to the marketplace by simplifying the OPC message regarding the three core OPC technologies: OPC Classic, OPC Xi, and OPC UA.

		Online Diagnostics: Easy Access - 03/19/10 Industrial Automation Asia, March 2010 By Jim Ralston, ProSoft Technology There are many ways to use wireless RF diagnostic data when made available in an OPC server. The best use is dependent on the process type, how wireless is being used in the system and user needs.

		Just how safe are those 'standards-based' systems in your enterprise? By Nathan Pocock, Director of Compliance, OPC Foundation The OPC Foundation Compliance and Certification program offers different levels of certification. It is extremely important for individuals who purchase this software to understand the rigors that each level of certification requires, and the benefits of those results.

		What is OPC? It is all about the Tag By Nathan Pocock, OPC OPC is still the connectivity standard for Process Control, for ADI, a part of FDI and FDT and STILL the connectivity standard for manufacturing, and PLCs. OPC is a Unified Architecture, and OPC is an Express Interface.

		OPC UA - New Secure, Platform-Independent Standard Offers More Value Bill Lydon recently spoke with Roy Kok of Kepware to gain a better understanding of OPC UA. It is important with new technology to thoroughly understand its advantages so you can gain value and avoid misapplying it. Kepware, founded in 1995, has a great deal of OPC knowledge and knowhow as a leading supplier of OPC software.

		Playing Well with Others - 01/09/10 Control, December 2009 By Walt Boyes Recently, a companion specification to OPC-UA called OPC Analyzer Devices Integration (ADI) was released by the OPC Foundation to provide users with a common method of data exchange for analyzer data models and laboratory, online and at-line analyzers.

		OPC UA: Interoperability Through Evolution - 11/17/09 Automation World, November 2009 By Marty Weil The purpose of OPC has always been to increase the interoperability of industrial automation system components by standardizing communications among them. That purpose remains the same, but OPC UA improves on classic OPC in five important ways.

		Changing the Game: Open Data Integration for PAT - 10/22/09 Pharmaceutical Manufacturing, October 2009 By Dennis McKinley, ABB Now that OPC’s Analyzer Device Integration model is reality, what can we expect?

		The OPC Connection - 09/20/09 Control Engineering Asia, September 2009 By Randy Kondor OPC UA (Unified Architecture) represents the OPC Foundation’s most recent set of specifications for process control and automation system interconnectivity. With all the expanded connectivity that the new OPC UA offers, expect a sharp increase in OPC’s penetration of plants.

		System Integration: FDT plus EDDL, equals FDI - 09/13/09 InTech, September 2009 By Nicholas Sheble Current FDI efforts focus on completing two remaining documents. The first is a functional specification detailing how to combine the benefits of EDDL, FDT, and the OPC Unified Architecture to best effect. The second will be a comprehensive technical specification. Release of the final functional specification will be mid-2010.

		OPC UA Redefines Automation Architectures By Bill Lydon, Automation.com The new OPC UA technology provides an efficient and secure infrastructure for communications - from sensor to business enterprise computing for all automation systems in manufacturing and process control. OPC UA leverages web services to provide a single programming paradigm in a scalable architecture that can be implemented is a range of devices - from embedded to enterprise.

		The myth and magic of OPC - 08/16/09 InTech, August 2009 By Patrick Dixon and Michael Velarde OLE for Process Control is a widely adopted industry standard for communication between applications in a control system: It’s a beautiful thing when it works. Unfortunately, there are times when OPC shows its uglier side.

		Return on Imagination - Honeywell User Group (HUG) 2009 Honeywell Process Solutions continues to grow in a number of dimensions including: additional products, wireless, energy, PLCs, independent system integrator initiatives, and Integrated Master Automation Contractor (IMAC) focus. This year’s attendance was lower than previous years, but David Wade, Honeywell Users Group Americas Chairman, officially opened the HUG 2009 conference commenting that there were more than 50% new attendees.

		Can OPC Bridge the Engineering-IT Divide? - 07/19/09 Automated Buildings, July 2009 Randy Kondor, OPC Training Institute Driven by technology, the IT-Engineering convergence continues to affect control and security systems where they overlap. The contentious and disputed area of intersection between Engineering and IT is also where OPC lives and works.

