SOG 3.0 Iss 1

The S4 Group, Inc. - Version 3 SNMP OPC Gateway - January 28, 2003 Testing Status

This is issue #1 of our SNMP OPC Gateway testing status reports. This message is being sent to you either because you are a current customer of The S4 Group, Inc., and have purchased one of the Obermeier SNMP OPC Gateway products, or you have expressed an interest in purchasing the product. With the increase in activity leading up to the formal announcement of product availability we needed a way of keeping everyone informed of progress while still focusing on getting the product out the door. So, we established a sub-category in our eMail newsletter system on Microsoft’s bCentral service just for SNMP OPC Gateway users. As The S4 Group, Inc. reaches significant milestones in our testing process we will be sending out additional updates. Along the way if you have specific questions or issues please do not hesitate to contact us.

As you are aware from our previous correspondence and discussions there are many changes between Version 2 and Version 3 of the SNMP OPC Gateway. The most obvious of which will be in the packaging. In Version 2 both the SNMP-OPC Server and OPC-SNMP Agent functionality was included in one software package and distributed on a single CD.
With Version 3 the SNMP-OPC Server and the OPC-SNMP Agent are packaged, distributed, and installed, as separate products. This eliminates a lot of confusion, makes distribution much easier, and aids significantly in making the product more maintainable and more flexible. Another major change you will see across the product line is that all configuration files can now be exported to and imported from CSV format spreadsheet files.
Testing to date has focused on the OPC-SNMP Agent software and the OEM variants for several of our Building Automation Systems customers. Over the last several weeks we have received periodic updates from Obermeier Software. Each has been stable and each has demonstrated incremental functionality. The off the shelf OPC-SNMP Agent software supports Process Point monitoring and thresholding, and includes the support of SNMP Get and Set commands.
A major change with the Version 3 off-the-shelf Agent is that it does not support subscription to OPC A&E servers and Event Publishing. This functionality will only be available in OEM versions of the software. By integrating the customer’s MIB and the OPC to SNMP namespace mapping into customized OEM versions of the software we are able to tailor the installation process and licensing for each customer environment. This allows us to significantly streamline the installation and configuration process. Those of you who have gone through this process with the Version 2 software will really appreciate these improvements, especially when supporting multi-site customers.

We are expecting to get the first SNMP-OPC Server modules for testing within the next few days. All the functionality that you are used to seeing is retained in this product. In addition, there are very substantial functionality enhancements. Autodiscovery of SNMP devices is supported, Device Profiles are automatically selected and assigned when a SNMP device is found, and the ability to monitor non-SNMP devices on the TCP/IP network are among the new features you will see.

Availability of the SNMP OPC Gateway Version 3.0 is close enough that it’s time to do the paperwork! We’ve issued formal quotes and have received the corresponding purchase orders for the Version 3 software from many of you. Some of you are working with the Version 2 demo system and have not gotten to the paperwork yet. In order to deliver the Version 3 software as quickly as possible after testing is complete we need to get this paperwork done now. Please contact Steve to work out the necessary details.

You may unsubscribe at any time using the link attached to this message. If you know of anyone else who would benefit from these status updates please have them eMail sejones@thes4group.com and we would be happy to include them in these updates and in our newsletters.

Sincerely,
Steve

The S4 Group, Inc. specializes in providing

Software Services and System Solutions for the Enterprise.

Steven E. Jones

Managing Partner

The S4 Group, Inc.

585 - 24th Street, Suite 106

Ogden, UT 84401

Office: (414) 332 0493

Mobile: (414) 828 0166

http://www.thes4group.com sejones@thes4group.com

Building Automation