DataHub Bridging - Closing the Gap between OPC, DDE, ODBC and Other Data Sources

What is Bridging? 

Bridging is the connecting of data points between data sources with the possible transformation of the data along the way.

DataHub offers bridging of a wide variety of data sources, not just OPC. Basically any data you can get into the DataHub through any of it's interfaces, can then be bridged.  This includes but it not limited to :

  • OPC DA and UA,  OPC A&E
  • OPC UA A&C
  • DDE
  • ODBC
  • Excel
  • MQTT
There are no licensing limits on the number of sources/destinations that can be bridged. Below are some examples and more details on the DataHub Bridge pack, and this technical blog post covers other examples.

Bridging Data Points Between Different Hardware

The most straightforward use case is bridging two data points that come from different control systems, machine or processes. 

DataHub works great with OPC DA, UA and A&E servers that connect to popular PLC and control hardware including KEPServer-EX, TOP Server, OmniServer, Matrikon, and many others. 

DataHub can also bridge between hardware with built-in/native OPC UA interfaces, Modbus TCP or MQTT client support. 

Case Study: Conditional Bridging at Air Liquide

Using flexible conditional bridging in the DataHub and integrating Emerson DeltaV and Foxboro DCS systems to implement modular procedural automation, the startup process of the air separation unit went from 2 hours to 45 minutes - an over 60% reduction

Learn More

Connecting Clients to Clients

When you have 2 OPC client applications and need to share data between them, they can't just connect directly to each other, unless one of them also has an OPC Server interface. 

With DataHub, you can have both clients connect to the DataHub as an OPC DA, UA, A&E, or A&C server and share data in a common namespace.

For this architecture, client to client bridging, you do not need the DataHub Bridging pack, all you need is the DataHub OPC Gateway pack.

DataHub Bridging Features & Advantages

  • Bridge any data that you can get into DataHub, not just OPC data
  • Connect multiple data sources and destinations
  • Multi-threaded for robust performance, so one slow data source or destination won't slow down others
  • Using optional DataHub Tunneling, easily bridge OPC DA servers over networks and even through proxies and firewalls, without DCOM
  • Linear transformations to scale, normalize, data
  • Scripting language for defining complex relationships
  • Bulk configuration import

Video Tutorial

DataHub Bridge Solution Pack 

This solution pack is the most common one purchased for bridging data. There are no licensing limits on number of sources, destinations and tags bridged.  The pack includes these DataHub features:

  • OPC DA or OPC UA support
  • Data Bridging
  • Aggregation
  • Scripting
  • Security 
  • Quick Trend
  • Secure Remote Configuration

Standard packs offer OPC DA or OPC UA data sources, but packages are available that support both, and to add ODBC, MQTT, OPC A&E, OPC UA A&C, and other data sources, contact us for a quote.

Try It

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Get Started Now

This trial software is fully functioning and can be used to update licensed product provided you are on an active support & maintenance agreement.  Once DataHub is started it will run for 1 hour at a time, you can restart the application to reset this timer. Purchasing a license removes the limitation for licensed features. 

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