Belden Announces Horizon: New IT/OT Software Suite For IIoT Solutions

To stay competitive in the industrial automation world, you must be flexible with product lines to provide entire, long-lasting solutions. Belden is doing just that by announcing the release of the new Horizon software suite. Known for a long history of reliability in networking, connectivity, and cable management systems, Belden also has software and hardware solutions for industrial networking and cybersecurity.

 

Belden’s new Horizon software suite. Image used courtesy of Belden

 

Belden Horizon Software Suite

Data collection on industrial equipment can take many hours of setting up and licensing different software and databases, Belden hopes to reduce this process with software that can automate some of the process. The Horizon expansion of the existing Belden data engineering capabilities is a combination of real-time IT/OT data collection, wired and wireless data collection from different sources, and processing of data with the help of edge computing. The software works by automating and simplifying the manual operation of collecting and processing data. This data can then be accessed by dashboards or transferred onto cloud-based SaaS applications for further analysis.

 

Integration Into AWS

Amazon Web Services is a popular cloud-based service that offers software containers, databases, and many other features for industries to collect, analyze, and display data. The Horizon software integrates seamlessly into AWS, thus providing an end-to-end software solution for edge-to-cloud applications. Once Horizon is configured with AWS and data is collected from the factory floor into the cloud systems, users will be able to display data through customized dashboards and user-developed applications. The data and dashboards can be accessed remotely and securely without interrupting the manufacturing process.

 

Integration into Belden’s new Horizon software is easier with network devices like the OpEdge-8D edge gateway. Image used courtesy of Belden

 

Horizon Data Operations (BHDO)

Part of the Horizon software suite is the Data Operations application, which allows users to connect to various OT assets, convert protocols, and deploy AI and machine learning models on edge computers. The Data Operations software provides the tools required to monitor your equipment and predict when maintenance might be required on specific components.

 

Horizon Data Management (BHDM)

For larger factories that have entire buildings filled with equipment and want to collect data on all of it, the Data Management application takes care of multiple deployments of the Data Operations software. The BHDO software can be scaled and managed through the BHDM software from one location.

 

Horizon Data Console (BHC)

When management of multiple edge systems must be managed from remote locations, the Horizon Data Console cloud application steps in. The BHC is a web-based SaaS application that can securely scale, manage, and orchestrate edge infrastructures, all from a remote location.

 

Breaking Down Data Silos

For some manufacturers, data collection means stuffing data into a database and hopefully never having to look at it again. This style of data collection presents many issues and causes what is known as data silos. By using a software suite such as Belden’s Horizon, users will have the tool necessary to break down these silos and have remote access over a secure connection to monitor, configure, and scale edge computing capable of AI and machine learning.