There are generally two ways to make Consibio Loggers send data to your own system (either your own cloud platform or full SCADA solution):
- Data can be pulled from Consibio Cloud via our REST API
- Data can be pushed from Consibio Cloud to your platform via:
- MQTT(s)
- Direct 3rd-party integrations (currently only Azure Event Hub is supported)
No matter which option is used, all communication links are encrypted via TLS using industry standards.
When using Consibio Cloud to relay the data transfer to your system, we can ensure:
-
Highly optimized connections
The communication link between the Logger and Consibio Cloud is highly optimized regarding speed, compression and session management. This yields the best device performance which is reflected directly in the connection stability and battery life.
- Automatic firmware updates
In order to ensure compliance with the newest cyber security standards (such as those required by NIS2), all internet connected devices need to be able to receive firmware updates in a secure, automated fashion. This is both to ensure proper patch-management and to handle any future vulnerabilities, but also to ensure device performance on sight. The direct link to Consibio Cloud ensures just that. - Best-in-class security
We can ensure that all devices are pre-equipped with a unique certificate for authentication ensuring no single point of failure. - Error handling
We have extensive session logging on both the device itself but also network logging of the embedded SIM with location tracking, such that any potential issues can be readily rectified.
1. Pulling data via our REST API
The most common way to transfer data from Consibio Cloud to your own system is via our REST API. When using a REST API, you have a program/service, that regularly poll Consibio Cloud for the newest data. This approach ensures that all requests are made by software under your control and from networks pr. your design.
You can read more about our REST API here:
https://support.consibio.com/hc/en-us/articles/17793586344349-Consibio-Cloud-REST-API-v2
2. Pushing data automatically to your platform
It is also possible to push data directly from Consibio Cloud directly to your own system, anytime a new measurement is received in Consibio Cloud using our event architecture. This approach ensures that data is forwarded without any delays.
Data can be pushed via MQTT(s) or via direct integrations to eg. Microsoft Azure Event Hub.
In these cases, Consibio Cloud mimics the behaviour of an IoT device and can rely on any infrastructure you already have in place to handle data coming in from a connected device. Many SCADA systems have eg. MQTT modules where they receive data from connected devices. Using this approach, Consibio Cloud can be used as a drop-in solution that ensures secure data transfer while maintaining all performance, security and fleet management capabilities listed above.
2.1 MQTT(s)
Consibio Cloud can act as an MQTT client and forward data to any 3rd party MQTT broker (which is often built-in to many SCADA systems). Whenever a new datapoint is received in Consibio Cloud, it checks if a push integration is defined for the given parameter and forwards it immediately.
When forwarding the data, a user-defined template is used to define the data structure, meaning that data can be sent in any desired format.
2.2 Direct integration
Instead of sending data via the generic MQTT protocol, it is also possible to forward data using integrations to proprietary messaging/IoT services. The list of supported services will grow over time, but is currently limited to Azure Event Hub.
2.2.3 Azure Event Hub
If your current SCADA system or data infrastructure is hosted on Microsoft Azure, you can leverage Consibio Cloud's integration to Microsoft Azure Event Hub. When using this integration, data can be pushed directly to your own Microsoft Azure environment using the Event Hubs service.