		New developments in automation software - 07/10/09 South Africa Instrumentation & Control, July 2009 By Andrew Ashton In speaking with some industry experts the feeling was it is the 'same old same old,' but digging beneath the surface there are many significant changes taking place, such as XML, OPC, Automation ML, common tagging, asset management and CAEX.

		Serving Up Object Architectures - 07/09/09 Control, June 2009 By Paul Miller Templates, services and the architectures they fit into are emerging and taking on and extending some of the capabilities first explored by object-oriented programming.

		OPC shows signs of fragmentation Control, May 2009 By Andrew Bond, Industrial Automation Insider The possibility that that the user community could now be faced with not one, but as many as four flavors of OPC — original plain vanilla OPC DA, OPC.NET, full blown OPC UA and, of course, HOPC — should give everyone pause. Those with long enough memories should recall what happened to UNIX.

		Open Systems—Controllers to HMIs Control Design, March 2009 By Dan Hebert Virtually any controller can be connected to just about any Windows-based HMI via Ethernet. If the controller has an Ethernet protocol that requires special hardware, it is relatively cheap and easy to buy an adapter card that plugs into the HMI platform. The OPC communication standard also eases communication between controllers and HMIs.

		Winning Strategies and Best Practices for Sustainable Manufacturing By Bill Lydon, Contributing Editor The initial focus of the ARC Forum in Orlando was sustainable manufacturing strategies as they relate to environmental performance and resource management. Based on the recent economic downturn, the conference was expanded to address strategies for bottom line business sustainability of process and discrete manufacturing companies.

		Rockwell Automation Fair 2008 Review By Bill Lydon, Contributing Editor As usual, the Rockwell Automation Fair was an impressive event with over 11,000 attendees and over 90 Encompass partners. This is a very successful show that creates enormous goodwill and is the most successful control show in North America. Training is becoming a big part of the event and allows users to justify the time and money to attend. Distributor travel packages also make it much easier for users to attend the event.

		Wireless & Networking Dominate ISA EXPO 2008, Product Highlights The emphasis on networked communications whether wired or wireless was visible at the event. We review the ISA Wireless Industrial Automation Standard (SP100) Committee meeting in Houston, which drew a standing-room-only crowd. Other product highlights include: PLC/Programming Learning Package, EtherNet/IP Controller, Single Board Industrial Controller, Remote Eyeballs for Wireless Reading Gauges, Quad Process Safety System, Universal Gas Transmitter and HMI Enhancements.

		OPC Security: Seven Years, Seven Fears - 11/24/08 Automated Buildings, October 2008 By Eric Murphy, MatrikonOPC The first OPC Security specification was released in 2000, and the next major OPC security revision, OPC UA Security, was released in 2007, seven years later. It’s said that a little fear is a good thing. Here are seven security fears every OPC systems owner should consider, and what OPC options exist to soothe them.

		Do PLCs Eliminate Need for a DCS? By Bill Lydon, Contributing Editor In the past it was fairly easy to determine whether a PLC or a DCS was right for an application but in recent years this has become more difficult. It is argued that more powerful PLC products coupled with new software tools provide an integrated process control system rivaling a distributed control system (DCS) for process control applications.

		Automation Insights Network By Rick Zabel, Publisher Automation Insights Network is a select group of controls and automation professionals who agree to help us cover news, emerging trends and technologies on various automation topics. Every two months, we will ask people in the Network to share their observations, knowledge and expertise with us. We take that information, distill it, and pass it on to our reporters and editors for use in future stories.

		Upstairs, Downstairs Control, October 2008 By Bob Sperber In the control arena, all DCS vendors either offer a historian or tie to others, and they are typically installed with a firewall above. This presents problems for OPC, but not for SOA-generation tools such as Web services and XML

		What's Sweet About OPC UA? Automation World, September 2008 By Rob Spiegel While it’s still officially in draft form, OPC UA is already getting adopted in the marketplace. Its individual parts have been released over the past year with the final parts getting released in just the past couple of months.

		ISA - Change the name to represent the industry By Rick Zabel, Automation.com The proposed name change of ISA (to "International Society of Automation") is up for a vote again during ISA Expo in Houston, October 14-16, 2008. Last year, the change was voted down, but I have yet to hear a compelling argument against the change. And there are many reasons for the change. If ISA is truly the global society of automation professionals, then its name should reflect its cause. It's time for a change!

