GARTNER states that: “Today, 91% of data is created and processed in centralized data centers. By 2022, approximately 75% of all data will require analysis and action at Edge Computing”…
Exactly one month ago I took part in theARC Forum in Orlando: for those unfamiliar with ARC, it is one of the most active associations in the world for dealing with i technological topics related to the manufacturing industry and the process in general (many of the speakers are from the industry OIL&GAS, Utilities, Transport, etc.…).
The event is extremely interesting and there are also European editions for those wishing to take part.
We at ServiTecno have been choosing to go to Orlando for years for two simple reasons:
- The USA regarding the adoption of new technologies I'm always a few years ahead, therefore listening to the speakers today gives us the opportunity to anticipate topics that will arrive in Italy (and in Europe) tomorrow
- Orlando in February has a great climate 🙂
One thing particularly struck me during this year's edition: after five years of hearing only about the CLOUD, there has been a turnaround with the introduction of a new technological trend.
I am referring to theHIGH PERFORMANCE EDGE COMPUTING, Probably the true point of convergence between IT and OT.
HIGH PERFORMANCE EDGE COMPUTING explained in 100 seconds
From the CLOUD to "INDUSTRIAL PCs" initially it seemed to me a considerable step backwards: as I heard the speakers explain their experiences, however, I began to understand how they were the architectures "IN THE FIELD" to determine the success of a Project in the CLOUD.
Let's start with some assumptions:
- Even with the arrival of the performance However, 5G connectivity is a bottleneck (o “single point of failure” as Americans like to say): supervision, whether it is a machine, a line or a plant, for some processes is too important to risk losing it and the only solution for now is still to have it reside on the plant.
- La amount of data that is generated by a process process it can hardly be stored and managed in the CLOUD in its entirety.
So, if we assume that for a few more years the supervision will have to reside "in the field" and that RAW DATA in their natural state are not so simple to use in the CLOUD the solution is quite logical: the near future will see Industrial PCs capable of managing industrial processes (and not) also very complex act also as a BRIDGE towards the cloud.
So here we are at the definition of HIGH PERFORMANCE EDGE.
No let's talk more di simple boxes that simply act as a bridge, but of devices that can give certainties on the topics listed below.
- High performance (of storage and management of virtual machines for ICS systems): high performance about capacity of computing and storage in order to "host" inside both the SUPERVISION SYSTEM that the PROCESS DATABASE. In this way it is possible to send already “processed” and useful data to the CLOUD for an advanced analysis.
- High Availability (a level of redundancy that guarantees a UPTIME greater than 99,99%): architectures capable of guaranteeing HIGH AVAILABILITY (and in some cases FAULT TOLERANCE) and keeping supervision available (and its visualization via client)
- A secure connection to the CLOUD: these are devices designed to let only authorized data and commands go out (and enter). So we're talking about an active filter both incoming and outgoing, useful for protecting both systems and architectures in the CLOUD.
- A point of IT/OT CONVERGENCE reliable and easily manageable: theIT is already familiar with the EDGE concept, but often little knowledge about what is underneath (PLC, SCADA and ICS systems in general). With these devices it is possible to create a unique connection and provide "upper floors" INFORMATION instead of PURE DATA (RAW); moreover they are easily replaceable, it is enough to always have a backup of the applications used (and with some products such as the ZTC of Stratus you don't even need that as they align completely automatically)
SERVITECNO's proposal for HIGH PERFORMANCE EDGE is…
