The Port in Amersfoort, NL
The FDT Group Board of Directors has approved the immediate transition of the new browser and server-based FITS architecture to a fully platform independent server architecture. This means that our developer’s common components, previously built on the Microsoft .NET Framework, will be immediately ported to a pure .NET Core and .NET Standard implementation. By doing so, the FDT Server supporting the FITS architecture can run on a Microsoft, Linux, or macOS based operating system. Since the user interface can be securely viewed with any major web browser running on any operating system, the entire FITS standard is therefore entirely platform independent.
The significance of this development cannot be overstated, as the secure deployment and application scenarios become nearly unlimited. Cloud-based FDT Servers can enjoy the performance and cost benefit of a Linux operating system. Traditional control system vendors can offer the FDT Server embedded in their hardware. Machine builders can deploy a small Linux-based FDT Server offering a comprehensive pre-configured asset management system for their skid that can be securely accessed remotely or with smart phones or browsers. MES applications can incorporate an FDT Server in order to gain secure, direct access to production data and asset health and availability metrics through OPC UA. Service Providers can wrap services around an FDT Server that is delivered in an industrial hardened Linux box. And the opportunities for cost savings and value creation goes on due to the highly flexible deployment options of the FITS standard.
The Board is very grateful for the investigation and prototyping by our Architecture and Specification Working Group that led to this decision. The only deleterious effect of this decision is a delay of approximately six months for the release of the new FITS standard. Given the value delivered through full platform independence, this is a small, short-term trade off that will pay off in huge dividends.
