OPC UA info

I just ran into this article dated May of last year. Simone Massaro of Iconics describes the direction that they went with OPC UA development. It's a bit technical, but a good read.

http://www.plantengineering.com/article/talkback/183110-What_is_OPC_UA_and_how_does_it_affect_your_world_.php

Is anyone buying this? Really...?

I stumbled across this article that, quite honestly, at first pissed me off. After a little reflection, I can only laugh. It reminds me of someone trying too hard to sell those $150, short gold plated digital Monster audio cables - Oxygen free or whatever. (If the engineer inside you doesn't laugh, then cry for the sake of the suckers, read on).

Maybe I read in to far, but I see snakeskin oil vendors grasping for air! The piece is an obvious response to Steve Hechtman's very different article on the same topic (hosted on Control Engineering) - he should be flattered. You see, the big vendors, GE Faunc in this case, but the exact same applies to Wonderware and Rockwell have been long committed to the concept of Historians, a glorified and expensive datalogger that includes, and is only meant to work with, a custom version of Microsoft SQL Server (of all product choices...). The problem is that now much cheaper products from companies like Inductive Automation and Software Toolbox can do a better job using any RDBMS (database) system. Being vendor-neutral, inexpensive add-on packages also do much better for things like trending, reporting, and data analysis. The biggest mistake of the current generation of Historian is that they tried to implement and include everything themselves - like making a giant Swiss Army knife with a spork, usb memory stick, and a wine glass. Now they're caught with their pants down, desperately scrambling to recovery their enourmous sunk costs (my favorite business term).

• You're data is special and requires "plantwide historian" treatment...their example query “What was today’s hourly unit production average compared to where it was a year ago or two years ago?”. I won't even comment...

• Your database needs to speak specialized industrial protocols (OPC) - There's separation of function by design and for a reason. Besides - this doesn't even make sense.
• Faster speeds and higher data compression - no way! The historian is wasting CPU cycles in both directions, which obfuscates your data (can no longer use external applications), to do something better achieved by a RDBMS system that supports it.
• Robust redundancy for high availability - is this a joke? Maybe Amazon.com should migrate their server farms over to GE-flavor SQL Server.
• Enhanced data security - another losing battle for the historian. The white paper mentions SQL injection attacks - all platforms in question can use stored procedures, and are all subject to this sort of attack. When it comes to up to date patching, arguably the most common vulnerability, SCADA vendors have the absolute worst track record! IT keeps their servers patched as a matter of practice - they're typically afraid to touch the SCADA machines. Ultimately, the "do everything" approach provides many attack vectors.
  

I can't blame them for playing their hand. I just wonder - will anyone read this white paper and take it at face value?

SCADA security and cyberspace threats

I probably sound like a broken record by now, but SCADA security is not going anywhere. This applies to almost anything electronic that is connected to a network.

Due to the nature of the systems, and the fact that they most often can't be easily patched, it's becoming increasingly important to choose standards based products/technology and protect your network infastructure. It's imperative to mitigate risk where you can!

In recent news - military arming for cyber warfare. This blog post commenting on hacking infastructure.

Matrikon and Wurldtech Cooperative

Wurldtech Security Technologies has committed to apply their Achilles testing technology and certification methodology to Matrikon's OPC products. Successful completion will place the Matrikon OPC Tunneller and servers at the top of my recommendation list. This is a big plus for the world of SCADA security! Now, if only we could do something about our legacy systems...

Wurldtech blog announcement and press release.

The Risks Digest

I stumbled upon the "Risks Digest - Forum On Risks To The Public In Computers And Related Systems" from another blog post. Some of the stories certainly made me laugh - I spent way too much time there!

An interesting conversation with a traveller in Bali

I had an interesting poolside conversation with "Jeff" at a resort in Bali. He works for Juniper networks, setting up core networks for huge accounts overseas. He told me of the $400 million project in Malaysia that will go on for the next 3 years, and about his project in Brazil. He said that he's gotten used to the long flight back that he takes monthly, but hey, how bad could business class be? More importantly he mentioned that Cisco's IOS is outdated - that engineers left there after being turned away with (then) cutting edge ideas of using ASICS (specialized integrated circuits as opposed to generalized processors) in routers. They maintain a monsterous market share and provide lots of enterprise services (like voice and conferencing over IP). It was weird to hear him refer to enterprise accounts as the small ones (compared to major telecoms and infastructure).

Poking into Jeff's past revealed a masters degree in Electrical Engineering, a CCIE certification about 10 years ago (distinguish youself - don't mess around with the little ones, he said), and "various others". I guess he did some defense contracting at the Pentagon earlier as well. But I got the usual, "certs and education get you in the door...specialize and learn the industry to move up" explanation.

