Overview

4min

Note: This documentation is for Manufacturing Connect Edge version 3.16.0 and later. For earlier versions, see Overview.

Manufacturing Connect Edge is an Industrial Edge Data Platform that allows you to collect, analyze, and act on real-time data at the edge. It offers out-of-the-box support for a wide range of native drivers for Industrial Devices, Control Systems, Robotics, and other industrial assets.

Once the device data is collected, Manufacturing Connect Edge normalizes it and enables data sharing with any edge environment, big data platform, cloud, or enterprise system. Both raw and processed data are normalized to enable visualization and analysis at the edge regardless of the data source (device type).

You can access Manufacturing Connect Edge using any of the following:

  • Web UI (User Interface)
  • Terminal User Interface
  • REST APIs

Security

Manufacturing Connect Edge is built with security at every step to address unique challenges of Industrial IoT.

It offers:

  • Deployment Security: Manufacturing Connect Edge supports offline first and air-gapped installation.
  • Authentication and Authorization: Enterprise-ready authentication, authorization, and RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) policies. The Manufacturing Connect Edge user interface is only accessible with a login and password.
  • Platform Access Security: Protected and modern HTTPs web interfaces.
  • LDAP / AD authentication: Manufacturing Connect Edge LDAP and AD settings allow you to integrate the login system with an external authentication registry.
  • Certificate Management: Manufacturing Connect Edge includes a default self-signed certificate and therefore all communications are secure by default.
  • Encryption: All communication between a Manufacturing Connect Edge device and a user’s browser are protected by transport layer encryption, which uses SSL/TLS.
  • Software Update: Over-the-air update systems implement detailed hash and other verifications.
  • Token-Based Security: Provides token-based security for apps authentication.
  • Data Access Security: Secure and isolated message broker for real-time data subscription.

Functionality

Manufacturing Connect Edge allows you to do the following:

  • Securely collect data from any industrial device.
  • Normalize the collected data.
  • Process, analyze, and store data at the edge.
  • Run container-based applications on top of the data.
  • Support time-series analysis using ready analytics and KPIs.
  • Easily build flows for configuration and analytics.
  • Integrate edge systems with cloud or enterprise systems, including Big Data.

Frequently Asked Questions