The data from various sensors is fed to the central control unit that runs the Scada software. Up to date information about every equipment is available in the computers that handles supervise and control all equipments.
The SCADA systems are being used even in nuclear facilities worldwide. These are in use in very large plants that depend entirely upon these for efficient control and working. These can handle hundreds of thousands of input output channels.
Scada system becomes complete with the support of various other components. Some of them are HMI interfaces, controllers and remote interfaces. The information from various equipments has to be supplied to the main computer.
The central system that controls the data is called master terminal unit or MTU. There are remote terminal units that are used to control the various remotely located devices and gather data from them.
Distributed Control Systems (DCS) are used in factories for control and data acquisition. These are used for confined locations and data is communicated via LANs. Closed loop control is used in such environments.
Open loop control is used in scada systems unlike the Distributed Control mechanism where closed loops are used. LANs are not the only communication links used here and equipments over a large area are controlled in such environments.
Penetration testing is required to secure the vulnerable systems and analyze them for any windows that can be exploited by hackers. Hackers may have different reasons to hack various important systems including power infrastructure. Terrorists may also exploit the various vulnerabilities.
The software and hardware used in supervisory control are monitored and tested for any windows that can be exploited by hackers. The communication is also monitored. Penetration testing is very important for security purposes.
Learn more about use of Scada Systems. Learn how Process Monitoring can be beneficial for you.
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