General FAQs about Proficloud.io
Everything you every wanted to know about the platform Proficloud.io and how to use it.
Of course, this is a pity in the first place and we would appreciate your feedback why you decided against Proficloud.io. Just use our contact form for that. We strive to improve!
The Smart Services enable customers to import data from different devices (production plants, measuring devices, etc.) and from different locations (worldwide) into the Smart Service, operated on Proficloud.io in order to link them with each other and make them remotely evaluable.
For this purpose, the Smart Service enables standardized analyses based on the imported data and e.g. visualizes them with dashboards.
With our User Guiding, we want to make it even easier to get started with the various Smart Services. The guides offer interactive tours through the Smart Services to explain individual functions or to get an overview of the areas of a Smart Service.
In the video you can see how you can use the User Guiding and start interactive guides.
The first time you visit a Smart Service, you will be greeted by a prompt. You can either get an introduction to the Smart Service you just have open in the welcome, or access the guides again later at any time by accessing the button labeled “Guides & FAQs” on the right side of the screen.
We use a service on Proficloud.io that allows to conveniently display all FAQs and guides relevant to the active smart service.
To access the FAQs, just click on the button on the right side of the screen labeled “Guides & FAQs”.
Metric is just another name for variable. One example could be a temperature, wind speed, voltage etc.
As of right now, Proficloud.io is running in AWS data centers, located in Frankfurt. Phoenix Contact does not operate their own data center for Proficloud. Because all Proficloud.io data is hosted in Frankfurt, German law applies
Vulnerability scanning
We are using an web-application vulnerability scanner (Automated security and asset monitoring) to monitor the web-apps for potential takeovers and remediate security bugs in staging and production as soon as they are known and we are using products for automatically prove our code quality & code security.
Hardening techniques
We apply different hardening practices (like i.e. use of service packs, automatic dependency checks, patches & patch-mgmt, etc.) for our service-containers
GDPR compliance
Proficloud.io is completely GDPR compliant, thereby conforming to the highest data privacy standards.
Operating system
All our virtual servers are based on Linux, increasing the resiliency of our cloud system.
Spectre/Meltdown & know CPU security vulnerabilities
Infrastructure has been updated with these new protections, and no customer action is required at the infrastructure level.
Permission / user management
We‘re looking on rolling out a sophisticated permission management system throughout 2021, allowing companies fine-grained controls over what users are capable of accessing.
Password policy
High security passwords are enforced by the platform. In general the password needs at least 10 characters, upper & lowercase letters, number(s) and special character(s).
Public key infrastructure
We are using EJBCA as PKI for all tenants in Proficloud.io, allowing us to revoke potentially compromised certificates whenever needed.
Secure bidirectional device communication
CA signed remote commands are used regarding the connected devices. All communication is encrypted using TLS 1.2 and client certificate authentication.
Secure firmware update process for devices
Hardened firmware update process for devices with IEC 62443 measures.
Encryption
All connections between users and devices to proficloud are encrypted using TLS 1.2.
Data centers
Phoenix Contact Smart Business uses dedicated aws data centers for running Proficloud.io guaranteeing an industry leading security level for customers.
Some Proficloud.io services, such as the Device Management Service can be used free of charge. Other services, including Time Series Data Service allow customers to test them free of charge, but require payment for actual production workloads.
Cloud pricing ist often complicated, but that’s not the case for Proficloud.io. We always make sure to offer payment models, which are easy to understand, enabling our customers to always understand their true costs. This means for you that in the Time Series Data Service, for example, you pay per metric that you send to the cloud. With this model, we naturally offer you suitable packages, so that you have maximum freedom in cost calculation and can rely on the exact costs incurred.
In other services (e.g. ImpulseAnalytics) you only pay per device for one year. This is based on the business model, which was developed especially for this service and offers the user an easy way to calculate the costs.
As soon as you book a service, you will receive a booking confirmation by e-mail, as well as a booking confirmation within Proficloud.io. You can use the booked service directly after the booking. You will receive a separate e-mail with the conditions (taxes, legal framework) from Phoenix Contact that apply to you.
The UUID (Universally Unique Identifier) is required for adding a device to Proficloud. It is printed externally on the device’s housing. After the installation and commissioning of the device, the UUID may not be visible anymore. Thus, it is mandatory to document the UUIDs during the device installation.
We recommend to additionally document the respective device designation within your system or a unique, descriptive name for the device. This enables you to identify the device again within your system locally.
If you cannot access Proficloud.io, please contact your company’s IT. Security restrictions of your company’s IT may result in access problems to Proficloud.io.
An unrestricted internet connection is required for the following addresses and sub-adresses in case of port 443 (HTTPS) and port 8883 (MQTT over TLS):
Proficloud.io, Proficloud-production.io
This needs to be guaranteed by the company’s IT.
- Click on the profile icon in the upper right corner of the browser
- Click on [Settings]
- Click on the pencil on the right side of the browser next to your current e-mail address
- Now enter your new e-mail address in the field for the e-mail address and click on [Save Profile Data]
- Click on [Confirm] to confirm the action. You will be logged out and will receive a confirmation e-mail at your new e-mail address
- Click on the link in the e-mail to verify the e-mail-address change
See at a glance which devices can use which services. The listed devices are Phoenix Contact devices with direct Proficloud.io integration. You can integrate a lot more device with a Gateway Solution and NodeRED. Sort the table according to your needs.
| Device Type | Article Number | Device Management Service | Time Series Data Service | Energy Management Service | ImpulseAnalytics Service | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AXC F 2152 | 2404267 | Controller | 2020.6.1 (or higher) | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | - |
| AXC F 1152 | 1151412 | Controller | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | - |
| AXC F 3152 | 1069208 | Controller | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | - |
| RFC 4072S | 1051328 | Safety controller | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | - |
| EPC 1502 | 1185416 | Edge device | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | |
| EPC 1522 | 1185423 | Edge device | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | |
| EEM-SB370-C | 1158951 | Measuring device | 2020.6 (or higher) | 2020.6 (or higher) | 2020.6 (or higher) | - |
| EEM-SB371-C | 1158947 | Measuring device | 2020.6 (or higher) | 2020.6 (or higher) | 2020.6 (or higher) | - |
| IPCH-4X-PCL-TCP-24DC-UT | 1045379 | Pulse measuring device | 3.0.1234.0 | - | - | 3.0.1234.0 |
| BPC 9102S | 1246285 | Safety controller | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | |
| CHARGE Repay Gateway | 9876543 | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | ||||
| CHARGE Repay Gateway | 9876542 | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) | ||||
| CRG 0001 | 9876544 | 2021.0.x LTS (or higher) |
We design our email to get through most email filters so that it gets into your inbox without any problems. If you still do not receive a registration email, it could have ended up in your spam folder.
Many companies filter and block incoming mail and might not forward our emails as intended.
If you don’t receive your registration email for example, please contact your IT support. If they can’t find a problem, please let us know by writing an email to inbox@phoenixcontact-sb.io
We built Proficloud.io from scratch, including identity management. Therefore your Proficloud.net credentials are not valid in Proficloud.io. Simply create a new account free of charge.
In general it makes sense to use Proficloud.io. The firmware of the PLCnext controllers can only connect to Proficloud.io with the latest version. In the future Proficloud.io will be the only supported version.