Protocols & Data Infrastructure
Between your machines and the 10in6 screens sit the plant network, the protocol drivers and the SQL Server database. We design, set up and maintain that layer with your IT team.
Every plant is a mixed estate
A typical production floor has equipment from four or five decades running side by side: a new packaging line speaking OPC UA next to a press whose PLC predates Ethernet. Each holds cycle counts, states and process variables in its own protocol, often on its own network segment.
Getting that data to one server means routing across segments your IT team controls, polling each machine without loading its network, and storing the results in a structure every report can use. We do that work on every deployment, so your staff don't have to become industrial-networking specialists.
The four layers we build and maintain
Industrial Protocols
Picked machine by machine from what each controller supports:
- OPC UA: the current interoperability standard for modern equipment
- Ethernet/IP: native to Allen-Bradley environments
- Modbus TCP: the workhorse for older PLCs and devices
- MTConnect: machine tool and CNC connectivity
- RS-232 / serial: legacy equipment that predates plant networks
Plant Network Design
Secure, reliable routing between the equipment network and the 10in6 server:
- Data paths designed with your IT team, within your existing segmentation
- Collection that leaves control systems undisturbed
- Polling rates set so machine networks aren't overloaded
SQL Server & Application Server
The foundation everything reports from:
- Application server and SQL Server setup and optimization
- Structured production database on your own infrastructure
- Guidance on backups, maintenance, and migration planning
External Systems & APIs
Connections to the systems you already run:
- REST API connections for external system data exchange
- SCADA and data historian interoperability
- Customs broker data feeds via SFTP, EDI, or structured files (for DRP traceability)
Related connectivity work
Protocols & infrastructure questions
- Do we need to upgrade our PLCs or replace equipment before deploying 10in6?
- No. The protocol is chosen per machine, not imposed plant-wide. Modern equipment typically connects over OPC UA or Ethernet/IP; older equipment connects over Modbus TCP or serial; and machines with no communication interface at all can be connected through hardware I/O. Some of our most significant deployments run on equipment that is 20 or more years old.
- Where does our production data actually live?
- In a structured SQL Server database, typically on a server or virtual machine inside your own network. It's your data, in a standard database you can query, and BI tools like Power BI can connect to it directly for custom analytics alongside 10in6's built-in reporting.
- Will 10in6 interfere with our existing SCADA system or data historian?
- No. 10in6 runs alongside your existing SCADA and historian systems and doesn't replace them. Data collection is set up so it doesn't disrupt your control systems, and we assess polling load and network impact as part of the deployment plan. Where useful, 10in6 can also exchange data with those systems.
- Does 10in6 run in the cloud or on-premise?
- Most deployments run on-premise, on a server or VM inside the plant network, close to the equipment it's collecting from. Web and mobile views are served from that installation, so managers get anywhere-access without production data collection depending on an internet connection.
- What if we don't have a dedicated IT department?
- You can still run 10in6. We've deployed in plants with no IT staff: we handle the integration work, set up the application server and SQL Server, and advise on backups and migration planning, so nobody in-house needs infrastructure expertise.
Bring us the messy mix.
PLC brands, machine ages and how the network is set up. The more varied it is, the more a call with one of our engineers will save you.