1. Crimson® 3.1 Updates
January 2019

2. General Notes and Schedule
There are a total of 25 feature additions and 12 updates in this release
Monday
Update posted to
Internal from Paul Marsh once published
Tuesday
Press release sent to trade publications
YouTube videos posted
announcement
Wednesday
Social media posts to drive traffic to web and videos
4/3/2019

3. Key Feature Additions & Enhancements
OPC UA Client Driver
OPC UA Historical Access
MQTT Connector for Google Cloud
Store and Forward Buffering for Cloud Connectors
Variable Number of Tag Sets for Cloud Connectors

4. OPC UA Client Driver Product Feature Available? The Basics Learn More
With just a few clicks, Crimson 3.1 gathers the data model and attributes for the OPC UA server the client will connect to
On products that also support OPC UA server, they can act as a client simultaneously
OPC UA supports text strings; however in this first release, please note our OPC UA client driver will not accept text strings from an OPC UA server.
Product
Feature Available?
DA10D
Yes
DA30D
Graphite® HMIs
Graphite Edge Controller
CR1000 HMI No
CR3000 HMI
Why it Matters
Other OPC UA clients may only allow access to a preexisting list of data items. We will create a list based on whatever is available from the OPC UA server, with literally two clicks of a mouse.
This simplifies system architectures, increases scalability and accelerates data integration initiatives with no additional hardware or expensive software customization required
The overwhelming majority of data being served up from an OPC UA server are numerical values; we believe this should not be a significant impact.
Learn More
OPC UA client driver tech note
Two YouTube videos
How to set up the OPC UA client driver
How to configure a Crimson 3.1 device to act as both an OPC UA server and OPC UA client
4/3/2019

5. Where to Find it in Crimson 3.1
Click on one of the Protocols under “Network” in the Navigation Pane
In the Driver Selection area of the Editing Pane, click on Pick…
Scroll to “O” in the Manufacturer side of the dialog box
4/3/2019

6. Capture Rich Data Model Attributes with Just Two Clicks
Click the “Download Data Model from Device” to gather all the available data attributes from the target OPC UA server
Create a file name and click “Save” to save the data model and simultaneously connect it to the Crimson database
OPC UA Server’s IP Address 1 2
4/3/2019

7. Connecting OPC UA Server Data to Client Data Tags
With drag-and-drop simplicity, select the available OPC UA server data object you wish to connect to an OPC UA client data tag, and drop it into the Data Source area of the Editing Pane
4/3/2019

8. OPC UA Historical Access
The Basics
The OPC UA server can be configured to store historical data so that readings can be recovered upon the restoration of a lost connection to the server
This feature is not intended to support the random browsing of data
When setting this up, consider memory card size when selecting sample rate. This is not recommended for use concurrently with cloud connector store-and-forward buffering, as both may require significant memory, depending on how they’re configured.
Product
Feature Available?
DA10D
No (no SD card)
DA30D
Yes
Graphite® HMIs
Graphite Edge Controller
CR1000 HMI
CR3000 HMI
Why it Matters
OPC UA Historical Access adds resiliency to a system in the case of communication disruption with OPC UA clients.
This is normal for OPC UA applications; a client (like OSIsoft PI Historian) will read any missing data items and then return to accepting published data.
Learn More
Crimson 3.1 Manual
Customers may know Historical Access as “HDA”, which stood for “historical data access” – the previous term in the OPC UA standard.
4/3/2019

9. Where to Find it in Crimson 3.1
Select OPC UA Server from the Services area of the Navigation Pane
In the Editing Pane, go to the Historic Data section to enable it, set a sampling rate and establish a disk usage limit
4/3/2019

10. Crimson Connector for Google Cloud
The Basics
We are continuing to add to the list of elegantly simple cloud connectors available in Crimson 3.1
Product
Feature Available?
DA10D
Yes
DA30D
Graphite® HMIs
Graphite Edge Controller
CR1000 HMI No
CR3000 HMI
Why it Matters
Red Lion is invested in enabling customers’ IIoT initiatives with simple, easy-to-use connectivity solutions
We have seen a number of customers in the Oil & Gas industry interested in (or already working with) Google Cloud. Talk with your customers about their cloud considerations and let them know we have many options available.
Learn More
Google Cloud Connector tech doc
4/3/2019

11. Store-and-Forward Buffering for Crimson Cloud Connectors
The Basics
Cloud connectors can be configured to buffer data within the device when a connection to the cloud platform is not available.
This feature has two options – buffer to memory or to the SD card (disk-based mode).
When setting this up, consider memory card size when selecting sample rate. This is not recommended for use concurrently with Historical Access, as both may require significant storage space, depending on how they’re configured.
Product
Feature Available?
DA10D No
DA30D
Yes
Graphite® HMIs
Graphite Edge Controller
CR1000 HMI
CR3000 HMI
Why it Matters
Cloud connector buffering adds resiliency (the ability for a system to recover from failures and continue to function) to a system
In memory mode, the connector will buffer up to 14,400 values. In disk-based mode, the buffered data will be available even after a power cycle, and the connector will attempt to buffer until it runs out of disk space.
Learn More
Crimson 3.1 Manual: 18.2, Data Buffering
If this option isn’t configured, no samples are stored and at reconnection, only the latest values will be pushed.
4/3/2019

12. Where to Find it in Crimson 3.1
Choose the Connector you wish to configure in the Communications area of the Navigation Pane
On the Service tab, under Operation, select from one of three options in the Data Buffering area.
4/3/2019

13. Variable Number of Tag Sets
The Basics
When originally released, users could create up to four sets of data tags, each to be sent at different intervals or triggering events.
Users now have the ability to define up to 30 tag sets within a cloud connector
Product
Feature Available?
DA10D
Yes
DA30D
Graphite® HMIs
Graphite Edge Controller
CR1000 HMI No
CR3000 HMI
Why it Matters
Users may have data they want to send in near real time, while others they only want to send if certain triggering events occur. Using our intuitive Crimson interface, users have even more flexibility in how and when to send data to their cloud platform of choice.
Learn More
Crimson 3.1 Manual: , Connector Settings
YouTube video
4/3/2019

14. Crimson 3.1 Core Feature Comparison
DA10D
DA30D
Graphite®
SD Card No
Yes
Data logging
Web server
SQL queries
OPC UA server
OPC UA client
OPC UA historical access
No (no SD card)
Cloud connectors
Cloud connector buffering to memory or SD card