Product(s):	WaterSight
Version(s):	10.00.
Area:	Documentation

 

Overview

WaterSight requires an automatic live connection to utilities sensor data. WaterSight can connect to any type of system, SCADA or non-SCADA (any other IOT devices) and AMI systems, and this connection can be achieved:

• Connection to local data sources (ODBC, OLEDB, SQL server DB, Oracle DB, etc) - for this the installation of an on-premise tool call OpenFlows On-Site Data Coordinator (OFOSC) is required;
• OR using a Rest API Connection;

The OpenFlows On-Site Data Coordinator (OFOSC), commonly called the Data Pusher, is responsible to collect and transmit sensors data into OpenFlows WaterSight. The OFOSC is data agnostic, this means that can connect to any type of system, SCADA or non-SCADA (any other IOT devices), as long as it can access the data through a database connection, OPC or Citect Sources. The Data Pusher tool needs to be installed in a physical or virtual machine that has direct access to the sensors data sources. After being installed, the tool will run in the background as a service, and will collect and transmit the raw sensor data to Microsoft Azure Cloud, where they will be stored, processed and then used in OpenFlows WaterSight. 

Before installing the On-Premise tool, it is first required that a temporary WaterGEMS license is installed in the machine or server where the OFOSC will be installed (as a WaterGEMS model needs to be able to access sensors data sources). The connection with the database will be done using the SCADA Connect functionality of WaterGEMS. After the connection is done inside WaterGEMS, the On-Premise tool can be installed. See below some requirements. For more information and support, please reach your Bentley point of contact.

Data Pusher (OFOSC) - Types of connection

The Data Pusher can connect to the following data sources:

• ODBC
• OLEDB
• OPC HDA / OPC DA
• SQL Server Source
• Oracle Connection
• Access / Excel

Information that the utility needs to prepare (if database connection):

• Machine/Server: will need temporary access to a machine or server that has direct access to the sensors database. This machine or server needs to be turned on 24 hours/7 days:
  • Connection could be made, for example VPN connection (preferred way) or trough other remote-control tools (for example, Teamviewer or other) – username and password for that VPN connection or the credentials for remote desktop connection
  • Need the credentials (username and pass) to enter in the machine or server
  • Communication with WaterSight via our API through port 433 (https) only outbound traffic so that needs to be released.
• Database connection access
  • Server name (or IP)
  • Login (user)
  • Password
• Database information
  • Name of the database
  • Name of the table or view
  • Table needs to have at least the following columns: Sensor ID/tag, value and Timestamp

RestAPI Connection 

As an alternative to the Data Pusher, it is also possible to load data into WaterSight directly through a REST API connection without an on-premise component. For this case, the requirements are the following:

• The API must be publicly accessible (i.e. anyone can connect if they are authenticated, see below)
• Authentication credentials must be provided. These can be in the form of a Personal Access Token (PAT) (using Bearer Authentication) or a user and password (using Basic Authentication), so Bentley can authenticate in the API. The PAT or User/Password is by default sent in the "Authentication" header of the request and these credentials must be valid for the full duration of the pilot (it cannot expire sooner).
• The API must allow requesting data for a sensor (via a sensor id) and for a start date and an end date (these are the 3 minimum URL parameters you must have)
• The result of the response body must have, anywhere in the object tree, a list with pairs of instants and values (for the requested sensor and for the requested dates).

For other structures not described above, some additional customization may be required, and should be analysed by Bentley team. In this case please reach to your Bentley point of contact.

Server/Machine Recommended Requirements

• The machine must always be running 24 hours/7 days a week
• Minimum RAM recommended for operating system
• Minimum 4 Core CPU
• Disk space (3 GB initially) for OFOSC files and historical data back-fill 
• Windows 10 or a recent Windows Server
• Windows Service User account with Administrator privileges 
• .NET Framework installed (ideally)
• If the machine as limited access, make sure it allows the following connections through firewall:
  • connect-watersight.bentley.com
  • (connect-watersight-weu.bentley.com if hosted on Western European site)
  • Port 443
• Having WaterGEMS installed

 

See Also 

OpenFlows WaterSight TechNotes and FAQ's

Integration to non-relational databases thru OLEDB

WaterSight Learning Resources Guide