Instructions

UM-0085-B09 DT80 Range User Manual Page 205
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Part L – Network
Communications
TCP/IP Concepts
About TCP/IP
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) is a standardised set of rules, or protocols, that allow
computers to talk to each other. TCP/IP is the glue that holds the Internet together.
Most of the TCP/IP based protocols revolve around the concept of a server providing services to a client. Servers and
clients are software modules loaded onto a computer or device. For example, the web browser client on your PC uses
TCP/IP to make requests to a web server, which then returns the requested information.
A single computer or device can support multiple different clients and servers, all operating simultaneously. Likewise, a
single TCP/IP connection allows any number of clients to talk to any number of servers simultaneously.
About This Section
Hardware Interfaces
The DT80 supports TCP/IP using any of the following communications interfaces:
• Ethernet, which is typically used to connect to a home or office LAN (local area network), or a single PC, or an
Internet gateway device such as an ADSL modem
• a serial interface (USB, host RS232 or serial sensor), using PPP (point to point protocol), which is typically
used to connect to a single PC (e.g. using DtUsb), or to a dial-up Internet service using an external dial-up
modem.
• the integrated wireless modem (if present), which can connect to the Internet via a mobile telephone network.
The mechanics of setting up the serial interfaces (profile settings, installing DtUsb, and so on) were discussed earlier.
Refer to
USB Port (P187), Host RS-232 Port (P195), and Serial Sensor Port (P196).
This section will discuss:
• setting up the integrated modem
• setting up the Ethernet interface
• setting up a PPP connection over one of the RS232 serial interfaces
Services
As shown in the communications diagrams (Figure 71 and Figure 72), the DT80 supports the following TCP/IP based
services:
• an external web browser can access the DT80's web server (Error! Reference source not found. (PError!
Bookmark not defined.))
• an external FTP client can access the DT80's FTP server (Using the DT80 FTP Server (P255))
• an external Modbus client (e.g. SCADA system) can access the DT80's Modbus server (Modbus Interface
(P175))
• an external client (e.g. the dEX command window, or DeTransfer ) can access the DT80's command server
(Using the Network Command Interface (P254))
• the DT80 can act as an FTP client in order to push logged data to an FTP server (FTP Server (P106))
• the DT80 can act as an email client in order to transfer logged data or alarm messages to an email account
(Email (P107))
• the DT80 can act as a Modbus client in order to read data from Modbus sensors (Modbus Channel (P361))
This section will discuss the use of the DT80's FTP server and command server. The other services are documented
elsewhere, as indicated above.