Move data where you need it with the Data Services menu, the latest in our 12-part video series on groov Manage.

Opto 22 was an early adopter of MQTT—implementing it right out of the gate when groov EPIC was released just over 5 years ago. And did you know that back in the day, Opto 22 was not only one of the founding members of OPC, but also that version 1.0 of the OPC specification was ratified around the granite table in the Opto 22 headquarters' conference room? 

With this history in mind, you'll see why we're excited to talk about the Data Service options you'll find in groov Manage. This is where you choose the methods and protocols to move your data where you need it. Follow along with groov Manage: Data Services.

Opto 22 has always been about liberating your industrial control data. Back in 2016, we were arguably the first manufacturer of PACs to offer a RESTful API—giving secure access to control variables and I/O data in the PAC using your programming language of choice. No proprietary cables or protocols. Just Ethernet and REST. 

It’s no different today. The Data Services menu option is the gateway to data democratization—the command and control center for moving data in and out of your groov device. Here are some of your options.

For a quick start, MQTT is an industrial protocol that was invented for use in the oil and gas industry. Perfect for moving a small handful of tags, it is a widely supported, lightweight protocol with a rapidly growing user base as people come to see its many benefits.

If you need to step things up and support tags numbering from the 50s to millions, then MQTT Sparkplug—with its well-defined topic namespace, tag metadata, Google Protobuf compression, and report-by-exception transmission—is well designed to share data simply while reducing network data costs. Additionally, it supports store-and-forward in the event of a network outage.

While it may have a larger network footprint than MQTT or Sparkplug, there is no question that OPC UA is well entrenched in the industrial automation world. Any groov device can be configured as an OPC UA server to allow controller tag and I/O data to be requested from any authorized OPC UA client.

And as if just having the choice of MQTT and OPC UA was not enough, you can actually run both at the same time! 

In the groov Manage Data Services menu, you can choose to use MQTT, Sparkplug, OPC UA, REST, or Modbus TCP.  When it comes to liberating your data, Opto 22 has got your back.

Next week we will be checking out what the groov View menu is all about.

And remember, if you'd like to watch all these menu options explained in one video, you can watch groov Manage: The Complete Overview.

Till then.

Cheers Mate.
-Ben