The following sections describe the architecture components of the Dell Validated Design for Energy Edge.
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The following sections describe the architecture components of the Dell Validated Design for Energy Edge.
Dell PowerEdge servers are offered in this DVD as a standalone configuration. To enable future growth and to adapt to changing application demands, Dell PowerEdge servers offer adaptive computability depending on server application.
The intelligent autonomous compute infrastructure of PowerEdge servers features iDRAC (integrated Dell Remote Access Controller) and OpenManage Enterprise. This helps customers tame the complexity of their IT infrastructure by automating the entire server management lifecycle, in addition to comprehensive monitoring of health status, statistics, connectivity, and system performance utilization.
In addition, proactive resilience is built into each PowerEdge server by design to protect, detect, and recover from cyberattacks—ensuring security from build to delivery to retirement.
Based on these three pillars, PowerEdge servers are designed to address customers' most challenging workloads, working autonomously and collaboratively across all of their IT environments.
The Dell PowerEdge product line offers third- and fourth-generation Intel Xeon scalable processors and are built for challenging environments, including energy, manufacturing, telecommunications, and retail. Some of the available configurations are ruggedized, MIL-STD, NEBS, and marine compliant. More configurations offer a full-featured enterprise server, designed to optimize and deliver outstanding performance for the most demanding workloads. Each server node includes the following technology:
BOSS cards are not included in the IEC 61850-3 certified XR12 configuration for substations.
A brief overview of each PowerEdge platform discussed in this solution is provided in the following sections. For more information, see the Dell Servers page.
The Dell PowerEdge XR12 is recommended for processing and analyzing data locally at the edge. It offers third-generation Intel Xeon scalable processors and is built for challenging environments, including manufacturing, telecommunications, and energy. The XR12 is a ruggedized MIL-STD, NEBS, and marine compliant single-socket 2U server with support for up to two GPU cards.
The Dell PowerEdge R660 is a 1U, dual-CPU rackmount server based on Intel's fourth-generation Xeon processors. Its robust performance and reliability make it well suited for a variety of workloads, including general purpose compute needs in energy control centers. It offers a range of configurations to cater to different performance requirements.
The Dell PowerEdge R760 is 2U rackmount server supporting two 4th generation Intel Xeon processors and up to 24 NVMe drives. The R760's extra height allows for additional storage options and offers two additional PCIe slots. It is intended for use as general purpose compute in energy control centers.
This Dell Validated Design for Energy Edge is intended for use with VMware's Edge Compute Stack (ECS). VMware ECS provides a set of tools and technologies that enable a resilient, reliable, and cost-effective application runtime environment at the edge of the network, closer to the devices generating the data. This approach helps to reduce latency, bandwidth usage, and dependency on centralized data centers, making it especially beneficial for applications that require real-time data processing and low-latency response times.
VMware ECS is built on the foundational VMware vSphere hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) technologies and provides a fully integrated edge platform. This validated design is built on the following core VMware technologies:
Industrial gateways, deployed in Purdue model levels 0 through 2 of a facility, allow various factory devices and industrial protocols to communicate with the rest of the network. This communication is accomplished with software that interfaces with protocols. Industrial gateways differ from standard PCs or servers in that they are ruggedized to handle harsh environments.
IEDs and other industrial devices are an integral source for edge data in the electrical utilities space. They track and control substation operations and provide vital information to understand the location's current status. With the current evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), it is beneficial to obtain, aggregate, and then analyze this data to provide operational insights and optimization.
The ISV application stack that is detailed in the following table runs on various Dell servers and operating systems running Windows or Linux.
Software component | Product |
Operating systems | Windows Server 2019 |
Windows 10 LTSC 2019 | |
Ubuntu 22.04 | |
ABB | ZEE600 Editor |
ZEE600 Runtime (server and client) | |
Forescout | eyeInspect Sensor (Active and Passive) |
eyeInspect Command Center |
The interactions of these applications can be seen in the DVD for Energy Edge detailed application and hardware architecture figure.
The ZEE600 Editor is the configuration software to build and compile Runtime projects. All devices, connections, tags, logic, and screens are configured with the Editor. The project components are compiled, and the resulting files are sent to the Runtime host machine for use in operations.
The ZEE600 Runtime is where the substation device connections are made, automation is executed, and dashboards are hosted. The Runtime supports a client-server model, where the server hosts all the primary functions and hosts client connections so that multiple users can interface with the application.
Forescout eyeInspect incorporates a passive sensor as its primary data ingestion approach. This sensor is strategically positioned within the substation alongside assets. By configuring port mirroring on one of its interfaces, the sensor can be connected to a core switch that links to a significant portion of the substation assets. This strategic setup ensures that the sensor captures a significant portion of network traffic for comprehensive analysis.
The eyeInspect Command Center serves as a visual representation of sensor-acquired data. This platform allows users to access all the information about substation assets obtained from the sensor, including fundamental details like MAC address, vendor type, OS, and IP address. Because eyeInspect is tailored for OT environments, the Command Center is equipped with a variety of tools to display and provide insight into the vulnerabilities, risks, and threats within your substation. While the software is pre-built with security-focused dashboards for monitoring and analysis, it also offers the flexibility to delve into more specific insights if needed.
ISV applications and VMware ECS offer an extensive set of configuration tools for alerts and monitoring. Various log levels can be configured for tracking events at the desired level of granularity. Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) traps can be configured to integrate with other network monitoring tools, such as Dell OpenManage.
Communication protocols play an important role in the electrical utilities space to enable efficient and reliable data exchange between various IEDs, substation automation systems, and control centers. These protocols serve as a standardized messaging language that ensures seamless communication, allowing utilities to gather real-time data, monitor critical operations, and control switchgear in the substation.
These communication protocols range from legacy serial protocol Modbus RTU to more advanced DNP3, and finally to the modern IEC 61850 standard. This evolution of protocols enhanced the efficiency, reliability, and interoperability of systems in the electrical utilities space. This Dell Validated Design for Energy Edge supports integration of IEDs with the entire range of protocols. For further information on integration of IEDs with various protocols, see the System Design chapter.