		Open Network Options Control Design, September 2008 By Paul Miller and Joe Feeley OPC Unified Architecture (UA), abandons the Microsoft–based structure of its much-criticized, DCOM-based, OPC DA predecessor and embraces open, vendor-independent Web Services. OPC UA ties together functions from earlier OPC specifications and enables a common services-oriented architecture (SOA) environment.

		PROFIBUS hits new highs, PROFINET to follow? By Bill Lydon, Contributing Editor This year's PTO General Assembly Meeting again was attended by an enthusiastic group of users, suppliers, and distributors that apply PROFIBUS and PROFINET technology. Michael Bryant, Executive Director, was master of ceremonies and forecasted PROFINET will be the leading Ethernet Technology for automation applications.

		State of Manufacturing & Automation in the U.S. Looks Good Could it be that high fuel prices, the weak dollar and crises in the U.S. manufacturing industry are creating opportunities? Andy Chatha of ARC Advisory Group thinks so. He says the U.S. industry has suddenly become competitive on the world market, and companies are no longer moving operations overseas. Instead, many are expanding their facilities, and he predicts a boom in automation right here in the U.S.

		Meet the Next Generation of OPC Sensors, July 2008 By: Tony Paine, Kepware Technologies A new generation of OPC, known as OPC-UA, is upon us. This latest generation of OPC-UA delivers solutions to problems of the past, adds significant new capabilities, and provides a foundation for future developments.

		Honeywell 2008 Users Group - Heroes Gather in Phoenix By Bill Lydon, Contributing Editor The 33rd annual Honeywell Users Group Conference was held June 15 - 19, 2008 at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel in Phoenix, AZ with over 700 customers in attendance. According to Honeywell Vice President/General Manager, "The conferences super hero theme, Power to Perform, highlights the heroic efforts of process industry professionals to perform well despite rising costs and resource constraints."

		Don't judge a supplier by its name By Frank Hurtte, Contributing Author. For those of us who live and breathe the rarified vapors of technology based automation, it's pretty hard to fathom how life existed without electronic automation. Yet, it has been a short 30 years since the venerable PLC became anything more than a novelty outside of the Big 3 in Detroit. Sometime in the late 1970s, microprocessors changed our lives forever. Since those early days, the power of these tiny chips forever changed the way we think about manufacturing.

		What is OPC UA and how does it affect your world? Plant Engineering, May 2008 By Simone Massaro, ICONICS OPC-UA is an important building block that enables users to build the next generation of software automation solutions. With complete backward compatibility ensured, vendors will have much to gain – and nothing to lose – by adopting the new OPC Unified Architecture.

		Regional Manufacturing Expos Prove Most Valuable By Thomas R. Cutler Deciding which conferences, webinars, and expos are worthwhile for manufacturing engineers and buyers to attend often feels like a dangerous yellow brick road, never knowing quite what to expect.

		ABB is powered up and running at high efficiency! By Bill Lydon The products and services shown at ABB Automation World in Houston, Texas along with the enthusiasm of the ABB employees and users would seem to explain why the company’s 1st quarter 2008 earnings beat investment analysts’ consensus by over 40%. The three-day trade show and conference ran from April 29 through May 1 in Houston, Texas. There was a great deal of energy and enthusiasm at the event which showcased ABB products, ABB services, partner products, and over 300 workshops/training sessions.

		The Year of .... OPC-UA Control Engineering Asia, April 2008 The Chinese Year of the Rat also spells launch time for the long awaited OPC-UA specification, and the furry rodent actually has a lot in common with the latest version of the automation system interface standard.

		OPC Interview: OPC Test Lab Certifications By Bill Lydon, Automation.com The OPC Foundation is launching certification labs to ensure a high level of quality and reliability of OPC products. Automation.com’s Contributing Editor Bill Lydon interviewed Tom Burke, OPC Foundation President & Executive Director and Paul Hunkar, Director of Compliance for the OPC Foundation and Consultant engineer for ABB, to learn more about the certification.

		Getting Standards Under One Roof Managing Automation, March 2008 By Stephanie Neil Most application integration has relied on proprietary point interfaces or middleware that multiplies over time, becoming expensive to build and maintain. What many want is one language that can be spoken between the plant floor and enterprise applications. Standards groups are at work. (Registration required)

		Vulnerabilities identified in SCADA systems InfoWorld, May 2007 By Matt Hines The first remotely-exploitable vulnerabilities in Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems have been identified by researchers.

