Operational Technology (OT) Microservices
OT Microservices provide an alternative to monolithic legacy architectures, enabling better, faster, and more reliable performance in industrial and manufacturing applications. Solutions built on a Microservices architecture can provide manufacturers with the agility, flexibility, and responsiveness they need to leverage smart machines and smart components, which are physical systems with a real-time performance envelope.
How does it work? OT Microservices use a novel architectural pattern for these cyber-physical systems that realizes the promise of Industry 4.0. Ideal for integration, OT Microservice applications are collections of loosely coupled, fine grained services – even across different OT vendors – that promote proper coupling and cohesion on the factory floor. These Microservices reduce the recurrent engineering tasks required on-premise during integration.
For busy manufacturers, RTI Connext slashes the development time required to build, integrate and test components in a physical logistics system. It also helps manufacturers to simplify factory maintenance and upgrade activities. The high-level benefits of Connext for OT Microservices include:
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Reducing time and materials costs
Connext enables the decoupling of software and hardware lifecycles in brownfield and greenfield installations, which helps manufacturers significantly decrease the time and materials required during integration of complex equipment on the factory floor. For this reason, Connext can help manufacturers achieve significant time and cost savings across the entire integration, maintenance and upgrade cycle.
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Safety
Connext provides redundancy and failover benefits without requiring expensive, single-use software re-design. The Connext databus handles data in motion, operating as a shared global space where data is continuously flowing to hundreds, thousands or more endpoints, thus eliminating single points of failure This approach results in decreased downtime and increased safety in operational environments.
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Security
Connext provides security at the data level to protect the system from attacks. Based on the Data Distribution Service (DDS™) standard, Connext delivers fine-grained security that works over any network transport. Developers can authorize and grant access control – or restrict users – based on specific attributes such as role, data topic or action requested. This approach allows for faster responses to a rapidly-evolving threat surface, while protecting vital operational data in a multi-tenant logistics environment.
Looking for additional information?
OT Microservices Capability Brief
Learn how Connext provides the open, secure framework.