The ei3 SERVICE platform was designed so that each machine device has its own unique address within ei3. Local machine IP addresses are translated to “Argo IPs” using Network Address Translation, or NAT. This approach allows devices on machines to be manipulated by control programs like PC-Anywhere, VNC, web browsers, and other software. A notable example is special purpose software called SIMATIC STEP 7, designed for use with Siemens PLCs.
Most software has been designed to be completely insensitive to NAT and works well when using Argo IP addresses within ei3. Some software, however, can be very sensitive to the effects of NAT. For example, when the PLC has an Ethernet connection, SIMATIC STEP 7 will try to use the local IP address of the PLC on the machine rather than the Argo IP address, and some operations will then fail when using the program with an ei3 SERVICE connection.
Enodia solves this problem by allowing the user to always address the machine device by its local address on the machine. So, when used in conjunction with an ei3 SERVICE session, Enodia transparently transforms the local IP address of a device on the machine to the Argo IP address for communication purposes, yet allows any software to communicate with the device using the local IP address for device control, programming, or management.
Because of the interest in using STEP 7 for remote service purposes over ei3, this document focuses on using Enodia with STEP 7 and Siemens Ethernet-enabled PLCs. However, Enodia can be used with any software designed to be used to communicate with machine devices. Enodia is a universal SERVICE Helper.
Please see attached document for more details about how to download, configure and use Enodia.
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