Display OPC UA local Data from PLC by VPN

Grafana Cloud
1

Hey , We would like do make a dashboard for our data from a PLC (distributed over OPC UA on our LAN).
We have a VPN connection we can connect to on that LAN or we can connect to that LAN when we are on site. Is there a way to use the Grafana Dashboarding locally or get to that Data?

We are about to install a VPN server but currently we are using IXON to act as IoT edge gateway.

We are new to grafana and we have the impression Grafana can only acces data in the cloud and not to local data over VPN. Or do we look over a plugin with some settings we need to configure extra?

For example: I can connect to the vpn and get acces to the data with the program “UAExpert” but this won’t work with the OPC UA plugin in Grafana.

1 Like
2

Welcome @robb529

I see no reason why you cannot use Grafana OSS to read a database that is accessible via a VPN. Probably even better would be to place the PC running Grafana on the same LAN as the PLC/OPC UA.

Just to clarify, will you use (or are you using) Grafana Cloud or Grafana OSS (i.e. on prem)?

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We are looking for the best solution to store and acces our data. Grafana Cloud and OSS are both an option.
Can I conclude that the easiest way would be to set a pc as server on the same LAN as the PLC/OPC UA with Grafana OSS.

Taking control of that PC over VPN would make it possible to monitor everything easily. Right?
And as a test and can set this up on my own PC if I am connected to the LAN or via VPN. But I don’t want my PC to act as server to store the data, so we let a fixed server PC do this.

Thanks anyway’s for the fast support!

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4

Here is what you can do…

  1. PLC/OPC UA data on LAN. Devices are not exposed to the internet.
  2. Store the PLC/OPC UA data in a database residing on the LAN (not sure if you are already doing this). Plenty of great choices.
  3. Set up Grafana OSS on the same LAN. You can open a port in your router/firewall to allow Grafana to be safely accessed outside your LAN. No need to use a VPN.
  4. Set up Grafana to view the datasource configured in step 2.

Enjoy browsing your data, receiving alerts, etc. from anywhere sans VPN.

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Welcome,

how is your data currently stored?

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Well, currently it is not stored. Actually I was hoping that maybe Grafana would be able to act as Server in a way. Both fetching the Data , storing this and getting the data when needed for a dashboard.

But it looks like we would need to install a Database ourself and store it there ourself.

1 Like
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Yep grafana is a presentation layer so like you said a database is your best option. Influxdb is very popular but a bit complex. Mysql is a good option