How to set up a simple ftp site to download & manipulate data??

philhway

[FONT='PrimaSans BT,Verdana,sans-serif']Hi all,

I am looking to set up a simple remote data transmission system which will allow me to view and manipulate data (collected by a data logger in the field) from the office.

I am new to the area and am not very familiar with the terminology used....... basically I need to

1) Collect the data on site (I have a data logger - National Instruments cRIO 9074) - no problem there

2) Occassionally transmit it from the data logger in order to check up on the progress of the test - presumably I would need to use some sort of HSDPA modem which takes a sim card, with a router? (there's an ethernet port on the data logger)

3) Set up some sort of webpage which would allow me to download the data to my PC and copy it to something like excel so I can manipulate it - I've no idea where to start with this yet!

Any help, directions or comments on any of the above would be very much appreciated,

Thanks for any help,

Phil [/FONT]

Zab

Hey,

I'd say the first thing to do is figure out whether it's going to be enough to just expose the device to the internet. If you're going to allow incoming connections to the device then it's going to need some sort of in-built security. If it can periodically send its data to an IP address this could make things more secure on the remote site side at least and would mean you wouldn't have to open any ports. It would likely mean that you'd need a static IP address at your office or another location where the data can be sent.

It's possible that it won't be able to do any of this and you'll need a local computer in order to collect the data for transport to your office. I don't know anything about this cRIO device you're using.

After that you'll need a HSDPA router and provider. If you end up needing the incoming connections you'll need choose the provider carefully, they don't all allow this. Last I heard O2 did, but you'll have to verify this elsewhere. I'm assuming the datasets are small enough to be transferred over HSDPA.

Have you cracked the manual for the cRIO?

philhway

Hey,

Thanks for your post.

I'm new enough to the cRIO system myself (http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/203964), but I'm pretty sure that it can be set up to periodically send data rather than relying on an incoming signal, so hopefully that will solve that issue.

Yes, the datasets are pretty small (approx 5 measurements per minute over about 5 days) so I think I am correct that a HSDPA modem will be fine?

Sorry to ask for something so basic (but am a complete novice!).... can you give any guidance on what I would need to do in order to set up a static IP address up and running and what else I would need to do? (feel free to leave fairly rough descriptions and I'll go about researching them!)

Thanks again

Zab

If you configure the cRIO to send data somewhere it's likely to be an IP address or hostname. A lot of broadband packages assign IP addresses randomly via DHCP, which means you can't rely on your IP address staying constant. If this is the case with your ISP then they'll usually be able to offer you a static IP address either for free or at a small cost so ask your ISP. You could use dynamic DNS instead but a static IP would be more reliable.

From that page you linked the cRIOs certainly look capable, but probably non-trivial to configure. Who is going to configure your device? If it's somebody else then that's who you should be having this discussion with, if it's you then that's where you should be starting as the solution will depend totally on what the device is capable of doing. Otherwise we can only talk about connectivity in general.

There's also a question of budget and required reliability. Instead of having the cRIO report to your office you could have it report to somewhere with more reliable connectivity.

Assuming you're going for the cheapest solution then it would be something like: a PC configured in the office to collect the data. Static IP on the office broadband so the cRIO has somewhere to connect to. HSDPA router and sim on the site (this is assuming the location is out of range of other wireless broadband systems and doesn't have a telephone connection or anything). cRIO attached to HSDPA router.

philhway

Thanks Zab, this is all really useful and informative!

Would I be right in thinking that if I want to be able to download the data from places other than my office (say it was the weekend or something), that I could get a basic hosting package (I've been told blacknight or register365.com would be useful for this) and have the data logger send the data to this? (assuming they would supply me with a static IP). Is this relatively easy done?

I will be configuring the device with the aid of a National Instruments technician - I'm just trying to get a handle on what options there are for remotely transmitting & downloading etc (before he tells me that I need to buy lots of wonderful National Instruments hardware that will probably cost a multiple of the amount!!!)

(PS, you are correct - test sites will typically be remote and will not have access to telephone line or wireless broadband)

Thanks again for your help, much appreciated.

bhickey

philhway wrote: »

... I could get a basic hosting package (I've been told blacknight or register365.com would be useful for this) and have the data logger send the data to this? (assuming they would supply me with a static IP). Is this relatively easy done?

Yes, any basic hosting package will give you FTP access on a static IP or a resolvable hostname so you'll be able to get at it from anywhere,

philhway

Ok, thanks for all your help.