OPC-UA servers: Servers provide the physical interface to the real world. Servers measure physical properties, indicate status, initiate physical actions and do all sorts of physical measurements and activation in the real world under the direction of a remote Client device. Servers read the real world data from sensors and devices and send back to OPC-UA clients. Server can pass the alarms and event generated by the devices which are under control of the servers. Servers are where the physical world meets the digital world.
OPC-UA Clients: Clients read and write data from/to servers. Clients can subscribe interesting data from the server. Server can notify the client that your interested data has been changed. Server can notify any alarm if it has been activated.
Platform Independence: Basically client and server are software that run independent of operating system in uniform way. Client can be written in for example in Windows C# language and Server can be implemented in Linux OS with Python. A C# client can be easily access the server data.
Functional Equivalence:
OPC UA provides the following functionalities.
Discovery: find the availability of OPC Servers on local PCs and/or networks
Address space: all data is represented hierarchically (e.g. files and folders) allowing for simple and complex structures to be discovered and utilized by OPC Clients
On-demand: read and write data/information based on access-permissions
Subscriptions: monitor data/information and report-by-exception when values change based on a client’s criteria
Events: notify important information based on client’s criteria
Methods: clients can execute programs, etc. based on methods defined on the server