The future is not in the clouds

The future is not in the clouds; it’s already here says Stuart Hannah of HMS Industrial Networks, but few engineers and other potential users understand what cloud computing can do for them:

 Engineers can be a conservative lot, particularly when they are responsible for the organisation’score systems and assets. They often fight shy of new technologies, waiting to see others use them first, and it is becoming clear that they are currently missing out on the advantages of cloud computing.  As management pressure increases for engineers to deliver more for less, cloud computing may provide some of the answers. So just what is meant by cloud computing; how will it affect users, and what are the advantages over conventional alternatives?

The term cloud computing simply relates to the Internet.  It comes from the way it is depicted graphically, typically as a cloud diagram. More specifically it relates to how services such as infrastructure, applications and business processes can be delivered on demand via the Internet.

One example is the provision of software as a service (SaaS) to deliver software applications via a standard web browser.  This means that software such as general office desktop applications and associated data are not resident on your PC, but are hosted remotely and accessed over the Internet using a web browser.  It uses a different business model, where you don’t buy the software and server hardware you lease it, paying only when you use it, or by the volume of data stored. 

The benefit is that you can remotely access all your site information from any suitable browser with Internet access.  Not just your word processor but your accounting package, building management systems, or ERP, in fact almost anything.

As these services are provided via the Internet they are scalable (both up and down), reliable, are easily accessible, and they can complement or replace the user’s own IT infrastructure. Importantly, new applications can betrialled, deployed and shared quickly and easily. The benefits include reduced investment, simplified maintenance and optimisedplant operation. Decision making and implementation can also be faster as there is no capital expenditure needed.

External servers, virtual servers, storage and other on-demand services are available to support and back-up existing functions and can often reduce the need for new/additional infrastructure investment. Cloud computing offers other opportunities such as providing an external service platform (also referred to as ‘platform as a service’) on which to build or run/host applications which may be too complex to implement internally. They can also be used to provide new external services to customers, with the benefit of not needing access to internal IT infrastructure from either side.

One growing demand for the use of cloud computing is for remote monitoring of plant and equipment. It is becoming increasingly important for engineers to monitor and manage critical plant in order to improve up-times and reduce maintenance costs, and this can be especially important when plants are geographically widely spread. A simple solution may be to add a web server to your plant in order to view the data via the Internet, although this can leave the plant vulnerable to hackers. However, by using the SaaS model delivered over the clouds, risks and vulnerabilities are removed.

The remote monitoring of plant does not apply only to fixed installations.  Potentially any vehicle or equipment with an electrical power source can be monitored, have data exchanged, and even GPS tracking enabled. Communication with remote monitoring devices is available through a range of options. These include quad band GSM/GPRS mobile communications and Ethernet TCP/IP connectivity via LAN/WAN. Typically, the monitoring devices use serial communications such as RS-232 and RS-485 for connecting to local plant: Modbus RTU and other popular open or proprietary network protocols may also be available.

 Delivering remote plant-wide visualisation

Establishing a secure and reliable communication path over the Internet requires solving a number of technical challenges such as, firewalls and public IP addresses.  Rather than using complex and expensive solutions to install and manage this such as VPN, special M2M SIM cards etc. HMS’s new Netbiter Argos 3 has been developed to provide a simpler firewall friendly solution. This enables the user to focus on the plant issues without the needs for specialist IT skills, or calling on others to address the extensive Internet, firewall, GPRS/APN configurations.

Using cloud based architecture, the secure online data centre automatically gathers and stores both site and equipment data from the remote communication gateways at intervals specified by the user. Through the remote server users can access their industrial installations, machines and devices from anywhere in the world.  The information the user is viewing is effectively a mirror site in real-time on the secure server.

In addition to basic reporting, the Netbiter servers provide a browser based graphical dashboard/user interface to view the plant data. This enables users to quickly and easily create a graphical layout of their remote installation. The dashboard includes functions for loading pictures into the layout, analogue and digital graphical components (such as gauges, meters, indicators, etc.), which makes it possible to detail a remote system with a visual layout that is easy to understand. Where appropriate GPS data makes it possible to view the location of each device in the field on an overview map (using Google maps) and the system also lets you build multiple installations.

Access to the server information means users can log historical data and produce graphical trends or diagnostics, manage alarms, or automatically backup or restore remote configurations. Although not originally conceived as a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) package, the functionality exists to easily configure one. The data can also be accessed by the users own ERP system for further analysis and reporting.

Security of data and access

Moving data off-site raises concerns over both its security and availability. By using special firewall friendly communications between the remote communication gateways and the data centre makes it possible to keep existing broadband security infrastructure at the customer’s site. This procedure is accepted by almost all IT departments and gives confidence that the installation is secure from a security perspective.

Data storage is rigorously protected as the remote server/data centre is automatically backed up, so the risk of losing data, or downtime due to access problems with the server areminimised. Data centresrun on professional enterprise-class architecture that is designed to support both small and large-scale deployments. They provide 24/7 monitoring of the server health, redundant servers at different geographical locations, redundant storage, and protection against fire, theft and similar eventualities.

To ensure the security of wireless communications over GPRS, dedicated SIM cards can be selected. These mean that it is not possible to ping or try to access the remote site except through the data centre and also avoids unnecessary and costly GPRS traffic. If however the system does not need this added security normal data enabled SIM cards can be used.

Access to the online system is centrally controlled and requires password authentication. Multi-level password layers are used to provide permissions to access different functions, and the server authenticates users and ensures their correct access levels. Password activity is logged by the server, and all communications are secured using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption. This is the same method banks use for secure online transactions.

Typical adopters have been machine monitoring and analysis, building automation and monitoring, monitoring tank farms, pump and pumping stations monitoring, and monitoring renewable energy sites. Mobile communications via GSM and GPRS mean that monitoring even the smallest sites is viable.

The costs are subscription based and reflect the functions required. One subscription is used together with each Netbiter gateway, and it is possible to host up to three remote gateways in one account with the free subscription option. Cloud based services may not be the answer to all manufacturing issues, but its secure performance and potential to reduce investment costs is likely to have a huge impact.

Most people are comfortable with online banking for checking their assets and transferring money from one place to another, so maybe remote management of our business assets is not such a big a leap into the unknown.