So why mention any of this here? It's all about infrastructure! First, it used to surprise me that I get a 100 megabit Internet connection at home in Korea. That's not fast in terms of network equipment and Korea is on the cutting edge. Heck, I'm getting 700k at the resort in Bali! He was talking about OC768 (40 gigabit) core routing equipment in Malaysia! There's plenty of fiber under the ocean! We, the US, have piles of legacy equipment that we're dealing with. These new countries coming online get to engineer their solutions properly and deal with the latest and greatest! Mr. Obama - if you're reading this, I think investing in our digital infastructure would make a great part of the stimulus package! Our industrial control networks will benefit from such upgrades.

Getting the most out of your SCADA system

I literally visited Inductive Automation the day before Gary Mintchell did. I didn't get the opportunity to meet him, but I did get a glimpse of his insight. He quoted the company as a "database company" - as a foundation, which is an insightful perspective.

Here's what occurred to me - I've been involved in big projects and small projects, private sector, government, and military running a variety of platforms. Does anybody have issues creating a tinker toy HMI with a few setpoints and graphics that change color? I really doubt it. Which vendor would I recommend for that? Who cares - they all do it. That's what Walt refers to about the commodization of HMIs.

So what's valuable and where are we failing? My top choice, and they are together, are "customizability and interoperability", something we tend to suck at. Suppose I asked, "how much power have we used so far this month". I'd likely get, "I donno - but you can figure it out if you keep a log of readings from that meter". Or - "what's the status on that shipment we sent out last week"? It's available on the Fedex/USPS web site. But why not on our information/SCADA system? Isn't that what web services is all about? Who are we kidding - we have enough issues migrating/tying in our legacy systems. I bundled "customizability and interoperability" together because the point is to be able to tie your system to others easily. Managers shouldn't have to buy hardware and large amounts of integration services to make their systems work for them.

Great! So how does this work? The key is being able to pass data - through standardization. This is where technologies like OPC (UA) and web services come in. But another huge, often overlooked method is using SQL databases. Most applications, and nearly all business systems use them natively. You want to know anything about your process - inventory, QA, for example - past or present. That should be available in your SCADA system. It's a great connection point, provided that it's flexible, which is Inductive Automation's strength. Get that SCADA vendors - hint, hint - step away from the custom Microsoft SQL Server implementations! The royalties are great, but nobody belives that you need them for performance. Besides databases are useful for other reasons than being a historian! It's not hard to support Oracle, MySQL, DB2 and others - just swallow your pride and old company lines.

How do you get your existing or legacy system to interoperate with others? Simple, OPC <-> SQL database bridges exist for that purpose.

OPC Interoperability Conference, UA and Java

In the spirit of catching up with my backlogged blogging (recent personal Japan trip from January), I'll post about a few topics that I missed.

I had a chance to visit old friends at Inductive Automation. They gave me a demonstration of the working Java OPC UA stack that they unveiled back in the beginning of March, at the North American OPC Interoperability conference. The "test program" was a slick AJAX web page that browsed, read, and wrote tags to an AB SLC with no noticable delay.

The Java UA stack is significant for a number of reasons. First, the UA spec is notional. I'd guess that the OPC Foundation hoped, but didn't really expect, to see it implemented independently - at least not right off. (*a Java stack on their C/C++ implementation is planned with a pure jave stack in the dreamy future) - (*correction again - Randy Armstrong points out in a comment that a Java stack is currently available). This leads to the second point about Java being platform and Operating System independent - everything supports the Java Virtual Machine these days. The point is that we have millions of users across continents and lots of reasons to seek Windows alternatives. I'd bet that there's a dissociated army of programmers in the industrial space who are doing their own thing, but would jump on a standards based bandwagon. That's really what our industry needs for: efficiency, simplicity, and cost savings. The idea being that everything "speaks OPC UA" so historically dissimilar hardware, appliances, and applications can talk with ease - securely.

Which brings me to something I heard about at the conference. Reportedly, the UA guys were asked to go home the first day so that all the legacy apps could be set up. This makes me laugh and wince simultaniously! It's not uncommon for a room full of experts to spend an afternoon getting two nodes to talk to each other - it's all about Windows DCOM security, which is equally painful as it is full of gaping vulnerabilities. At the point where you're communicating with a friend, a third party can't see either.

New standards are a funny thing - everyone knows they're coming, everyone knows they'll benefit from them, but you're not ready to commit until the next guy has. Kudos to Inductive Automation for getting the ball rolling. Kudos to Kepware and Iconics for the same. Siemens has comitted to an entire product line! Wonderware's been talking the talk, as has Rockwell (both in 2006). Here's to them coding away in their secret labs! Don't believe me - here's a video of how great and mature OPC UA really is, complements of Eric Murphy of Matrikon! It's a riot - I promise :)!

