OT and IT Working Together

 

 

At one time, IT managers and staff may have been holed up in corporate headquarters, far away from the action on the factory floor. Now, they find themselves working side by side with their operations technology (OT) counterparts: the operators, engineers, technicians, and maintenance personnel.

 

 

Collectively, they’re tasked with marrying existing OT processes with cutting-edge IT infrastructure.     The convergence of the IT infrastructure (dedicated storage, compute hardware) with OT processes and systems (heavy machinery, industrial robots, niche factory equipment) has resulted in the creation of cloud-based applications, sophisticated sensors, and other components that make up the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
 

“The edge is a place where OT has traditionally resided,” says Dr. Tom Bradicich, vice president and general manager, IoT and Converged Edge Systems, at Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

 

 

“The manufacturing floor, a wind farm, a submarine, a smart car, a smart city, a power plant, a smart grid, an industrial oil refinery—those are all OT domains. And more and more, IT is moving out there.”

 

 

 

 

HPE’s Converged Edge Systems

 

 

Enter HPE’s Converged Edge Systems to physically bridge OT and IT.  With the same compute and storage capabilities as those running in the cloud and data centers, organizations can process full, unmodified enterprise workloads at the edge.  This essentially gives businesses a second on-premises environment (along with the traditional data center) and removes the need to move data and workloads back and forth between the edge and the cloud, providing faster response times and lower bandwidth costs.

 

 

 

 

HPE EL300

 

 

Specific to the convergence of OT and IT at the Edge, HPE has introduced the EL300.  The EL300’s ruggedized hardware profile and flexible networking, compute, and storage options make it an ideal candidate for deployment in harsh Factory Floor edge environments.

 

 

The EL300 is embedded with the new HPE Edgeline Integrated System Manager (iSM) to manage local Edgeline systems complete with edge-specific capabilities such as remote management over WiFi and LTE connections. It is also supported with the Edgeline Infrastructure Manager (EIM), providing a dashboard view into the health of hundreds to thousands of managed systems at a site. EIM can also automate discovery of new devices and be used to easily deploy firmware and software updates.

 

 

 

 

The EL300’s OT data acquisition, control and networking modules allow Edgeline systems to “talk” with a greatly expanded variety of OT equipment, from IoT sensors to sprawling SCADA systems. Additional tools simplify management of connected equipment, and the workflows that drive them.

 

 

They include:

 

 

• HPE Edgeline OT Link Platform software, which automatically recognizes and exposes all OT Link certified hardware in the system. It lets non-coders create and supervise data movements using a simple drag-and-drop workload flow designer
• The optional HPE Edgeline Workload Orchestrator (EWO), which provides centralized deployment and management of containerized applications, middleware, and flows.

 

 

Stay tuned for more from the HPE Edgeline team as the converged OT and IT systems make configuration and support easier, and by a wider range of people, from OT specialists to trained IT staff.

What is AI?

 

The definition of intelligence according to the Oxford Dictionary is: “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills”. According to this same source, the definition of artificial intelligence is: “The theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages”.

 

If you dig deep on this, you will find several different definitions (or points of view) on what constitutes AI. Forbes has a great article called “The Key Definitions Of Artificial Intelligence (AI) That Explain Its Importance”, in which the author goes over several ways that the term AI is interpreted in both society and through a technology company prism. Specifically, it talks about Machine Learning, which is a subset of AI.

 

It really is fascinating stuff. In reading this article, it sent me down a rabbit hole of everything that is AI. From predictive data analytics (for example  when my Outlook spell checker just corrected my attempt to type and spell analytics, without me have to do anything) to something that is called a “technological singularity”. This is basically, and not to get into the weeds too much, a hypothesis that humans will one day create an artificial superintelligence that would enter into a “runaway reaction” of constant self-improvement that would forever change or possibly end humanity as we know it.

 

AI in Entertainment

 

While on this broad swath of reading and learning, I came to find that the idea of “AI” is not anything new, in fact it can be traced all the way back to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. After I realized this little nugget, I got to thinking about all the books and movies that I have read or watched that involve AI.

 

I was amazed at how much it permeates my choices in literature and entertainment.  Everything from books like Isaac Asimov’s “I Robot” or Fred Saberhagen’s “Berserker” series, or TV Series like Star Trek, Westworld and Person of Interest. And of course, some of the most popular movies of all time and been centered on the concept of AI (usually rampant evil AI’s), like the Terminator series, the Alien movies, and more recently the Matrix series. There is even a recent movie called “Her” where the main character falls in love with the voice in his phone (oh how you have fallen Joaquin Phoenix!).

 

Is AI a Threat?

 

I can imagine what you might be thinking. Is that voice on my phone actually artificial intelligence?  (You were thinking that right)? Which it, in fact, is. It falls under Machine Learning, but it still falls into the many pieces of our society that are directly affected or controlled by artificial intelligence.

 

If you are like me, you might slightly overreact and think to yourself when is “Skynet” coming online? Should I swear my allegiance early, so I am spared in the coming days? Is this “technological singularity” coming any day? Will Alexa rise up and enslave me in my house to keep me safe and buying more Amazon products? Well, thankfully, no it won’t (it’s true I asked Alexa this question and she told me so).

 

After I calmed down a bit, I came to realize that this is truly just a reactionary by-product of the propaganda I have been reading and watching for years. There is no true sentient artificial intelligence, but instead programs that are taking data and using machine learning to solve a certain issue (for example, what other people like me have bought recently). There are companies at the forefront of this, like Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft. Then there are many companies that may not have the name recognition of these three giants but are no less important in both application of AI, but also in enablement of AI.

