Architecture Overview

OPC Unified Architecture (UA) is a robust, scalable, flexible, and secure protocol used for exchanging information between industrial automation and control systems, and is well suited for IoT (Internet of Things) applications. OPC UA replaces the widely used OPC DCOM based standard (also called OPC Classic) and is designed to interoperate with existing OPC Classic installations. OPC UA is a true industrial interoperability standard for the Internet age.

Both OPC and OPC UA were developed by the not-for-profit OPC Foundation, which makes specifications for OPC UA available. For more detailed information on OPC UA, refer to the OPC Foundation web site: https://opcfoundation.org/

How the iFIX OPC UA Works

Applications that use the OPC UA protocol have a client/server relationship. You can think of the iFIX OPC Servers as being producers of information, and OPC clients as being consumers:

• The iFIX OPC UA Server has data and alarms which are made available to other computers.
• The OPC UA client connects to the iFIX OPC UA Server to gain access to the data and alarms.

Since the OPC UA Server and OPC UA client are simply programs or applications, they can run on the same computer or different computers.