Basic Steps for Configuring a N3uron Node

The following steps allow users to configure a N3uron node in order to collect data from field devices and share this data with other systems.

Step 1: Setup Modules to Activate Features

N3uron functionalities are enabled using modules. In order to use a specific feature, the corresponding module must be installed during the setup process and activated in the configuration settings. For example, the WebUI is a module that is automatically activated, making it instantly accessible as soon as the installation is complete. Since N3uron is a microservice-oriented architecture, each module runs as an independent process. Bootstrap is the core service that manages the rest of the processes.

Active functionalities or modules also require licensing. Each module requires a valid license to run in production mode. If a module doesn’t find a valid license, it will run in demo mode for one hour. In order to restart the demo period, the module must be restarted.

Step 2: Configuration of Data Source Modules (field connections)

This step involves configuring all connections with field devices and is only necessary for source modules that require field connections such as OPC UA client, OPC DA client, Modbus client, Siemens client, etc.

Step 3: Setup of Data Tags

In order to create tags, all main properties must be provided:

• Data format
• Scaling
• Data Source (pointing to a connection configured in the previous step)
• Alarms
• Historization

Once the tag has been created and the configuration has been saved, the real-time value of the tag will be available from the Real-Time menu.

Step 4: Configuration of Data Destination Modules

N3uron can output the collected data in several different ways:

• OPC UA server, Modbus server and DNP3 server.
• MQTT to Azure, Amazon Web Services or standard MQTT broker.
• Send data to Historian (based on MongoDB) or to a SQL database.
• REST API server providing real-time data, node status and historical data or REST API client.
• UFL connector to OSISoft PI (CSV files containing events).
• Data files in XML and CSV format (events and aggregated data).
• Send data securely through a data diode in critical installations.

Exchange data with other N3uron nodes securely and with Store&Forward mechanism using N3uron Links. 

Each N3uron node can exchange data with other nodes. When receiving connections from other nodes, the inbound connection should be configured. When connecting to other nodes, the outbound connection must be configured. See the chapter on N3uron Links for more information about N3uron Links.