Data from Azure to OPC client

Question

I have a use case in which I want to publish data inside our Azure data environment to OPC UA clients in our factory. Basically, I am collecting data in the cloud from multiple sources, potentially do some processing / analytics on the data and want to present the result in an on-premise DCS/Scada environment so it integrates with the existing operator screens. Having an OPC UA Server running (for example using Azure IoT Edge) and having the DCS/Scada subscribe to this OPC UA Server (the DCS acting as client) seems to be a potential solutions for this.

I did come across the Azure OPC Publisher, however I can only find documentation on collecting data in the operational environment using OPC and sending it to Azure IoT Hub and not a return path in which I am sending data from Azure to the operational environment.

Am I missing something in the documentation and is OPC Publisher actually capable of acting as an OPC Server to the operational environment? If not, is there some other component I could use for this functionality?

Answer 1

Hello @Derk ,

Please look at the following diagram from Industrial-IoT what is explaining the different components as well as their tasks. OPC Twin might provide the functionality you are looking for. Alternatively, you could implement a custom solution receiving the information from the cloud and providing it to your SCADA system. While this might be done via OPC UA, I believe a local Edge database storing the results from the cloud processing and being integrated into your SCADA system could also be an option.