What Is KEPServerEX?
KEPServerEX is the industry’s leading connectivity platform that provides a single source of industrial automation data to all your applications. Users can connect, manage, monitor, and control diverse automation devices and software applications through one intuitive user interface. KEPServerEX leverages OPC (the automation industry’s standard for interoperability) and IT-centric communication protocols (such as SNMP, ODBC, and web services) to provide users with a single source for industrial data.
Accessibility
Kepware provides data access for industrial client applications (such as MES and SCADA) and IoT (Internet of Things) and big data analytics software via OPC, proprietary protocols, and IT protocols.
Optimization
Kepware optimizes communications and reduces network and device load via data conditioning and reduction, and protocol-specific optimization.
Connectivity
Kepware drivers support a broad range of protocols found in various verticals, wired and wireless networks, databases, custom software applications, and OPC servers.
Aggregation
Kepware simplifies connected application configuration by providing a single point of entry to all information—eliminating the need for multiple solutions for discrete connectivity.
Security
Kepware offers tools to control user server access, data source, or data values, regulate read/write access, connect or disconnect client applications, and configure secure data tunnels.
Diagnostics
Kepware isolates device and application communications for troubleshooting, offering OPC diagnostics for real-time and historical views of OPC events.
KEPServerEX: Technology for Today’s Connected Industrial Enterprise
A single source of industrial automation data for all your applications, KEPServerEX provides critical technical features that enable accessibility, aggregation, optimization, connectivity, security, and diagnostics. Explore the latest features and enhancements that make KEPServerEX enterprise-ready and IoT-friendly.
KEPServerEX provides a wide range of connectivity options for client applications, including industry standards, proprietary technologies, and native client interfaces. This allows businesses to connect their automation devices and software applications to KEPServerEX and seamlessly share data.
Some of the supported connectivity options include:
- DDE Native Interface
- FastDDE/SuiteLink Native Client Interface
- iFIX Native Client Interface
- MQTT
- ODBC
- OPC Alarms and Events (AE)
- OPC Data Access (DA)
- OPC Historical Data Access (HDA)
- OPC Unified Architecture (UA)
- REST
- SNMP
- Splunk
- Thin-Client Terminal Server
This
comprehensive list of connectivity options ensures that businesses can connect their devices and applications to KEPServerEX, regardless of their specific needs.
The Configuration API is a REST-based API that allows you to programmatically make changes to KEPServerEX configuration. This can be done from third-party client applications, such as web clients, SCADA software that supports HTTP, and IoT platforms.
The Configuration API offers a number of features that can help you to streamline your KEPServerEX projects, including:
- Programmatic object management: You can programmatically create, read, update, and delete objects in KEPServerEX, such as channels, devices, and tags.
- Simplified project creation: You can programmatically build project files or load full projects from a mapped file directory.
- Batch tasks: You can perform multiple tasks in a single transaction, such as creating an object with a child hierarchy or creating multiple objects.
- Programmatic access: You can programmatically access the Event Log, configure drivers, and manage users and permissions.
- Configuration security: You can protect the project configuration by restricting modifications by role.
To learn more about the Configuration API, sample Configuration API code today.
Kepware offers localizations of its top-tier drivers and core components for Japanese, German, and Simplified Chinese. This means that users who speak these languages can configure, monitor, and troubleshoot KEPServerEX with greater ease and confidence.
Language selection is easy to access, and users can change their preferred language at any time. Japanese, German, and Simplified Chinese localizations are installed by default where available.
The following drivers have been localized:
- Allen-Bradley
- MODBUS
- Mitsubishi
- OMRON
- Siemens
The following non-driver items have been localized:
- Administrative Panel
- Configuration Utility
- Connection Sharing
- Help Documentation
- Event Logs
- Installation support
For a full list of localized items, please visit the Kepware website.
Media Level Redundancy (MLR) is a feature of KEPServerEX that allows you to establish a redundant connection to a single device or a pairing of two devices. This ensures reliable communications with critical assets in the event of a failure.
MLR supports two types of redundancy:
- Communications Path Redundancy: This type of redundancy provides multiple network paths to communicate to a critical device. If one path fails, the other path will take over seamlessly.
- Device Pair Redundancy: This type of redundancy configures two devices as a redundant unit. If one device fails, the other device will take over seamlessly.