Using Open Standards in Water and Wastewater

I hadn't expected to be blown away by Inductive Automation's Using Open Standards, web-based modern SCADA technology to manage your water operations webinar, but the collection of speakers and content was phonomenial!

Don Pearson, the moderator, opened up with a brief presentation on federal 'relief' monies specific to water and wastewater. Henry Palechek presented trends that he's taken Helix Water District of San Diego through from their $2 mil VAX system, to their $350k Wonderware system, to their existing FactoryPMI system. He had a lot of interesting insight into the decision process and business ramifications of his choices. The transcript can be read here (you can also listen to a recording of the interview from the webinar).

Patrick Callaghan of MCS Integrations then presented a system integrators prospective. He showed off a live system (which, by the way, made me unnecessarily nervous) that he wrote for the City of Largo Vista in Texas. His setup was INCREDIBLE!!! Operators run around with tablet PCs, connected via VPN over the cell network. Everything looked sharp and screens were linked together intuitively. He had screens where he could create groups of operators on the fly that recieve alarms at different intervals until they're acknowledged. He showed generic tanks and valves that would display different values based on their types, but used the same objects/windows. This included animation based on setpoints (levels in a tank), an alarm history, trends, and even a custom note field that would record the operator/date_time and create an overlay icon on the main screen that showed the existence of a note. The trend screen allowed you to create, save, and edit arbitrary groups of pens. He had all sorts of reports autogenerated that operators needed to generate, and had an integrated pdf library of the ones they had to fill out by hand. It's hard to fully describe how sweet his SCADA package is - it seemed more to me like the product of a $1mil well written custom application that was tailored to the client. I've never seen such a thing from Wonderware, Rockwell, GE, or the others.

That webinar was fantastic! I'll keep my eyes open for more.

Cheating in Online Poker

I just got back from a Las Vegas weekend trip. The poker gods were good on the cheapest ($1/2) tables Bellagio had to offer. My hourly return wasn't impressive, but I had a great time chatting with a variety of gamblers.

One particular story clung. A player said that his "friend" got a chance to witness someone "win" $13k in one night cheating at online poker. I'm not too impressed with the usual tactics, run a background application to gather statistics on opponents or even the recent Absolute Poker cheating scandal. This one caught my attention because it was so simple, yet incomprehensible to catch. You could multiply the benefit with automation/a program, but that's not necessary.

The scam involved playing 5 of 6 simultanious accounts at an online poker table. It shouldn't take a superstar to see that you could easily squeeze out single unsuspecting victims. You could even use a program to obtain more accurate odds since you see 1/5 of the deck. Connection details seemed obvious. I would use proxy services to route via different cities around the world, consistent from each account. The crux of the scam lies in the fact that you can easily create throw away identities - violating the security pricipal of integrity, that you can verify that someone is who they claim. Online gaming sites do monitor IP addresses (defeated with proxies) and users who constantly collaborate. However, you'd be pretty hard to spot with a pool of accounts that get used for short time periods.

What about the penalty if you do get caught? I can't imagine playing multiple online poker accounts getting you in as much trouble as stealing...

The best protection brings inconvenience - closely couple user accounts with real people. That requires you to give up all the personnal info that you don't want to share: valid ID, bank accounts, SSNs, etc. As an online player I'd feel much more safe if the site required heavy verification. Then again, I only play online for "points".

Doesn't Cyber Security Deserve a Stimulus? - Wurldtech

A perspective worth reading - http://www.wurldtech.com/blog/?p=119

And another - Walt, I don't agree with every detail, but the message is spot on!

http://www.controlglobal.com/articles/2005/397.html

CISSP at last!

I've had Shon Harris' All-in-One CISSP book on my shelf for years. I've taken it on long drives and flights without so much as cracking the pages of that great volume. It finally took a week long class and the discipline to study before I was ready to commit. I took the six hour plunge in December and recently found out that I'm officially a "Certified Information System Security Professional". Yay!

The real significance is embodied by standards organazations and my new professional community. It's all about the articles, networking, and even the new forum that I already spend too much time on. My goal is to continue to push good security practice in the Industrial (SCADA, HMI, controls) space.

Opinion: Do you need a $60,000 process historian to log data? (Control Engineering)

Interesting article featured on Control Engineering

-- Control Engineering, 3/26/2009
Steve Hechtman, Inductive Automation

I wish to register a complaint. There is a rumor that has been circulating for years that relational databases are too slow for fast process data and that only process historians are up to the job. Vendors of process historians will cite sluggish performance and the lack of data compression as the reasons standard off-the-shelf relational databases won’t work. Apparently the last time they used a SQL relational database was a few decades ago.

