Industrial IT

The best of automation expertise and IT know-how

In the past, the office and automation networks were strictly separated from each other. Thus, contamination as well as spying or sabotage through the office network was impossible. Due to the increasing networking within company structures, the demand to obtain more information from the systems and the desire to be able to access the automation system remotely, the two worlds of IT and automation are increasingly merging. At the same time, the ever more rapid and fast-paced changes in IT technology contrast with the constant automation technology. The challenge here is to find the perfect mix of the IT world (maximum security) and the automation world (maximum availability) individually for our customers.

System hardening

To protect our customers and their systems from unauthorized access, it is necessary to configure the systems used in such a way that they comply with the current state of security.

This applies to Windows systems such as servers and clients, but also to network components such as switches, firewalls or routers. System hardening can be carried out for both virtual and physical systems and is also possible after the fact for an existing system. In this way, our IT experts increase the security of your system without compromising the ease of use. Based on our experience in the field of automation of sophisticated industrial plants, we know what is important to you in operation and support you in securing your plant to the maximum.

Virtualization

Virtualization means that several servers or clients (such as Engineering Station, Operator Station or Operator Client) can be operated simultaneously on a single virtualization server. The server virtually simulates the required hardware with all its functions. This not only saves costs in the procurement of expensive hardware, but also simplifies the maintenance of your systems. Upgrading and retooling in the event of increased performance requirements is also much less expensive than operating individual hardware servers.

Data gateway

Virtualization means that several servers or clients (such as Engineering Station, Operator Station or Operator Client) can be operated simultaneously on a single virtualization server. The server virtually simulates the required hardware with all its functions. This not only saves costs in the procurement of expensive hardware, but also simplifies the maintenance of your systems. Upgrading and retooling in the event of increased performance requirements is also much less expensive than operating individual hardware servers.

Maintenance

An IT system without maintenance is like driving a car without lights: you never know what’s coming! So that you are not left in the dark, our IT experts ensure that you do not experience any surprises. Maintenance concerns all IT components in use. This should be carried out regularly – we recommend quarterly. At the end of the maintenance, you will of course receive a clear evaluation of the result from us.

• Server and clients are kept permanently up-to-date by Windows updates (released by the manufacturer)
• Server and clients are kept permanently up-to-date by Windows updates (released by the manufacturer)
• You receive a backup of the components used and thus enjoy the advantage that you can simply restore the backed-up status of your compenents in the event of a necessary replacement. This saves work and therefore time!
• Dormant problems that do not come to light during operation are brought to light by checking the so-called system log files.

IT documentation

How will you respond to product alerts if you don’t know for sure if you are affected?

With our IT documentation, we provide you with a list of the affected components in your system, how they are configured and what firmware versions they have. Both the network components and the computer systems are recorded, i.e..:

all network components (routers, switches, firewalls, controllers) in your system with

• Serial number
• Hardware revision
• Software revision
• IP address

and all computer systems in your plant with

• Computer properties like BIOS version or operating system
• Security settings
• Network configuration
• Additionally installed software