		New study reveals OPC usage may be putting major industries at risk CONTROL, April 2007 A survey of 113 OPC users from Fortune 500 companies show that OPC deployments may be putting industry at risk. Companies are using it for mission critical applications, are allowing access from potentially insecure networks, and don’t understand how to secure OPC properly. The report was produced jointly by security experts at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), Digital Bond and Byres Research.

		How United Architecture Fits Into The Existing World Of OPC The Industrial Ethernet Book, April 2007 By John Weber and Nathan Pocock, Software Toolbox The OPC Foundation has released new OPC Unified Architecture specifications and there's a lot of information out there to absorb. And how does Windows Vista factor into all this?

		Don’t shackle yourself to the wrong platform Chemical Processing, March 2007 By Dane Overfield, Exele Information Systems Today, process data are readily available at many levels, from instrumentation to higher-level data historians and OPC servers. Choosing the right platform can be key to successfully implementing robust and maintainable process calculations at your company.

		OPC UA enables Business Intelligence CONTROL, March 2007 By Eric Murphy, Columnist industry. Business Intelligence (BI) is a popular term describing the result of in-depth analysis of detailed business data from various systems. CRM, ERP, SCM and other competitive technologies all provide data and analysis, but how can these systems be unified into a complete business-wide decision platform? OPC UA offers the promise of unifying individual business units into true enterprise-wide solutions.

		OPC, Modbus and Fieldbus, Oh my CONTROL, March 2007 By Eric Murphy, Columnist Manufacturers are faced with a multitude of protocol choices; OPC, Modbus, Profibus, BACnet, Foundation Fieldbus… the list goes on. The reality is that it is not simply a choice of one protocol versus another. It requires integrating multiple complementary protocols, each with individual strengths, to achieve the goal of a true enterprise system.

		Debunk plant myths about diagnostics Chemical Processing, February 2007 By George Buckbee, ExperTune, Inc Using industry-standard OPC communications, you can pull real-time data directly into the Performance Supervision System. Many plants have already invested in process historians. Most commercially-available process historians support the OPC Historical Data Access (HDA) standard. OPC-HDA allows the gathering of real-time data directly from the historian, with no additional load on the control network.

		Energy saving solutions – Building IT with OPC CONTROL, February 2007 By Eric Murphy, Columnist Often when OPC is used in reference to building automation or management systems, it is in terms of being a protocol. OPC and OPC UA offer the potential for much more. OPC provides the advantages of standardized data connectivity among many isolated systems, and industry-proven applications to turn that data into information, and hence into cost and energy savings.

		Plants get help in boosting reliability Chemical Processing, February 2007 By Mike Spear, editor at large A relatively new interoperability standard, Open O&M, is a collaborative venture between the OPC Foundation, Scottsdale, Ariz., Open Applications Group (OAG), Marietta, Ga., and Machinery Information Management Open System Alliance (MIMOSA).

		Thoughts on the OPC UA Information Model OPC Exchange Blog, February 23rd, 2007 By Eric Murphy A good starting point to understanding what the Information Model might represent, is to think in terms of the OPC Item address space, and Browsing interfaces in OPC DA. The specification described interfaces for viewing and navigating the address space (browse space). It did not dictate how the browse space was built or persisted in the underlying OPC DA COM server

		OPC Exposed Part II at S4 Digital Bond Blog, January 2007 Author: Dale Peterson It is one thing to admit that an OPC server is rarely implemented with even the limited DCOM security. It is an even larger issue to say that an OPC server can be remotely compromised and used to launch attacks on other systems. Since OPC servers are often exposed in the DMZ this could be a communication chain that could allow control system exploitation from the enterprise network or Internet.

		OPC, PNO, FF, HART continue EDDL work Control Engineering -- January 2007 ISA SP104 Committee released Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) "draft for ballot" this fall, part of an effort to adopt generic device description language specified by IEC 61804 for device integration. "The committee wants to work toward the adoption of the IEC 61804 standard as an ANSI/ISA standard," said committee chair Terry Blevins. "We're also committed to provide information that will help users and integrators fully utilize the EDDL interface to support a wide gamut of intelligent devices.

