“My customers are not assembly plants where everything is within easy reach,” says Robert Finley, the project manager of a systems integration company serving the dairy industry. “I have farms scattered across the whole country,” he adds with a wide gesture of his hands. “And I need to talk to every one of them once or twice every day. But here is the problem,” he continues, leaning forward, “I need to talk to them only when they are ready to talk to me!”Finley is a typical innovator. Behind his calm demeanor and the ever-present smile, he is a hard-charging engineer. When his company took on the task of creating an automated system to collect reports from remote dairy farms for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) compliance, he went to work. The result is a well-designed central data collection and remote recipe management system.Finley’s newly designed system uses the MBX OPC Server Suite from Cyberlogic, based in Troy, Mich., for remote, unsolicited data collection. It allows his customers to monitor remote dairy farms with no need to poll for data. “When you have such widely dispersed autonomous data centers and a low volume of transmission, unsolicited communications is essential to your design,” he says with authority. “And Cyberlogic has delivered an off-the-shelf solution that works very well for that purpose.” “OPC was crucial in allowing us to pick the right data server,” says Finley, “And Cyberlogic’s OPC software allows us to do unsolicited messaging with an unlimited number of remote nodes concurrently. Now that’s powerful stuff, because we never know when or how many farms may call in at any given time.”“The amazing thing is,” adds Finley, “all this PLC [programmable logic controller] data from miles away is coming across the Internet!”Choosing a Solid FoundationCyberlogic is the leading independent supplier of OPC Servers and industrial communication software, with more than 100,000 copies shipped to 130 countries. Cyberlogic OPC Server Suites are integrated, all-in-one products. Their built-in unsolicited messaging feature allows the configuration of an unlimited number of nodes that can initiate unsolicited data transmission, eliminating the need for polling for data. The built-in reliability features allow the configuration of an unlimited number of redundant networks and redundant data sources. Cyberlogic’s OPC Servers include a Health Monitor that continuously verifies the operation of each network and data source, automatically switching to backups when there is a problem. All components of Cyberlogic OPC Server Suites are developed by Cyberlogic, and all required device drivers are integrated into the Suites. The products do not require any third party add-ons.Free Development LicensesCyberlogic delivers free licenses for its OPC servers and communication drivers to systems integrators under a program called the Cyberlogic Developer Network, or DevNet. This program allows each person with a DevNet license to use the software for development, test, support and demonstration purposes. The Cyberlogic DevNet program is offered worldwide, and qualified systems developers can apply for a DevNet subscription at Cyberlogic’s website. Joining DevNet is also free.Find out more about Cyberlogic OPC Server Suites and DevNet at www.cyberlogic.com.
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