While there may be some specialized domains where process historians have a niche, they are not a practical choice for most industrial applications. In effect, historian vendors are saying your Toyota Camry is inappropriate transportation because it is incapable of going 180 mph or finishing the quarter mile in under 10 seconds.

The rumor denigrating relational databases for poor throughput is baseless. A standard, off-the-shelf Microsoft SQL Server coupled with FactorySQL can log in excess of 100,000 tags per second using a desktop machine. In all likelihood, other factors such as the industrial network would become bottlenecks before the database does. Furthermore, today’s generation of SQL relational databases are designed to scale gracefully to power high-volume Website traffic, whose load peaks dwarf those of industrial controls applications.

Data compression is an area where process historians do score a point. However, even this consideration can be handled with standard off-the-shelf SQL relational databases. Take a look at the MySQL 5.0 Archive Storage Engine which achieves on average a four to one compression ratio. Proprietary process historians may beat that, but let’s get back to the point of practicality. Hard disk space is so cheap these days that even considering this point is becoming an anachronism. For the rare application that demands it, table compression coupled with intelligent data logging allow databases to compete even in this regard.

One crucial question that process historian vendors omit is: what are IT departments willing to support? When I make initial contact with IT folks, I always ask which relational database they use. Then I assure them we’ll work with that. This generally makes them very happy. Believe me, you want IT on your side or your project will end up on a data island which is useless in an enterprise system. Think of it from their point view; they have the training and tools, generally, to support just one type of database. With these tools and training they can support the database with scheduled backups, tuning and other maintenance.

Okay, we’ve heard process historian rants about relational databases; let’s talk about the downside of process historians. Let’s start with support. Just check the Amazon bookstore for any one of the proprietary process historians and you’re likely to come up empty handed. On the other hand, check for “SQL configuration” and you’ll come up with hundreds of books. How about finding people to support these proprietary systems? Good luck.

Then there is the concern about supporting relational data with a process historian. Frankly, the middleware layer is all about relational data. Time-series data, which is what process historians deal with, is just a fraction of what is needed in the middleware layer. Correlating batches, shifts, inventory, orders, downtime, quality, etc., is purely relational in nature, and these are the features that today’s enterprise integration projects demand.

What about a cost comparison? The process historian is going to be ten to thirty times the cost of a relational database using a driver like FactorySQL depending on the number of tags required. The controls industry is still backwards on this point and prefers to price its software per tag as though the extra tags cost money to manufacture.

In summary, we’re talking about practical choices. The Ferrari may be great fun, but do you need a $500,000 vehicle to drive the kids to school or would the Camry suffice? Likewise, do you need a $60,000 process historian to log data? A relational database makes a great historian, but the reverse isn’t true. A process historian cannot process relational data. For the vast majority of systems, a relational database has more than enough power to service the historical and relational data requirements, making it not just the practical, but the wise choice.

SCADA cyber security

Wurldtech is all about SCADA security - I'm pretty sure their labs released the Wonderware and Citect exploits. They have a vulnerability database called Achilles Delphi. Not to mention their very cool looking Satellite test device. 

http://www.wurldtech.com/

Google Chrome

Google just released a Beta version of their browser - Chrome. Never thought I'd drop Firefox so quickly. First day and it seems killer. 

Wonderware selects Kepware as endorsed partner for expanding device communications offerings

Wonderware selects Kepware as endorsed partner for expanding device communications offerings. They're offering a branded version of KepServer Ex as "Kepware for Wonderware".

This move leads me to wonder if Kepware plans on supporting Archestra or if Wonderware made the intelligent decision of "3rd partnering" OPC connectivity. The latter makes sense since Kepware supports such a wide variety of devices, and, frankly, is so much better at device drivers than Wonderware.

Rockwell did it, why not Wonderware. I'm a fan of collaboration and standardization. Sounds good to me.

http://www.pandct.com/media/shownews.asp?ID=18531

Java VM on way for the iPhone

Su-weet! You know what this means!? FactoryPMI on an iPhone or iTouch. What a cool idea! Unfortunately, they're currently only developing the ME (Micro Edition), which may only contain a subset of the necessary JVM.

It's good to see this level of commitment from Sun. Java is moving forward without support from Apple in this arena. It reinforces the applicability that Java is powerful on the cutting edge in the client/UI arena, not just with Servers/web applications!

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/07/sun-iphone-java_1.html

update - Walt Boyes is talking about an SPC application for the IPhone on his blog.

