Enterprise infrastructure and network monitoring specialist Paessler has moved in on the industrial IoT space, launching industrial monitoring capabilities and support for PRTG Network Monitor.
The idea, according to Paessler, is that these new capabilities will facilitate an all-round view of operations and traditional IT infrastructure to generate better data insights, through support for a range of industrial IT protocols.
“This allows PRTG to bring data from the factory floor into the monitoring concept using native sensors for OPC UA, MQTT and Modbus TCP. The result is a holistic approach to industrial IT monitoring,” according to the announcement.
PRTG Network Monitor users will be able to monitor Modbus TCP devices in manufacturing facilities without having to use protocol converters in a system compatible with OPC Unified Architecture (UA), a common industrial interoperability standard.
Michael Becker, blogging for Paessler, said the Modbus TCP Custom sensor, for example, is a new sensor type for keeping an eye on peripheral equipment including cooling units, power supply, backup generators, and temperature.
“Modbus is popular in industrial environments because it is openly published and free. It was developed for industrial applications, is relatively easy to deploy and maintain compared to other standards, and places few restrictions on the format of the data to be transmitted,” Becker wrote. “This helps you to ensure your infrastructure always runs at its best.”
Users will also be able to monitor the health status of Soffico Orchestra and implement the MQTT messaging protocol, including the ability to monitor MQTT Broker and MQTT Statistics, and to send out MQTT-based notifications.
These capabilities, taken together, should help organisations garner insights via machine-to-machine (M2M) communications within IoT and industrial IT environments.
Markus Mediger, product manager for IoT and industry at Paessler, said: “Paessler’s PRTG acts as a single pane of glass into IT and OT environments. This is an increasingly important tool for IT teams and also for industrial engineers — allowing them to check the overall status of PLCs (programmable logic controllers), IPCs (industrial computers), and other controllers on the factory floor.
“By being able to collect data from the most widely adopted cross-vendor protocols such as OPC UA, MQTT and Modbus TCP directly in PRTG, Paessler can combine the worlds of IT and industrial IT. This brings enormous possibilities to customers looking to have a more holistic approach to their entire technology infrastructures.”
Mediger is just one of Paessler’s new hires focusing on industrial IT — and the vendor is looking out for more new partners that will help grow the industrial IT and IoT markets, the company said.
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