Standards

The primary SCADA standard in is DNP3. DNP3 provides time stamping, which isn’t available in other protocols. But you also need to know if your systems are RoHS compliant (if required by government or your organization).

Customers looking into SCADA systems should also ask about IEC 61850. While 61850 is not a true protocol, many electrical SCADA vendors are moving towards it. 61850 is a modeling tool to handle incoming signals and data.

It's good practice to request that vendors include all protocols that are implemented (and versions) in the RFP/RFI.

Data management

·     Can I run redundant central masters (HMIs) for improved uptime and data redundancy?

·     Can I backup my database and history via FTP?

·     Do the vendor systems support popular encryption and authentication protocols such as  HTTPS/SSL, RADIUS and SNMPv3 (in telecom and IT environments).

Data Interchange

Questions around data interchange should be around the open and layered nature of the SCADA, supported data access technologies (ODBC, OPC, OLEDB, API), any natively supported applications that would complement the SCADA, the effect on the SCADA if data is regularly interchanged with external systems, if external systems need to write to the SCADA, and then, what are the options and how secure are they. Also consider:

·     Can the vendor output history logs to an industry-standard SQL database?

·     Can the vendor interact with your specific trouble ticketing system?

Additional resources…

Industry acronyms (Survalent)

Smart grid SCADA to continue steady growth; new leader emerging

From control center to optimization engine

SCADA channel on SGN

Research and Markets report: Industrial Wireless Sensor Networks (IWSN) Market - Global Forecast & Analysis (2012 - 2017)

SCADA Tutorial: A Fast Introduction to SCADA Fundamentals and Implementation

Case study: Arizona Electric Power Cooperative

Video case study: Bermuda Electric Light Company Limited (BELCO) Success Story

Wikipedia: SCADA

Talk Back to the Author

Current Comments (1)

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SCADA Article

This was a good article.

Subramanian Vadari - 07/18/2012 - 09:28

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