Software Expands Asset-Management and Recovery Capabilities

The latest version of Rockwell Automation’s FactoryTalk AssetCentre software expands its asset-management and recovery capabilities to support several new types of production assets and protect them from security incidents and lifecycle risks. The new version also supports larger systems and can better protect communications between a user’s assets by using secure communications with FactoryTalk Linx and IPSec adoption.

Disaster-recovery support is now available for FactoryTalk View Site Edition human-machine interface (HMI) applications and Stratix-managed ethernet switches. Users can back up the current state of their custom HMI applications to avoid rebuilding them in the event of a system failure or disaster, minimizing downtime in the production system. They can also back up the configurations of their Stratix 5400, 5700, and 8000 switches, which can help avoid the long and complex process of reconfiguring managed switches following an incident.

Disaster recovery support is also now available for third-party software. The software’s custom-device plug-in capability can be used to automate third-party device-configuration software to do disaster recovery and backup and compare, when supported by the software.

Lifecycle status information is now accessible for Allen-Bradley I/O modules that are used with PLC, SLC 5000, MicroLogix, CompactLogix, and ControlLogix controllers. This information can help users stay on top of where their assets are in their lifecycles, so they can track risks like obsolescence and better plan their modernization strategies.

Source: Rockwell Automation