E900 Web Server

[Colin Carpenter 10]

A few years ago, I installed an E900 in a remote application, complete with a Mitsubishi modem so that the modem could be dialled into and the terminal could be viewed (and even operated) using the inbuilt web server on the the HMI from a remote computer using Internet Explorer. It all worked (and still works) fine, albeit a bit slow. The customer is now asking if they can install a broadband connection so that the terminal can be viewed and operated over a broadband connection. I've installed plenty of ethernet cards in E900s and E700s, but have always used them to talk locally to each other over a Beijers network, and have no experience of setting one up over a remote broadband connection. Has anyone done this, and if so, can you tell me what I should be looking out for, and also, is there a large speed increase or do you still have to wait for things to happen? Thanks

[Nathan 7]

I've never done this with E900 equipment, but can safely say that access should run faster - much closer to how it runs locally. Try launching a web browser locally (on the same computer or on a machine on the same LAN). Are you trying to connect two sites or allow remote access from over the Internet? Will you or someone else set up this connection? You want to ensure that the IP addresses are in the same subnet on both sides - or at least that they can communicate. This isn't difficult, but there are a lot of variables.

[Colin Carpenter 10]

Hi Nathan, Apologies for lateness ... been on holiday. The idea is that the E900 should allow the inbuilt web server to operate over the internet using the added ethernet card. I've done it before on a Beijers local network using an ethernet switch and several mac terminals with ethernet cards fitted. Each of the mac terminals had a TCP/IP address something like 192.168.1.x etc, and I found that if I connected the ethernet port on my laptop to the switch and typed in the TCP/IP address of the mac terminal that had the web server enabled into a browser, then I could view it over the LAN no problem. Any idea how you would address the terminal in a remote browser if connecting via the internet, presumably using a broadband router?

[Crossbow 296]

You're going to have to know about the configuration of the routers and firewalls at the site. You're going to need to be able to direct incoming HTTP traffic (port 80) to the IP address of the E900. This would be done at the firewall at the site where the E900 is installed. You will need to communicate with the IT department at the site to get this configured, as well as find out their internet side IP address for their firewall. That is the address you will need to put in your web browser. That firewall should take care of forwarding that traffic. The IT mafia has full control over what traffic they block or allow in, and you need to get them to allow you in. Of course if they already have a webserver in house, port 80 maps to that device, and you will need to determine a different method.