MLR can be used to eliminate single points of failure in your automation system, ensuring that your critical data is always available.
Kepware’s OPC tunneling solution is a client/server architecture that allows for secure and reliable real-time data tunneling through firewalls and across the internet, WAN, or LAN. It eliminates the reliance on Microsoft COM and DCOM technology, making it easier to set up and configure than DCOM.
OPC tunneling offers a number of benefits, including:
- Easy setup: OPC tunneling is easier to set up and configure than DCOM.
- Firewall friendly: OPC tunneling can easily tunnel through firewalls to share data between OPCs.
- Widely compatible: OPC tunneling is compatible with a wide range of client interfaces and devices.
- Secure: OPC tunneling uses 256-bit AES message signing and encryption to provide secure and reliable data transfer.
- Scalable: OPC tunneling is scalable and reliable, thanks to its multi-threaded architecture and non-blocking asynchronous messaging.
If you are looking for a secure and reliable way to tunnel OPC data through firewalls, Kepware’s OPC tunneling solution is a great option.
Kepware’s KEPServerEX Security Policies is a powerful tool that allows administrators to secure OPC data and projects by assigning security access permissions on individual objects (such as channels, devices, and tags) based on user roles. It is included with KEPServerEX, no additional purchases required.
The Security Policies tool allows you to:
- Allow or deny dynamic tag addressing
- Organize security policies by user groups
- Support for the following user group access categories:
- Dynamic Addressing
- I/O Tags
- System Tags
- Internal Tags
- Browsing
- Support for the following user group permission types:
- Read
- Write
- Browse
- View and locate prior changes through the advanced plug-in interface’s font styling hierarchy and color scheme
- Copy permissions for the current access category to/from a user group
- Move permissions for the current access category to/from a user group
The Security Policies tool is a valuable asset for any organization that wants to secure their OPC data and projects. It is easy to use and provides a wide range of features, making it a powerful tool for securing your industrial automation data.
The ThingWorx Native Interface for KEPServerEX is a powerful tool that allows you to easily connect your KEPServerEX data to ThingWorx. With minimal configuration required, the ThingWorx Native Interface can be implemented in less than ten minutes, enabling unparalleled time-to-value for IoT applications across diverse industries.
Once the ThingWorx Native Interface is set up, all the data in KEPServerEX is immediately available to browse within the ThingWorx Composer. This means that you can easily manage tags for all your connected Things, visualize and analyze data, kick off events in other systems, and more.
The ThingWorx Native Interface also offers a number of key benefits, including:
- Remote Project Loading: You can easily deploy KEPServerEX projects remotely, while editing network settings, configuring and managing KEPServerEX instances from a single ThingWorx interface.
- Store and Forward: You can seamlessly transfer data between KEPServerEX and ThingWorx, even in the event of a communication loss or unstable connection.
- Proxy Support: You can connect KEPServerEX to ThingWorx via a proxy in order to implement network and security best practices when connecting to the cloud or via a wide area network (WAN).
If you are looking for a powerful and easy-to-use way to connect your KEPServerEX data to ThingWorx, the ThingWorx Native Interface is a great option.
Frequently Asked Questions
The following frequently asked questions (FAQs) can help you navigate the KEPServerEX product offerings.
When purchasing KEPServerEX, there is no specific line item or cost associated with the software itself. Instead, KEPServerEX is sold “à la carte” based on the different drivers and advanced plug-ins needed to establish the desired communications. The price of KEPServerEX is determined by the number and type of drivers and plug-ins that you need.
For example, if you only need a driver for a single device, the price of KEPServerEX will be relatively low. However, if you need drivers for multiple devices or advanced plug-ins, the price of KEPServerEX will be higher.
The pricing for KEPServerEX is transparent and easy to understand. You can view the pricing for all of the drivers and plug-ins on the Kepware website.
Benefits of the à la carte pricing model
The à la carte pricing model has a number of benefits, including:
- Flexibility: You only pay for the drivers and plug-ins that you need, so you can save money if you only need a limited set of features.
- Scalability: You can easily scale your KEPServerEX deployment by adding or removing drivers and plug-ins as needed.
- Transparency: The pricing for all of the drivers and plug-ins is clearly listed on the Kepware website, so you can easily compare prices and make an informed decision.
Conclusion
The à la carte pricing model is a cost-effective way to purchase KEPServerEX. It is flexible, scalable, and transparent, so you can easily compare prices and make an informed decision.
