Representatives from Cogent once again attended the OPC Interoperability Workshop in Japan, marking the sixth time the company has participated in these events, where leading vendors come together to ensure their products work effectively together and to certify they meet the various OPC specifications. The OPC DataHub passed all OPC server and client tests for connectivity with products from ABB, Citect, Digital, Fuji, OMRON, Takebishi, Toshiba, Yokogawa, and others, and was awarded the official "OPC Self Tested" certificate.

The first series of tests paired each vendors' OPC servers or clients in direct one-to-one configurations, to make sure both sides connected properly and exchanged data effectively. As expected, the OPC DataHub performed extremely well and correctly interfaced with all the available servers and clients. Then the rigor of the tests increased as the OPC DataHub was connected to all of the available OPC servers at the same time, and the network connection was repeatedly disconnected to simulate a network failure. Each time the network was broken, the OPC DataHub handled the interruption by maintaining the last known point values from each server. When the connection was re-established, the OPC DataHub promptly reconnected to each OPC server, reread the data set, and began receiving updates.

In addition to these, the OPC DataHub was run through the OPC Foundation's 'poorly-behaving' client and server tests. OPC Foundation representatives connected the OPC DataHub to programs that are deliberately designed to exhibit highly disruptive behaviour, pushing the tested program to the limits. The OPC DataHub proved it could handle all of these potentially dangerous program connections effectively, and remained stable and responsive throughout.

On the final evening of the workshop, participants celebrated their achievments and formed new friendships over a traditional Japanese meal. "The technical expertise of our hosts was exceeded only by their hospitality and generosity," said Andrew Thomas, President of Cogent. "We look forward to the opportunity to return next year."

In two recent projects, Italy’s ABB Energy Automation has developed a control solution that feeds data from power plant facilities directly to corporate offices—in real time—using the OPC DataHub. A key requirement was to provide a highly secure means of data transmission, with the minimal risk of break-ins. The OPC DataHub tunneling solution they have implemented establishes a secure, reliable connection between the power plant and corporate networks.

"Customers are very sensitive about security these days since they need to exchange information on the web," said Mr. Michele Mannucci, ABB Project Engineer. "We had OPC servers on our equipment, but found that using DCOM for networking was too risky. It required us to open too many ports in our firewalls. For us, this OPC tunnel is very good, because we only need to open one port, and we are secure from DCOM break-ins."

A live demo, Viewing Production Data in a Web Browser, is scheduled for Friday, July 25th at 10:00 a.m. EDT.  In this demonstration you will see how the OPC DataHub can be used to show OPC Server, DDE, ODBC database, and PC System information in web pages from a standard desktop PC.

The presenter will be Mr. Colin Winchester from Software Toolbox, Cogent's North American sales and technical partner. Note: For this and future live demos, the audio portion will be sent over the Internet, so you don't need to use your telephone. Also: You must register at least one hour before the starting time. You can click here to register. Times worldwide:

If you have difficulty attending at that time, don't worry. The presentation will be recorded and made available soon.