Remote Networking w/ Lumberjack Remote

Lumberjack Remote (LR) combines the powerful Lumberjack Application System (LAS) and edge computing to solve complicated networking issues inside a simple, easy to use interface. It is a data transfer tool designed with 3 core uses in mind:

Taking a single command or piece of data and replicating that information in mass to as many targeted devices as the user may choose
Facilitating remote communication between any two devices
Aggregating data from many devices in one location

These 3 functions are based on core difficulties in remote networking: Distance, replicability, and reliability. With this tool, it is possible to build a well networked, interconnected data framework of how big an operation is or how far apart systems may physically be. Lumberjack Remote creates a web of information that can transform the way an industrial business operates.

Lumberjack Remote

Taking a single command or piece of data and replicating that information in mass to as many targeted devices as the user may choose
Facilitating remote communication between any two devices
Aggregating data from many devices in one location

These 3 functions are based on core difficulties in communications: Distance, replicability, and reliability. With this tool, it is possible to build a well networked, interconnected data framework across multiple locations.

The application offers remote configuration through the OnPing platform, forming channels to access device tags through the unique, protocol agnostic relationship between the LAS and OnPing. LR leverages readable data formatting to build a bridge between devices regardless of protocol configuration.

Why use it?

Flexible and adaptable software solutions create opportunities for operators to build out complex projects. On small projects, or when a concept is confined to a single instance or piece of equipment or location, operators and designers may find ways to work around clunky system integrations.

As projects scale one-off local solutions become less practical – more moving parts become integrated into the process. When scaling up, the value of compatibility and consistency increases exponentially.

Lumberjack Remote has clear, far reaching and real world applications; both in terms of communications between locations and devices as well as batch control operations.

Remote Networking Example

As an example, a water treatment system client of ours had several pump stations spread out across a town with a very hilly terrain.

The usual solution to this problem would be for the municipality to commission a terrain and path study and spend a lot of money on costly radios to link the stations together. This would have meant a considerable amount of CapEx as well as time for planning and actual installation.

Located within range of a small municipality, these sites did have relatively easy access to wireless, cellular internet service, so we were able to avoid the heavy costs associated with a commission by using the OnPing network. Through OnPing and Lumberjack remote, we set up a network where each site connected directly to the internet (a connection we’d have to establish anyway for basic operation) and through on site installed Lumberjacks and OnPing, each site could communicate in both directions. This allowed for a fully integrated and reliable communications and control remote network for a fraction of the cost.

Lumberjack Remote is a highly flexible tool. Different strategies are viable in different areas – there is rarely a one-fits-all too that can do every job. What OnPing creates is a place to find, access, and use all the different tools at your disposal at any given time. We reduce distance and time from a global scale to a network that can sit on your desk or in your hand.

Hardware Upgrades?

It’s not enough to build a remote network – you also have to maintain it! This includes physical maintenance in the field as well as developer work, and data architecture optimization as new processes and technologies are developed. Sometimes, equipment needs to be retired and upgraded. In many traditional systems, this can be a grueling process. The equipment goes offline, needs to be replaced, the company has to bring someone out to program in the new equipment, all the parameters in the system need to be updated to meet the new specs, etc. With OnPing, that load is reduced tremendously, because much of the work can be done through the online platform. Upgrading your physical equipment shouldn’t be a detriment to the health of your information process – and with OnPing you never worry about compatibility or networkability.

Continual Improvements

Furthermore, technology is improving daily. Many of our users have come to us because products that worked in the past have simply stopped functioning correcting. Check out this case study we did with a rural water treatment facility for a great example of this. OnPing changes each daily – Lumberjack Remote is one of many such improvements. When these applications are added into the OnPing platform, they come with the system! There are no additional modules or packages to purchase. As technological capabilities are increased, the OnPing platform grows. It will NEVER become outdated or prevent you from making changes to benefit your system.

Remote Networking In Rural Water

In the rural water industry, reliability is crucial. Water is an important resource and heavily regulated to boot. The OnPing platform offers top quality DEQ and governmental reporting capabilities, as as well as the tools necessary to maintain consistent, reliable connection to monitoring services at all times. Lumberjack Remote can connect multiple treatment plants, wells, and other monitored data sources into one easy to use service. For many of the small towns across America, water municipalities have not had access to uniform procedures and equipment that meets standardized communication protocols. This creates a belief that fine tuned data operations aren’t possible, or a hesitancy to put what is assumed to be a giant capex expenditure on the dockets to upgrade.

Lumberjack Remote means you can bring one device or one location online at a time, regardless of communication specs, and be assured that it will merge seamlessly with your overall data plan. For rural municipalities, there is no greater tool than one that bridges the gaps between the new and old processes of the city.

Remote Networking In Oil and Gas

Another great example of how Lumberjack Remote is used is best illustrated through a request we’ve had from oil and gas operators over the years. Time is money, and many of our users wanted a way to reduce the amount of time spent closing wells in the field.

Enter Lumberjack Remote. Instead of going to each and every well in a field, shutting them down one by one, users can quickly log into OnPing and shut down any number of desired wells simultaneously to pause production for an entire field. Before the installation of OnPing and LR, closing a site was a time-rich, and potentially labor intensive, endeavor. Now it is done with little more than the click of a button.

Lumberjack remote with our Virtual and Control Parameter functions allowed us to create a batch control function, giving the operator one master shut in control. Shut-ins can now be handled across hardware and with appropriate safeties for an entire operation.

Remote Networking is part of the future for the Oil and Gas industry. Lumberjack Remote significantly reduces the time, and thus the cost, of operating in the energy service sector.

Contact Us

The possibilities for Lumberjack Remote are still being discovered. We’re very excited as always to hear your special requests or seemingly unsolvable problems. This is yet another tool in the OnPing arsenal and we’re very excited to put it to work for you today. Contact your OnPing representative, or reach out to us an info@onping.net for more information.