A SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) system is used to remotely monitor network infrastructure. A SCADA system allows users to monitor an entire plant or individual pieces of equipment and processes by collecting real-time data from various sensors throughout a network. It is very important for organizations to monitor these network activities, as doing so informs them of problems with their mission-critical processes. By monitoring these processes, organizations can quickly respond when there are problems within their network.

A SCADA monitoring system contains several components that, when combined, allow operators to monitor their network. A SCADA system designed to monitor a network includes alarm sensors, Remote Terminal Units (RTUs), SCADA master units, and the communication network.

These parts interact to allow the operator to monitor the system. By deploying advanced RTUs, operators can more effectively monitor mission-critical processes through both discrete and analog alarms. "Derived Controls" can also be programmed into these advanced RTUs, providing for instant reactions of the monitoring system in the event that user-specified alarm combinations occur.

Effective Monitoring Saves Repair Costs and Reduces Downtime
Here is an example of how a SCADA alarm monitoring system works to provide operators individual status notifications and alarms: Your SCADA system will most likely monitor thousands of individual sensors throughout your network. If two different sensors sent major alarms through the monitoring system, your SCADA master would be alerted. If, for example, one of these alarms indicated a power failure at a site, and another alarm indicated a battery failure at the same location, the RTU would receive these inputs, translate them, and forward them to the master. The monitoring system master would then react to this critical alarm combination with a user-specified control relay, such as activating the back-up generator at the related site, preventing a network failure. Effective monitoring saves significant expenditures on repairs and lost revenue due to network downtime.

These benefits make it crucial for operators to employ a system to thoroughly monitor their network. However, older SCADA systems are not capable of these control processes. Older systems can monitor the network, but they cannot respond to these monitored alarms using control relays. Instead, a network operator employed to monitor the network would have to manually respond to these alarms, which often involves substantial time and expense.

NetGuardian Allows Operators to Effectively Monitor Their Network
Deploying a SCADA system with NetGuardian 832A RTUs allows operators to monitor their network more effectively utilizing the most advanced monitoring technology. The NetGuardian supports up to 32 discrete alarms and 8 analog sensors. It also has 8 control relays for quick, remote response to user-specified combinations of alarm signals. This full-featured RTU allows operators to monitor a large number of sensors and set Derived Controls to automatically respond to certain Change-of-State (COS) events.

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