Use-cases
1. Safe, Risk-Free Development (The "No Dev on PROD" Policy)
Many companies enforce a strict policy against developing or testing on a live production server to prevent accidental downtime. However, developing SCADA screens, Perspective views, or complex scripts without real data is incredibly difficult.
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The Use Case: Developers can build, test, and troubleshoot new features on a dedicated Development (DEV) gateway using a live stream of real machine data. Because the module uses a one-way mirror and "fake drivers," developers can manipulate tags, trigger test alarms, and run heavy scripts on the DEV server with zero risk of impacting the physical PLCs or the live PROD gateway.
2. Seamless Code Migration (DEV to PROD)
Moving a finished project from a testing environment to the live plant floor often breaks tag paths if the testing environment used simulated tags with different names or structures.
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The Use Case: Because the mirroring module natively recreates the exact device names, folder structures, and OPC-Tag architectures on the destination gateway, a developer's code is instantly compatible with production. System Integrators can export screens, historical logging configurations, or scripts from the DEV server and import them directly into PROD without having to rewrite or re-link a single tag path.
3. Rapid Device Duplication & Simulation
Manually recreating complex PLC connections, network routes, and tag databases on a secondary server is time-consuming and can put unnecessary network load on the physical hardware.
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The Use Case: For automation engineers who need to quickly duplicate one or more devices for testing, they simply add the target device to the module's "whitelist" on the source gateway. The module handles the rest natively—instantly generating the fake driver and identical data stream on the secondary server without any manual configuration or double-polling the actual hardware.
4. Raw Data Forensics and Compliance
Certain highly regulated industries (like pharmaceuticals, aerospace, or food & beverage) require strict data auditing to prove compliance, investigate anomalies, or satisfy cyber-security frameworks.
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The Use Case: The module can be used to stream raw, unadulterated OPC tag data to a highly secure, isolated forensics or compliance server. Because the module captures the data before any Ignition processing, scaling, or scripting is applied to it, compliance teams are guaranteed a perfectly accurate, tamper-proof record of what the machine was actually outputting.
5. Load Testing and Performance Benchmarking
Before rolling out a massive new query, a heavy historical logging pipeline, or a complex Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) integration, IT teams need to know if the gateway can handle the load.
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The Use Case: Engineers can mirror the full weight of a factory's live data stream into a staging gateway. They can then stress-test the staging server with heavy database queries or high-client loads to find the breaking point—ensuring that when the update goes live, the production server won't crash.