Echelon SmartServer 2.2 - Manual (Page 195)

196 Using the SmartServer as Network Management Tool
Network Management Overview
The SmartServer is a complete network management tool that you can use to design, install, maintain,
and monitor/control L
ON W ORKS , M-Bus, and Modbus control networks.
Designing L ON W ORKS , M-Bus, and Modbus control networks with the SmartServer entails creating,
configuring, and maintaining channels, devices, routers, functional blocks, data points, and
connections.
You install a network design by commissioning the devices on the network. Commissioning is a
process in which you acquire or enter the Neuron ID of the device, and then write network
configuration and application configuration data to the devices. Commissioning devices with the
SmartServer is simple. You select one or more devices to commission and then use the Smart Network
Management feature to have the SmartServer automatically commission the devices, download the
application images (if necessary) to the devices, set the devices’ applications online, load the device
interface (XIF) files, and write the devices’ default configuration property values.
After installing a network, you can use the SmartServer to perform network maintenance tasks such as
upgrading, replacing, decommissioning, and testing devices, and manually synchronizing the
SmartServer to an OpenLNS network database.
You can use the built-in applications on the SmartServer to monitor and control the network. The
SmartServer includes applications for data logging, alarming, scheduling, performing arithmetic and
logical calculations, and translating data types. To monitor and control a network, you copy data
points representing for instance, the state or value of devices, to the various built-in applications on the
SmartServer. You can then use the applications to perform monitoring and control tasks including the
following: poll and record data point values; set data point value limits that trigger an alarm and
e-mail alert when exceeded; and program data point values to be set to a specific value at a specific
time.
The subsequent sections describe how to use SmartServer to design, install, and maintain a network.
See chapters 6–11 in this guide for how to use the various SmartServer applications to monitor and
control a network.
Network Management Scenarios
You can manage a L ON W ORKS network using the SmartServer Web interface. In this case, you can
use the SmartServer as standalone network manager and design, install, and maintain your network in
the SmartServer tree, or you can use the LNS Proxy Web service as an OpenLNS network tool and
design, install, and maintain your network in the OpenLNS tree as you would with an OpenLNS
network tool.
You can also design, install, and maintain a L ON W ORKS network with OpenLNS CT, LNS Proxy Web
service, or another OpenLNS or LNS network tool and then synchronize the SmartServer with the
OpenLNS network database. Synchronizing the SmartServer lets you copy network variables in the
OpenLNS tree (OpenLNS network database) to the SmartServer tree (internal SmartServer database)
so that you can use the SmartServer tree to monitor and control the network. Additionally, you can use
the SmartServer tree as an OpenLNS network tool to install and maintain the network, if desired, or
you can perform these tasks exclusively with your OpenLNS network tool.
The following sections further describe and illustrate the three ways you can use the SmartServer to
manage a L
ON W ORKS network: standalone network manager, standalone OpenLNS network tool, and
synchronized OpenLNS tool.
Using the SmartServer as a Standalone Network Manager
You can use the SmartServer as a standalone network manager for designing, installing, and
maintaining a small (up to approximately 300 devices), single-channel network that does not require
OpenLNS services or connections to other network management tools. In standalone mode, the