Constant development of technologies and expansion of industrial automation contribute to operational efficiency and increase productivity. For instance, if continuously obtaining data from various devices, operators will be timely informed about the equipment status and get recommendations on malfunction rectification, equipment replacement, and prevent downtime using analytical maintenance systems. To arrange such a system, first of all, it is required to collect data from terminal devices and forward it to analytical systems.
Usually, terminal equipment can use multiple interfaces and different protocols that causes some difficulties for engineers. For over 30 years, MOXA company creates communication concepts and has designed a solution for easy connection of COM port devices to a cloud, using its practices in the field of Ethernet to COM port converters.
Connecting COM devices to an Ethernet-based network requires special knowledge. Furthermore, the development of industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and convergence of CAM and IT demand more and more devices to be connected, making communication difficult. Eventually, engineers face three major challenges: providing reliable connectivity, strengthening devices safety and facilitating device manageability.
Connectivity
Connecting field devices of different types into a single network is a complicated task, as is the integrating various protocols into a common local system or a cloud.
Security
Although getting ever greater amount of data can help engineers to use the equipment more efficiently, it also provides more opportunities for attackers.
Manageability
It is easy to manage several field devices, but what to do if they number thousands? This complicates the device management and diagnostics.
Connecting COM devices to Ethernet network
When using the right solution on the basis of NPort serial device servers or MGate gateways, connecting a number of various devices with COM port becomes easy. Based on 30 years of expertise, MOXA offers the following:
Connecting different types of devices
You can connect devices with standard or proprietary protocols.
Easy to use
Intuitive interface simplifies the equipment configuration.
Industrial reliability
The industrial design ensures reliable operation in harsh environments.
Connecting COM devices to a cloud
MOXA offers solutions for connection of COM devices directly to a cloud.
Converters of NPort IA5000A-I/O, NPort IAW5000A-I/O series and gateway MGate 5105-MB-EIP support integration with Alibaba Cloud IoT Platform, Azure IoT Hub or a private cloud over a MQTT protocol.
NPort IA5000A-I/O and NPort IAW5000A-I/O converters allow not only transmitting raw data from a COM port, but also managing the embedded digital input-output channels. Data is transmitted over a MQTT protocol in JSON format. See for more details on the setup.
| NPort with Ethernet | |
|---|---|
| NPort IA5150A-12I/O | NPort IA5150A-6I/O |
| NPort IA5250A-12I/O | NPort IA5250A-6I/O |
| NPort with Wi-Fi | |
| NPort IAW5150A-12I/O-EU | NPort IAW5150A-6I/O-EU |
| NPort IAW5250A-12I/O-EU | NPort IAW5250A-6I/O-EU |
Gateway MGate 5105-MB-EIP allows obtaining data via Modbus RTU/ASCII, Modbus TCP, EtherNet/IP protocols simultaneously and transmitting it to the cloud. See documentation for more information on the gateway setup.
Security features
Don’t let security problems hinder you from transmitting data from the field devices to the management system. Such MOXA’s solutions as NPort and MGate provide the extended security features as per IEC 62443 standard, so you can transmit your data without any worries.
Mass device management
Now, you are free from a problem of managing a large number of devices. MOXA offers tools for mass device management, for instance, MXconfig (Video) with an intuitive GUI, or with a CLI. See user manuals and specifications of equipment under the correspondent links: NPort IA5000A-I/O, NPort IAW5000A-I/O and MGate 5105-MB-EIP.
For further information and for the orders please contact our sales team sales@ipc2u.com