		Case Study: Santee Cooper Santee Cooper’s Rainey Generating Station (RGS) is located near Anderson, South Carolina. RGS is Santee Cooper’s first natural gas fuelled combustion turbine generating plant.

		Accessing Databases Using OPC In any industry, databases are the foundation of many automation applications. Databases are consistently used as a gateway to interface with the outside world, whether to a process optimization application, Computer Maintenance Management System (CMMS), composition analyzer, or a custom, in-house application.

		Maintaining Healthy IT Assets Maintaining Healthy IT Assets using OPC Technology Over the past several years, there have been two significant trends in the industrial marketplace. First, control system vendors are using more Ethernet based communication networks and Microsoft operating systems. Second, many companies have an increased focus towards predictive or condition based maintenance. OPC plays an important role in both trends.

		OPC Consideration for Network Security Cyber security means the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of computers, applications, and digital-based assets. In most organizations, this is the responsibility of the corporate IT group. Unfortunately, whenever IT meets real-time control systems, trouble erupts. So when IT implements different Windows Domains and Firewalls, the first casualty is typically DCOM communication and, consequently, OPC traffic.

		OPC-UA Provides Scaleable Communication between the Plant Floor and Enterprise Craig Resnick, ARC Advisory Group Manufacturers and technology providers recognize the importance of integrating, exchanging, and synchronizing data and information between plant floor systems and enterprise systems. Information about the assets of the plant floor systems needs to be provided to the business applications in the enterprise world, providing real-time information to make effective decisions. Therefore, it is important to understand the OPC Foundation’s Unified Architecture (OPC-UA) functionality and its capability to integrate plant floor systems to the enterprise.

		OPC-UA, Linking the Legacy Craig Resnick, ARC Advisory Group Dealing with multiple generations of automation products is an issue that affects all manufacturers whose plants are not brand new, regardless of revenue, profitability, industry, application or geography. State-of-the art automation products may be continuously added or used to replace legacy automation products wherever an appropriate business case can be made. This creates a big challenge for manufacturers to find a way to not only provide interoperability between plant floor and enterprise, but also to provide a link between multiple generations of legacy automation products. The OPC Foundation is addressing this challenge with their soon to be introduced OPC Unified Architecture, or OPC-UA.

		OPC UA and bridging the chasm By Eric Murphy, Advanced Architecture System Design Engineer, Matrikon As OPC UA begins its approach to the chasm, the infrastructure is is already being laid to ensure it can successfully bridge the gap. OPC UA represents a significant step toward transforming data into information for the enterprise, but that does not mean adopters should have to take a leap of faith to achieve this.

		OPC - the standard that makes other standards interoperable by Jim Pinto, JimPinto.com Standards are intrinsically difficult to implement and adopt. In the industrial automation business, OPC is a unifying standard that allows true interoperability. It needs more end-user support and involvement. End-users want standards because, more than anything else, they provide interoperability and reduce dependence on any specific supplier. For this very reason, suppliers only pretend to support standards, when, in reality, the ones they really promote are those that give them a distinct proprietary advantage.

		OPC UA - How Deep Does Interface Standardization Go? by Eric Murphy, MatrikonOPC Prior to OPC UA, the most common complaint has been that existing OPC standards are primarily COM based. OPC UA is a service based, cross platform solution, and no longer so Microsoft centered. There are other criticisms that OPC does not do enough to mandate security, configuration, and providing a unified address space or defined item ‘mapping’. Where does the line get crossed from a general interface specification that is open, interoperable and flexible without sacrificing usability, to one that is specialized, rigidly defined and highly integrated?

		OPC Tunneling Eliminates Setup Headaches From the shop floor to the top floor, OPC is the preferred communication standard for sharing process control data at all levels of the enterprise. But as OPC pours into mainstream acceptance, integrators are finding configurations where OPC can be a hindrance to the panacea of plug-and-play application interconnectivity. The most common situation occurs when applications on different Windows domains must communicate with each other. Still, other designs call for the use of low-bandwidth or unreliable networks. It is in these setups that OPC can make use of new “tunneling” technology, which eliminates the biggest OPC headache for integrators: setting up DCOM.

Automation.com Real-time Information for the Automation Professional Feb. 06, 2012

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