KEPServerEX is more than an OPC server—it’s a connectivity platform for industrial automation and IoT. It provides a single source of industrial automation data to all your applications, enabling you to connect, manage, monitor, and control diverse automation devices and software applications through one intuitive user interface.
KEPServerEX includes a library of more than 150 device drivers, client drivers, and advanced plug-ins to fit the communication requirements unique to your industrial control system.
What is a suite?
A suite is a collection of drivers and advanced plug-ins for KEPServerEX. These products have been bundled into suites by vertical industry, device manufacturer, or industrial application for the convenience of our customers. Suites can be licensed on demand as connectivity needs evolve.
What is a driver?
A driver is a software component that enables KEPServerEX to meet the connectivity requirements of a specific device, system, or other data source. The driver handles all proprietary communications to the data source for KEPServerEX; the client interfaces handle all supported OPC, proprietary, and open standards connectivity to applications that monitor or control the devices. Drivers can be licensed individually or in suites. Additional drivers can be licensed on demand as connectivity needs evolve.
What is an advanced plug-in?
An advanced plug-in extends the capabilities of the KEPServerEX connectivity platform. It provides enhanced server functionality, increasing the usefulness of data by transforming it beyond raw data in a device register. Advanced plug-ins can be licensed individually or as part of suites, and can be licensed on demand as connectivity needs evolve.
Conclusion
KEPServerEX is a powerful and versatile connectivity platform that can help you connect, manage, monitor, and control your industrial automation devices and software applications. With its wide range of drivers, plug-ins, and suites, KEPServerEX can meet the needs of a wide variety of industrial automation applications.
The majority of our products are not sold with a limit on the number of devices or tags that can be connected. However, there are a few products that are sold on a tiered basis, meaning that the price of the product increases as the number of devices or tags connected increases.
If you are unsure whether a particular product is sold on a tiered basis, please feel free to contact us and we will be happy to help you identify the right product for your needs.
Kepware products are currently licensed on a permanent basis. This means that once you have purchased a Kepware product, you do not have to purchase it again. The license is yours to keep, even if you upgrade or change your computer.
This is in contrast to some other software products, which are licensed on a subscription basis. With a subscription-based product, you have to renew your license every year or so. If you don’t renew your subscription, you won’t be able to use the product anymore.
The permanent licensing model is a great benefit for Kepware customers. It means that you can invest in Kepware products with confidence, knowing that you will be able to use them for years to come.
A Support & Maintenance Agreement (SMA) is mandatory for the first year of ownership of a Kepware product. However, extending your SMA is strongly encouraged, as it provides you with a number of benefits, including:
- Ongoing access to our Technical Support team: Our Technical Support team is available 24/7 to help you with any problems you may encounter with your Kepware products.
- Upgrades to the latest version of KEPServerEX: Kepware releases new versions of KEPServerEX two times a year. Extending your SMA ensures that you will always have access to the latest features and bug fixes.
- Peace of mind: Knowing that you have access to Technical Support and upgrades can give you peace of mind, knowing that your Kepware products are always up to date and running smoothly.
Conclusion
Extending your SMA is a wise investment that can help you get the most out of your Kepware products. If you are considering extending your SMA, please contact us to learn more about the benefits and to discuss your specific needs.
KEPServerEX products are licensed on a per server basis. This means that each server that you want to use KEPServerEX on needs its own license. For example, if you have two servers that need to utilize our Allen-Bradley Suite, you would need to purchase two Allen-Bradley Suite Suite product licenses—one for each instance of KEPServerEX.
Whether you are an existing PTC Kepware customer or if you are just starting your connectivity journey, a subscription plan is available that offers a number of benefits, including:
- Seamless upgrades along with maintenance and security updates: This means that you will always have access to the latest features and bug fixes, without having to worry about manually updating your software.
- A single type of license environment to manage: This can help to minimize IT and administrative burden, as you will only need to manage one type of license.
- Bundled support and maintenance: This means that you will always have access to technical support, even if you are not under an active Support & Maintenance Agreement (SMA).
- Long-term pricing benefits for your entire installation: This means that you can lock in your pricing for the long term, and you will be able to scale your subscription up or down as needed.
To learn more about how a Kepware subscription plan can benefit your current or future Kepware implementation, please visit our Kepware subscription value chain guide.