Political Campaign Video

Couldn't believe that I followed the link on a forum post. This video equitably knocks everyone, and it's damned funny.

Remember to vote in November!

http://sendables.jibjab.com/sendables/1191/time_for_some_campaignin

Free AB Linux data logger

WebDock has been running a highly capable Linux version (60k transactions/min) in a plant since 2000. It works with Allen Bradley Ethernet PLC 5s and SLCs. I haven't had a chance to try it, so I'd appreciate, and will update this post with, feedback. Be warned, of course, that you get no promises, support, etc. That said, awesome! Maybe someone will put the project on Slashdot and get it moving!

Product Page
Download link
PLCS.net post

Dell Serious About Ubuntu: Launches First Consumer Linux PCs

From Toms Hardware News. Pretty self explanatory.

As an aside, you get real *interesting results doing a Google image search for Ubuntu Linux - crazy Hot European Computer geek chicks ;-). Link on a blog post covering it (may not want to click at work or with children or the wife around).

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/dell-linux-ubuntu-laptop,5932.html

What does it take to get a PC with XP?

Industrial software users always seem to dependent on old operating systems. Browse the PLC forums and you'll quickly realize everyone's asking about XP and complaining about Vista. This article provides good info on the Major PC vendor's stances on shipping machines pre-installed with XP.

http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;1496591483

Top 20 OPC Questions Asked By Integrators

Sign up for a free, vendor-neutral webinar on the Top 20 OPC questions for integrators and end users presented by representatives from: Kepware, Software Toolbox, and the OPC Training Institute.

http://www.opcti.com/newsevents/webinars/130808webinar.asp

From the OPC Training Institute web page:

Join the session to get insight into some of the following issues:

1. When should I consider using an OPC Tunneling product?
2. Can OPC UA (Unified Architecture) be used on non-Windows Operating Systems?
3. What are the security holes when working with OPC?
4. Why can I not see OPC Servers when ‘browsing’?
5. How many OPC servers can I install on a single PC?
6. What is OpcEnum and why do I need it?
7. My OPC application cannot connect to an OPC server. Why?
8. In light of the OPC UA (Unified Architecture) specification, should I avoid OPC servers based on the DA (Data Access) specification?
9. Can I run an OPC Server as a Windows service and what would be the benefits?
10. Why do I get DCOM error 0x80040202 when my OPC application fails to receive a callback from an OPC server?
11. What is the difference between synchronous and asynchronous reads?
12. What ports does DCOM use?
13. What is the OPC Interoperability session?
14. What is the OPC Subscription feature and when would I use it?
15. Why can I not ‘browse’ an OPC Server?
16. Where does OPC get its timestamp from?
17. How do I know when my OPC Server has lost its connection with the PLC?
18. How fast can an OPC Server transfer values?
19. Will OPC work across a firewall?
20. What is OPC self certification?

IT Blogger touches SCADA

It's interesting to see the shift from nobody knowing what SCADA is to the emphasis of security in the space. IT Blogger Matt Hines comments on SCADA vulnerabilities and tips on keep SCADA systems safe. It's pretty obvious that he has no industrial/controls experience, but his tips and points are sound. These systems are no longer proprietary and often touch public networks. It's time we apply the standard security practices used by corporations and the military to defend our assets from cyber-crime. Chances are if you're reading this blog you have a good idea of the disconnect here.

http://securitywatch.eweek.com/flaws/scada_software_vulnerabilities_to_the_fore.html

http://securitywatch.eweek.com/exploits_and_attacks/tips_on_keeping_scada_safe.html

Java and the future of SCADA systems

Web based, web launched, AJAX, Java, OPC UA - these terms are commonly thrown around along with HMI, SCADA, and even DCS these days. What's the big deal? More importantly, what's the point and what does it mean for you? The common thread is ubiquity. Yes, I'll say it again, ubiquity. I don't know why there's not a more common word with the same meaning - to be, or appear to be, everywhere at once. It's the perfect word to describe the Internet. So when somebody says, "Web based", think, "That means I can access it anywhere". That means it's firewall and VPN friendly. Nobody said anything about web browsers, static HTML, http, or the likes! Web applications, particularly Java and Macromedia Flash, run and feel just like local applications. They support multimedia, run constantly, and can initiate and receive updates without "refreshing". They're locally running programs with the huge benefit of not requiring a traditional "installation" process!



