Echelon i.LON SmartServer 2.0 - Manual (Page 42)

i.LON SmartServer 2.0 Programmer’s Reference 4-1
4 Using the SmartServer Data Server
The SmartServer’s internal Data Server is a software component that abstracts any data element of any
bus into a data point. This enables the SmartServer’s built-in applications and your custom
SmartServer Web pages to operate on these abstractions without regard of the device driver (e.g.,
L
ON W ORKS , Modbus, M-Bus, Virtual, and Freely Programmable Module [FPM]).
Data points provide the SmartServer applications and Web server with a generic, open way to handle
any piece of information in any type of network, such as the current value of a network variable in an
LNS-managed network, or an explicit message in a closed L
ON W ORKS system. The Data Server
handles all the details of these data point that are required by the various applications of the
SmartServer, such as how often a data point should be polled, its default value, its heartbeat, its current
status, and its current value.
At the Data Server layer, all data points have the same set of properties, regardless of the network or
device to which each data point is local. This is made possible by the drivers that exist for each data
point type, which handle communication between the Data Server and the physical network to which
each data point is local.
You can use a standard network management tool for the particular data point type to configure each
driver on the SmartServer. For example, you could use an LNS-based network management tool to
configure the data points on the SmartServer’s internal automated systems device (i.LON App). This
layer of abstraction between the drivers and the Data Server provides a mechanism for all SmartServer
applications to use data points of all types in the same way. The Data Server also ensures that the
configuration, status and value of each data point recognized by the tools you can use to configure the
SmartServer remain synchronized with each other, and within the device to which the data point is
local. The tools you can use to configure the SmartServer include custom SOAP applications, the
LonMaker tool, built-in SmartServer Web pages, and custom SmartServer Web pages.
The data elements that that can be abstracted by the Data Server include the following:
• The network variables and configuration properties on the SmartServer’s LON driver, which
include the following:
o The network variables and configuration properties on the SmartServer’s internal automated
systems device (Net/LON/i.LON App). The i.LON App device contains functional blocks
representing the SmartServer’s built-in applications. These data points were referred to as
NVLs in Version 3.0.
o The network variables and configuration properties of the L ON W ORKS devices connected to
the SmartServer. These data points were referred to as NVEs in Version 3.0.
o The system network variables on the SmartServer that maintain constant values for the
SmartServer’s built-in applications (e.g., Net/LON/iLON App/Alarm
Generator[0]/CompareDP). These data points were referred to as NVCs in Version 3.0.
• The registers of M-Bus and Modbus devices on the SmartServer’s M-Bus and Modbus drivers.
• The network variables on the SmartServer’s Virtual driver. This includes the network variables of
the SmartServer’s internal systems device (Net/VirtCh/i.LON System), which contain connection
manager and LonTalk statistics, and the network variables on Interoperable Self-Installation (ISI)
devices connected to the SmartServer. These data points were referred to as NVVs in Version 3.0.
• The network variables and configuration properties on custom FPM drivers created with the
i.LON SmartServer Programming Tools. You can use FPM drivers as gateways to legacy
systems or nonnative networks such as BACnet and CAN (requires an external interface, sold
separately)
. For more information on creating FPM drivers, see the i.LON SmartServer
Programming Tools User’s Guide.
The following figure shows the relationship between the buses supported by the SmartServer, the Data
Server, and the SmartServer’s built-in applications.