Reliable DataOps: HighByte Intelligence Hub version 2.1 is here
Aron Semle
is the Chief Technology Officer of HighByte, focused on guiding the company’s product strategy through research and development and technical evangelism. Aron has served in a variety of roles in his 15-year career in industrial technology, including software engineer, product manager, R&D lead, and director of solutions management, building innovative software solutions for the manufacturing operations market. Aron received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering from the University of Maine.
I love the chaos of an early market like DataOps for Manufacturing. It’s clear that things are changing, but what technologies and approaches will win out is less obvious. In these types of markets, as a solution provider, it’s equally fun to watch them mature.
One sign of a maturing market is the type of questions early customers ask about a solution. At first, the questions are different variations of “Does it work?” or “How is it different than a, b, or c?” as customers try and understand the solution and how it solves their problem. As the market matures, the questions shift focus to technical requirements like “What’s the performance with 10,000x?” or “Does it support high availability?”
Here at HighByte we’re seeing more scale and reliability questions in early engagements, a sign that both the market and the product are maturing. That’s why I’m excited to announce some key features in version 2.1 that make HighByte Intelligence Hub more scalable and reliable to fit the needs of your production environment.
One sign of a maturing market is the type of questions early customers ask about a solution. At first, the questions are different variations of “Does it work?” or “How is it different than a, b, or c?” as customers try and understand the solution and how it solves their problem. As the market matures, the questions shift focus to technical requirements like “What’s the performance with 10,000x?” or “Does it support high availability?”
Here at HighByte we’re seeing more scale and reliability questions in early engagements, a sign that both the market and the product are maturing. That’s why I’m excited to announce some key features in version 2.1 that make HighByte Intelligence Hub more scalable and reliable to fit the needs of your production environment.
Version 2.1 introduces new high-availability features like application redundancy and redundant MQTT brokers, ensuring the reliable collection, modeling, and delivery of data in critical environments. This release also includes expanded connectivity and a number of enhancements that make it easier to configure and support large projects. Let’s jump into the highlights of HighByte Intelligence Hub version 2.1.
High Availability
- Application Redundancy. This release makes it easy to install two HighByte Intelligence Hub instances, one running as the primary and the other as the secondary. The secondary runs in warm mode, not collecting or sending data. The secondary monitors the primary to see if it goes offline. Once it does, the secondary turns on its flows and starts delivering data. This feature gives customers in critical environments an extra tool for reliability to reduce the loss of functionality and data in the event of a failure.
- Redundant MQTT Brokers. Both MQTT and Sparkplug connectors now support redundant MQTT brokers, making it easy to configure a backup broker if the primary broker goes down.
Expanded Connectivity
- Webhook Connector. The new Webhook Connector can receive HTTP POST/PUT calls with XML or JSON payloads and process this data as an input. Early customers are using this to collect new production order information from their SAP/ERP system, model it, and publish into their Unified Namespace (UNS). Another use case collects data from autonomous vehicle systems, models it, and publishes it to AWS for further analysis.
- Google Cloud Pub/Sub Connector. AWS, Azure, and Google are the big three cloud providers, and the new Google Cloud Pub/Sub Connector allows customers to easily publish factory data to Google Cloud.
- Apache Parquet Connector. Apache Parquet files store data in a compressed column format, unlike CSV that stores a row and text format. Although the file format has traditionally been used in cloud data lakes, it’s being used more in the factory and edge technologies to efficiently store high-frequency data like vibration and power consumption. The new connector supports inputs to read data from these files.
Enhancements
- Dynamic Inputs Expanded. Both SQL and REST Client inputs can now reference data from other inputs. As an example, consider a line processing order number 5586, and the order number is stored in the PLC. The REST Client input can reference the PLC tag value in the URL (ex. \erp\orders?orderid=5586) to query the ERP for the order information. Dynamic input queries are also now fully supported using the test read feature in the UI.
- Dynamic Outputs. MQTT and REST Client outputs now support the ability to dynamically create the MQTT topic or REST URL based on the data being output. As an example, if the model has a siteid field, the MQTT topic can include it (ex. \mytopic\@{this.siteid}\boiler), and siteid is substituted in the topic name. This reduces the number of outputs required and makes it easy to organize the MQTT namespace.
- REST Client Enhancements. The REST Client now supports OAuth authentication, as well as added support for XML input payloads, support for PUT commands, and the ability to trust self-signed certificates for HTTPS.
- SQL Updates. The SQL connections now support Update and Upsert commands for outputs, allowing the output to update or create new rows depending on if a column value exists.
- Expression Syntax Highlighting. Instance expressions now support syntax highlighting, making it easier to write and manage larger expressions.
- OPC UA Complex Values. OPC UA inputs can now be read as complex values, where the output includes the tag value, quality, and timestamp to be used in expressions or output to other systems.
- Certificate Synchronization. Central configuration mode now supports synchronizing certificates for connections. As an example, if an MQTT connection to AWS is using certificates for authentication, the certificates are sent along with the connection settings when synchronizing the connection to a remote Intelligence Hub instance, removing the need to manually move and install certificates.
Additional Resources
We hope you are as excited as we are about the new use cases we’ve enabled in HighByte Intelligence Hub version 2.1. This release provides users with a much more scalable and reliable tool to launch in production. To learn more, check out these additional resources:
- Watch a recording of the release webinar.
- Read the release notes for details on new features and fixes.
- Request a free trial or log in to your existing account to test the software in your unique environment.
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