So where does SCADA come in? An important aspect of a modern SCADA system is to be able to get detailed realtime and historical process information. For most production managers, this is the most important data for their day to day work. It's like checking stock quotes - a 30 second glance should give you an accurate summary and a warm fuzzy feeling that you know what's going on. If something demands action you want to know. How much sense does it make to go to your stock broker every time you want a quick update? Should you fly out to Wall Street? No, it's valuable for you to be able to easily pull this up from your office desk, or home. What does this have to do with SCADA? Same principal applies. Who wants to go to the control room or plant floor every half hour? Ideally, you should get a portal or summary page that provides a high level summary with reports. The idea is that you have access to the same underlying data, but formatted as useful information to you.

What actually happens in an organization that provides "frictionless" data access to their core process is that everyone comes up with separate requirements. QA wants summaries, management gets reports, maintenance looks at long term statistics, etc. All that it really takes is a system that can be run anywhere and easily expanded - "easily" referring to without additional licensing pain.

Say it like it is, Hoff!

Hoff's one smart dude when it comes to computer and network security - truly top notch. The context of this commentary was his field, but it's scary how spot on he is with respect to Industrial Automation software - particularly the early stages of FactorySQL and FactoryPMI. Sigh...

Ah, the innovator's dilemma...

If you have a product that well and truly does X, Y and Z, where X is a feature that conforms and fits into a defined category but Y and Z -- while truly differentiating and powerful -- do not, you're forced to focus on, develop around and hype X, label your product as being X, and not invest as much in Y and Z.

If you miss the market timing and can't afford to schmooze effectively and don't look forward enough with a business model that allows for flexibility, you may make the world's best X, but when X commoditizes and Y and Z are now the hottest "new" square, chances are you won't matter anymore, even if you've had it for years.

The product managers, marketing directors and salesfolk are forced to fit a product within an analyst's arbitrary product definition or risk not getting traction, miss competitive analysis/comparisons or even get funding; ever try to convince a VC that they should fund you when you're the "only one" in the space and there's no analyst recognition of a "market?"

Yech.

A vendor's excellent solution can simply wither and die on the vine in a battle of market definition attrition because the vendor is forced to conform and neuter a product in order to make a buck and can't actually differentiate or focus on the things that truly make it a better solution.

Who wins here?

Not the vendors. Not the customers. The analysts do.

The vendor pays them a shitload of kowtowing and money for the privilege to show up in a box so they get recognized -- and not necessarily for the things that truly matter -- until the same analyst changes his/her mind and recognizes that perhaps Y and Z are "real" or creates category W, and the vicious cycle starts anew.

So while you're a vendor struggling to make a great solution or a customer trying to solve real business problems, who watches the watchers?

/Hoff

Opto 22 leveraging web 2.0

Walt reports on Opto22 utilizing web videos "optovideos" and other web technology user education.

http://www.controlglobal.com/soundoff/?p=3481

Superconductors in commercial power

Pretty cool article about using superconductors for commercial power. In a nutshell, superconductors are materials that have a zero electrical resistance below a threshold temperature. These particular "warm" cables have to be maintained between 65-75 K, which is still pretty cold. Electrical current can flow indefinately without a power source meaning that you don't "lose" any power during transmission (i squared r loss). From a practical perspective in the energy industry, this technology allows great amounts of power to be transferred over physically small lines. Also beneficial for safety, is the fact that superconducting properties are quickly lost during "fault circuits" - reminds me of built in nuclear reactor safety mechanisms where the system can't function when it goes to a certain range out of spec.

http://spectrum.ieee.org/jul08/6428

Top Ten Worst Uses for Windows

This Top Ten Worst Uses for Windows article is an interesting read. It shows the general outlook on control software that you're going to get from IT geeks - and a part of me totally agrees. I think that the author, while experienced in computer security, has absolutely no idea what he's talking about with the majority of his ten topics. It's about like waking up one morning and going to Asia, then reporting on how odd it is that everyone uses chopsticks. How dare they when metals exist - diners should simply cast a fork.

There are merits to his examples, but he's totally oblivious to the problems and available tools.
http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/29644

Microsoft to end OEM licensing for Windows 3.11 in 4 months

Is this going to be a problem for anyone? LOL

http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2008/07/09/oem-licensing-for-windows-3-11-finally-to-end-in-4-months

Linux for housewives. XP for geeks

ZDNet article on shifting Linux demographics. (substitute "server" with "sub-$300 PC")

http://blogs.zdnet.com/storage/?p=342

The Google Format

Google recently released their proprietary storage format, Protocol Buffers, to the Open Source Community. It's a platform independent format to serialize (programmatically store/encode) data and objects. The big advantage is that it is fast and tight - at least an order of magnitude over XML (Extensible Markup Language), which often seems to be touted as the magic bullet. The truth is that, like everything else, there are strengths and weaknesses to each - it really depends on your application. Need to be human readable - go XML. Don't know who you'll be talking to on the distant end - XML. But if you want to use a small, fast format for large data transfers, Protocol Buffers may be for you!