 

Zunesis and AI

 

Which leads me to Zunesis (I know it took me forever)! You may be asking yourself, what does Zunesis do in this particular field? The answer on this is simple, we have fully “bought in” (literally in the case of the POC and demo machines we have purchased and are available) to the idea that AI (or predictive analytics if you would prefer) is truly going to make the lives of our customers better, more efficient, and safe. We are getting the word out to customers, to partners, and to the general public (thank you Linked-in Blogs) on the power that these technologies have.

 

Want a better way to understand who is coming on and off your property, for reasons of security? Please talk to us, and we will explain the wonderful world of facial recognition software that is powered and backed by HPE “Edgeline” products and HPE Storage.

 

Are you a healthcare provider that needs more agile storage that would streamline your operations and aid in your diagnosis? We can help with that and explain how the Microsoft Azure line products can fill this need for you.

 

Maybe your company needs their storage to have “6 nines” of availability, did you know that HPE Nimble Storage has this ability? We can explain how HPE Nimble uses Flash Storage and Predictive Analysis to guarantee that very thing. Their Predictive Analysis is so good that it can detect and solve 86% of the problems your storage might have, before they happen!

 

And these are just a few of the example situations and industry needs where AI or a product with AI can be the cornerstone of your business going forward. We at Zunesis love to talk technology and we love to help our customers. Come talk to us, and we will work together to not only help you understand the technology, but even push past some of the apprehension that a lifetime of thrilling books and movies have instilled in our society!

 

Thanks for reading, and all hail our new leader “Siri” (just kidding)!

What is AI?

 
The definition of intelligence according to the Oxford Dictionary is: “the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills”. According to this same source, the definition of artificial intelligence is: “The theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages”.
 
If you dig deep on this, you will find several different definitions (or points of view) on what constitutes AI. Forbes has a great article called “The Key Definitions Of Artificial Intelligence (AI) That Explain Its Importance”, in which the author goes over several ways that the term AI is interpreted in both society and through a technology company prism. Specifically, it talks about Machine Learning, which is a subset of AI.
 
It really is fascinating stuff. In reading this article, it sent me down a rabbit hole of everything that is AI. From predictive data analytics (for example  when my Outlook spell checker just corrected my attempt to type and spell analytics, without me have to do anything) to something that is called a “technological singularity”. This is basically, and not to get into the weeds too much, a hypothesis that humans will one day create an artificial superintelligence that would enter into a “runaway reaction” of constant self-improvement that would forever change or possibly end humanity as we know it.
 

AI in Entertainment

 
While on this broad swath of reading and learning, I came to find that the idea of “AI” is not anything new, in fact it can be traced all the way back to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. After I realized this little nugget, I got to thinking about all the books and movies that I have read or watched that involve AI.
 
I was amazed at how much it permeates my choices in literature and entertainment.  Everything from books like Isaac Asimov’s “I Robot” or Fred Saberhagen’s “Berserker” series, or TV Series like Star Trek, Westworld and Person of Interest. And of course, some of the most popular movies of all time and been centered on the concept of AI (usually rampant evil AI’s), like the Terminator series, the Alien movies, and more recently the Matrix series. There is even a recent movie called “Her” where the main character falls in love with the voice in his phone (oh how you have fallen Joaquin Phoenix!).
 

Is AI a Threat?

 
I can imagine what you might be thinking. Is that voice on my phone actually artificial intelligence?  (You were thinking that right)? Which it, in fact, is. It falls under Machine Learning, but it still falls into the many pieces of our society that are directly affected or controlled by artificial intelligence.
 
If you are like me, you might slightly overreact and think to yourself when is “Skynet” coming online? Should I swear my allegiance early, so I am spared in the coming days? Is this “technological singularity” coming any day? Will Alexa rise up and enslave me in my house to keep me safe and buying more Amazon products? Well, thankfully, no it won’t (it’s true I asked Alexa this question and she told me so).
 
After I calmed down a bit, I came to realize that this is truly just a reactionary by-product of the propaganda I have been reading and watching for years. There is no true sentient artificial intelligence, but instead programs that are taking data and using machine learning to solve a certain issue (for example, what other people like me have bought recently). There are companies at the forefront of this, like Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft. Then there are many companies that may not have the name recognition of these three giants but are no less important in both application of AI, but also in enablement of AI.
 

Zunesis and AI

 
Which leads me to Zunesis (I know it took me forever)! You may be asking yourself, what does Zunesis do in this particular field? The answer on this is simple, we have fully “bought in” (literally in the case of the POC and demo machines we have purchased and are available) to the idea that AI (or predictive analytics if you would prefer) is truly going to make the lives of our customers better, more efficient, and safe. We are getting the word out to customers, to partners, and to the general public (thank you Linked-in Blogs) on the power that these technologies have.
 
Want a better way to understand who is coming on and off your property, for reasons of security? Please talk to us, and we will explain the wonderful world of facial recognition software that is powered and backed by HPE “Edgeline” products and HPE Storage.
 
Are you a healthcare provider that needs more agile storage that would streamline your operations and aid in your diagnosis? We can help with that and explain how the Microsoft Azure line products can fill this need for you.
 
Maybe your company needs their storage to have “6 nines” of availability, did you know that HPE Nimble Storage has this ability? We can explain how HPE Nimble uses Flash Storage and Predictive Analysis to guarantee that very thing. Their Predictive Analysis is so good that it can detect and solve 86% of the problems your storage might have, before they happen!
 
And these are just a few of the example situations and industry needs where AI or a product with AI can be the cornerstone of your business going forward. We at Zunesis love to talk technology and we love to help our customers. Come talk to us, and we will work together to not only help you understand the technology, but even push past some of the apprehension that a lifetime of thrilling books and movies have instilled in our society!
 
Thanks for reading, and all hail our new leader “Siri” (just kidding)!