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Requirements for Server Hardware in IIoT Environment.

By: Anurag Varshney on July 31, 2019

blog-post The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) provides groundbreaking solutions to problems

As the world is getting into the fourth industrial revolution, we are maximizing the efficiency of our machines. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) provides groundbreaking solutions to problems through local processing and communication thereby making machines smarter in ways that have never been conceived. The IIoT is a network of devices and machines connected by communication technologies. This leads to systems that can collect, monitor, analyze, deliver and exchange valuable new insights that can drive faster and smarter business decisions for industrial companies.

Based on the afore-stated, there is no gainsaying that IIoT is very important. However, there is one question on the lips of many. They ask, what are the requirements for the server hardware needed in the IIoT environment? First, you have to know that you are getting an answer to that question right now, right here. All you need do is keep reading.

Simple and Important Requirements

The requirements include data acquisition, processing and storage, power requirement, connectivity requirement, and security requirements.

Data acquisition, processing, and storage requirements

In an industry where the number of machines connected is increasing, the amount of operational data that is coming online and which needs to be analyzed and stored also rises.

Most IIoT devices gather information from the physical world either through sensors or actuators. The number of sensors that are connected, the rate at which the data is being generated, and the resolution of the data that is generated will define the volume of data to be processed, and this subsequently has an impact on the data storage and processing requirements. 

The volume of data that will be retained on a machine largely depends on how often the machine or endpoint connects to transmit the data upstream. A machine that generates a low volume of raw data to a highly available server needs fewer data processing storage and power when compared to a ‘bursty’ machine that generates large data in few hours of connection. All these require processor and memory storage.

Connectivity requirements

The connectivity requirements for a wireless network include how far the signal will need to be transmitted and the projected rate and volume of data to be transmitted. To meet the typical requirement of massive deployment, ultra-reliability, and low latency, there is a need for industrial Ethernet, industrial WLAN, IPv6, Mobile Broadband (LTE, NB-1oT◊5G), MultiFire etc.

 

The server hardware may have an integrated wireless communication or this proficiency may need to be added with a module or board. This includes oscillators, amplifier, and rf shield.

Power requirements

All the IIoT endpoints need to be supplied with power for them to operate. This can be a battery of a supercapacitor or an energy harvester. It is important to know the weight, capacity and size requirements for the battery. If the IIoT device is portable, it may need to have onboard energy storage. Also, the sensors and actuators need power. Energy can be saved by only transmitting data within a certain time while the power will be on ‘sleep’ for the rest of the time. 

For the cloud, if the internet goes down, data and information could not be accessed. This means that once the cloud is offline, the business is offline. That the cloud does not give any room for power outage necessitates the use of additional server and infrastructure on-site. 

Security requirements

Security is very important within the IIoT environment and it should be considered at every stage of development and design. As a huge network of systems are coming online, they need to communicate with each other and also with the enterprise, most times over a vast distance. Therefore, the system, communication, and data must be secured. The hardening of the network is important. Also, enough processing memory and power are needed to encrypt and decrypt data at the rate they are sent and received.

The cloud is particularly prone to severe security attack because it is a shared multi-tenant environment with many customers using the same hardware. If anything goes wrong with security, all business-critical information can become public knowledge. This is another reason why infrastructure and server are required on-site in spite of the cloud. 

Moving Forward

With a high availability requirement, you may need at least two servers such that if one fails, the other server will take over data collection and there will be little or no loss of data. Aside from this, the servers should be configured with redundant hot-swappable machinery. This is important to ensure that disk failure or power supply will not cause the machine to need downtime for replacement of components or go down.

IIoT is an innovation and if you are looking to learn more about IoT. It is alright not to comprehend the specialized skill of AI. This is the reason you have brands who improve these procedures for you. The best IoT training institute in Noida NeuVays exists to provide internship in IoT for your future. Think growing, think NeuVays. Contact them via their website on http://india.neuvays.com/.

 

(Anurag Varshney, 2019)




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