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. On one hand new formats and technologies are beneficial, particularly open source ones like this. On the other, standardization is king. "Don't reinvent the wheel" seems particularly relevant here. Ultimately, it's unlikely that you'll ever deal with this directly. Hopefully you reap the benefits inside an application that you didn't even realize was using the technology!

http://google-opensource.blogspot.com/2008/07/protocol-buffers-googles-data.html

http://www.betanews.com/article/Google_releases_its_data_encoding_format_to_compete_with_XML/1215530589

Business is booming for Wonderware

Wonderware hired another 200 employees this year for a total of around 500. I'm no expert, but this still seems "small" for a software company and big for "nitch" software. They're developing and marketing toward specific industries and growing worldwide. They're fighting for legitimacy in the "Enterprise", even while companies like their "partner" SAP tries to compete directly, and powering the olympics. They even recently started selling Panelview style hardware to run Intouch 10 on. Great job from the leading SCADA company.

Read more here.

OPC UA Coming to life!

Lots more OPC UA buzz - looks like it'll be really materializing soon - hopefully later this year. I personally can't wait! Remember, Iconics and Kepware already pledged to bring an end to end UA solution soon.

http://www.controleng.com/article/CA6559411.html?rssid=129

Edit - more contributions pointed out by Eric Murphy of Matrikon
http://www.ceasiamag.com/article-3936-theyearofopcua-LogisticsAsia.html
Automation.com OPC portal

Another SCADA security vulnerability

What a great day - another SCADA security vulnerability uncovered! I don't want to see any industrial software fail, but I know the nitch products were written in a vacuum without security in mind. HMI packages are buggy and susceptible to attack - particularly the older ones still in use! We need to get over it, confront the issue, and fix it! Hopefully vendors have the integrity to self-test and release patches on their own, but this won't solve the problem. A developer simply can't find all of his own bugs in a test environment. The more computer security research groups start looking into these "little" but significant applications the better.

This time it was Citect, Wonderware had the last one. SCADA vendors be ready - you're next! That's you: Rockwell, GE, and Inductive Automation!

FireFox Download Day announced

Tuesday, 17JUN is Download Day (FireFox 3 if you havn't been paying attention)! Check out a graphical world pledge map here.

Rockwell Automation selects Matrikon OPC for FactoryTalk Suite

Press release from Matrikon and Rockwell Automation submitted to automation.com.

It looks like Rockwell is finally learning not to try to reinvent the wheel with every product (ie homecooked remote DCOM via RSLinx Gateway) in favor of getting professional support from those that know best. Customers will be getting the benefit of OPC Tunneller (very important now for most remote cases, they could have already used but probably didn't know it, should become obsolete with OPC UA). They also get the benefit of various DCS, telemetry, and PLC drivers. I'm not sure what "IT" drivers are but it sounds good. New (and highly promoted) are building automation drivers such as: BACnet, Johnson Controls, and LonWorks, which is a welcome natural fit to HMI and SCADA systems.

I believe Rockwell has been working with Kepware's KepServer EX for RSView. Correct me if I'm wrong - I don't think it would help with programming tools (read RSLogix) or the FactoryTalk versions of their software (read RSView SE series).

It's nice to see more collaboration between industrial software companies.

http://www.automation.com/content/rockwell-automation-selects-matrikonopc-for-3rd-party-connectivity-to-their-factorytalk-suite

The significance of updates

Software updates - What a sticky topic! Do you pay? Are they free? How frequently should you install them? Should they be installed automatically? In some cases you find yourself vulnerable to exploits by not upgrading. In this case, you might "brick" your home router. Yes, we're talking about Windows XP Service Pack 3. Changes to the network stack manage to send Billion "BiPAC 5200-series routers to go into a constant crash and reboot cycle".

Here's my take. In general, it's good practice to stay updated. I'd hold off on critical systems, especially in closed environments (not on the Internet). For those cases you might consider a policy of first upgrading a test environment. At the very least, schedule upgrades during times that will minimize downtime impact. And - have a backup!

http://apcmag.com/router_crashes_blamed_on_windows_xp_sp3.htm

The power of the people

I find myself frequently trying to convince industrial professionals to be active in their communities! Besides trade shows, I'm referring to forums. Specifically, MrPLC and PLCTalk. If you're not registered, go there! If you're not active - post a few. Try it, it's addictive!

