System Deployment

MIMTIS can be securely deployed and scaled to support thousands of assets and users. MIMTIS is a truly enterprise class machine-to-machine (M2M) suite designed to support distributed deployment. This allows local instances (Local Terminal Units) or gateway/RTU to be installed at the site to consolidate data and transmit it to the central server (Main Terminal Unit), reducing communication costs and control delays.

Field Deployment
Server Deployment

Field Deployment

MIMTIS supports a wide range of hardware devices and protocols in a distributed application environment. At deployment, decisions should be based on following criteria:

Node selection

Nodes collect real world data and send them across to their master (central server in most cases) for processing and storage. Deployments spread over large geographical areas might prefer to have individual GPRS/CDMA nodes while medium - large deployments in a localized area might prefer to have numerous nodes with a Gateway / RTU or LTU to consolidate communication to central server. Such considerations along with decisions about communication medium and protocols play an important role in selection of nodes.

Communication medium

Choice of communication medium impacts the selection of RTUs and gateways. Communication medium can be chosen from, but is not limited to:

Wired – Ethernet, Serial
Wireless – Zigbee
Cellular – GPRS/CDMA

Communication Protocols

It is important to choose an appropriate protocol keeping in view various factors like speed, reliability, geographic spread and long term costs. MIMTIS supports TCP/IP, Modbus TCP, Modbus RTU, Modbus ASCII, Serial protocols. Support for custom or additional protocols is being implemented.

Devices and sensors

MIMTIS supports a wide range of devices. Simple analog channels and DIOs are supported out of the box. Complex devices that measure multiple parameters and perform calculations on the fly are also supported, with the list continuously expanding. MIMTIS offers customized development of drivers to support any specific hardware that offers benefit to a particular customer. Complex devices are typically deployed for the benefits they offer by:

Reducing costs
Reducing wiring and power requirements
Reducing points of failure, thereby making system more stable
Reducing software complexity by performing certain calculations in real-time
Enabling real-time preventive control actions

Power supplies

Most devices run on DC power supply. AC to DC converters can be used in location where only AC power is available. For remote locations, solar energy can be used to generate DC power for running the hardware.

MIMTIS Server Deployment

MIMTIS has been conceptualized and designed for meeting varied customer requirements. At the lower end, the entire system can be setup on a single physical server. For larger and more complex projects, various components can be distributed across multiple physical servers to achieve scale. The main components are:

Load balancer

Both low end software load balancers and high end hardware load balancers are supported. The deployment can also start off with the software load balancers initially and migrate to hardware load balancers when the need arises.

Web servers

Static content can be served through web servers (e.g. Apache) for speed and caching. As the simplest case, an Apache server can be used as a web server balancing load across numerous application servers. A number of web servers spread over multiple machines can be used to serve high loads.

Application servers

MIMTIS is built on open source Rails application server. A typical server class machine can easily support a cluster of 5-10 instances. The cluster can also be spread over multiple physical machines to scale horizontally.

Database

MIMTIS uses open source MySQL database, by default. Custom deployment of other commercial databases can also be done on need basis. In a high end setup, the database can utilize SAN and scale to support large volume of transactions.

Middleware and software gateways

Certain RTUs require a software gateway running on the server to convert data protocols. These gateways can be setup on the same server or on a separate server. The gateways do not have direct access to the application servers, they always communicate through the existing load balancer – web server channel. This is done to avoid creating a special channel which can potentially compromise on security. Middleware manages the complexity and heterogeneity inherent in distributed monitoring and control system. It provides a common programming abstraction across a distributed and varied range of hardware gateways and applications.

Security

Network – Basic network security should be provided by the hosting vendor.

Firewalls – Depending on the physical setup and server deployments, the system can be locked down and firewalls can be placed at appropriate points to prevent intrusion. Most hardware load balancers have an inbuilt firewall. These can be utilized or specialized hardware firewalls can also be deployed. Additional firewall can be deployed between the web server and application server layers to prevent intrusion and protect the database from deeper attacks.

SSL – SSL can be used to ensure secure communication channel between the browser HMI and the MIMTIS server. This prevents third party snooping of the HTTP data.

Encryption – Communication between RTUs and the MIMTIS server is encrypted. Most hardwares support this functionality. Certain RTUs also have a firewall to prevent direct attacks on them. This is especially useful on devices that can be remotely configured. Note: Certain low end devices do not support encryption and should only be used where raw, unprocessed data is not very critical.

Authentication – MIMTIS does not display any data without logging in. All the data is secure behind an authentication layer.

Role restrictions – MIMTIS gives administrative rights to a select group of users. The other users do not have access to screens used to setup and modify data.

Auditing – Changes made to the system by the administrators are logged and visible to all administrators. This helps in fixing individual responsibility for errors and in fixing issues.