In this case a member got a little voting help for a free home makeover. His place looked pretty bad and he deserved it, but it was the PLCTalk folks that made it happen.

http://www.plctalk.net/qanda/showthread.php?t=38863

Building Automation and OPC

An AutomatedBuildings.com interview with Tom Burke of the OPC Foundation and Sean Leonard of Matrikon.

http://www.automatedbuildings.com/news/jun08/interviews/080527031642opc.htm

The interesting thing to me is how similar building automation is to industrial automation, yet how "stove piped" their respective products have been. Even the protocols, Leonard mentions "BACnet, Johnson Controls, and LonWorks", are totally different.

The interview rolls the grandiose OPC UA ambition into our sister industries, in addition to the direction you're used to, "up", namely Enterprise Integration. It focuses on OPC campaigning, providing interesting insight on what The Foundation is focusing on.

Good to see things moving forward. Early OPC UA buy in is going to be important.

Do your part!

Mozilla aims to set a one day world Download record with the official release of Firefox 3. The date isn't set, but you can sign up to pledge to download it on day one here. I for one, love Firefox and have been running the beta for some time now.

SCADA Security unnoticed

Core Security released an advisory on a Denial of Service attack where an unauthenticated user can take down a Wonderware system running Suitelink with a malformed packet. This was first brought to Wonderware's attention at the end of January. They acknowledged the bug by late March and provided a fix by late April. The advisory published in June.


Is it just me? A lot of people talk the talk about how important stability is with industrial control software. But nobody really cares. Trivial bugs (by comparison) get much more press. Could you imagine if a simple program could send a packet to crash a Windows server application? The press would go nuts! By Wonderware's account, they've sold 500 thousand copies that are running in 100,000 plants worldwide in virtually every industry. These plants are not all on closed networks! Good thing terrorists don't have access to Google, like I do.

Besides not wanting to share details with the public and not recognizing the problem in a timely manner, Wonderware did their part. It's a learning process that will hopefully go more smoothly next time. What astounds me is the fact that you don't see or hear about this except in a few very specific sites and blogs. I bet there will be a significant percentage of vulnerable systems several years from now - a combination of the weak promulgation of information and the reluctance of industrial users to upgrade unless forced. The latter caused by vendors releasing patches that haven't been adequately QA'd. This is one point where Inductive Automation is ahead of the power curve. Since FactorySQL and FactoryPMI upgrades nearly always come with free feature additions, IA users have created a culture of frequently upgrading their software.

But I digress. SCADA security is a huge bomb waiting to go off. There's a little talk on the subject, but the industry fails to take it seriously. I hope we can figure things out before the next 9/11 forces government intervention - how would you like your plant to operation like an airport? I'd like to think that level of regulation is unnecessary. We should each do our part in tightening down industrial security.

http://www.coresecurity.com/?action=item&id=2187
http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=4390

Inductive Automation Videos

Between traveling to New Zealand and Japan I've been pretty busy. I'll try to keep up with small blog posts. I've had lots of great ideas that haven't come to fruition.

I've been working on training videos for Inductive Automation. I'd love to hear your feedback. Once I finish a few more basic series I'll be taking requests.

Some OPC UA links

Great insight on the transition and future of OPC-UA from John Weber and Nathan Pocock of Software Toolbox. I hope he's wrong about the slow death of DCOM, but I wouldn't put a wager on it!

OPC-UA vendor perspective from Tom Burke of the OPC Foundation. It's a rather high level vision description of the architecture and commitment of the foundation. You're the man, Tom!

There are other good links. They came from here.

Linux obsession on the forums

Lately the usual PLC forums have been unusually chatty about Linux. Perhaps it's the recent Windows update that installed the new version of the .NET Frameworks 2.0, the trend toward Open Office and Star Office, or the successful home experimentation with Ubuntu and Fedora. There's also been more complaints than ever about the complicated and equally crappy DCOM basis of OPC, which gets (probably unfairly) pinned on Microsoft. The OPC Foundation gets to be the knight in shining armor with UA. General users are correctly getting the sense that configuration, specifically security, need not be complicated and that getting rid of the old also brings the freedom ditching the entire (Windows) platform.

The consensus seems to be that programming software will remain Windows based for some time. Until users put the pressure on - and they're complaining, but not applying diddly-squat, nothing will change in that area. So it's a 90% solution - control systems can be chosen on a platform independent decision, but integrators will still be running around with Windows laptops to program the PLCs. That doesn't bother me too much. First, they break the things every couple of years - about as often as Windows seems to fail. Second, there's always virtualization, which has been getting easier and cooler over time.

I welcome the simplicity of the newer Linux build frondends and their (always) powerful backend. I remember when the thrill of playing with a new Linux system came to an abrupt halt when you realized that your devices weren't supported and the user interface sucked! It's great to see "normal users" have such a positive experience with installing such a new, foreign, system. If only they knew the complexity of the innards! Thank god they don't - they're users.