Simplified Maintenance With Remote Access

The demand for remote maintenance of machines and industrial applications is growing exponentially. Weidmuller’s Industrial Security Routers have provided a secure solution for these applications with a virtual private network (VPN) access, network address translation (NAT), and stateful firewall functionality. Weidmuller is using these Security Routers as the basis of their cloud-based remote maintenance VPN service, u-link. u-link provides quick, secure access to plants and machines all over the world from the cloud making remote maintenance easier and more efficient.

Weidmuller’s u-link cloud-based solution incorporates an intuitive web-based interface, (the u-link Portal) to allow for easy configuration for the customer’s specific application. The u-link cloud is used as a meeting point, securely connecting the user’s PC running the u-link VPN software, with the u-link enabled Security Router. Once the Security Routers are added to the u-link Portal, users can access network devices, i.e. switches, programmable logic controllers (PLC’s), and other Ethernet-capable automation devices for troubleshooting, maintenance, or PLC program changes.

Up to 50 Security Routers can be added to the u-link Portal for free with the Standard version now included as a bundle handling up to 12GB/month. Customers already using the Weidmuller Security Routers only need to install the latest version of the Security Router firmware for the u-link functionality. License upgrades are also available for 150, 300, 500, and an unlimited number of Security Routers.

U-Link can be customized to suit any user’s needs, no matter how simple or complex the application may be. Managing users, groups, and access rights and adding Security Routers and other user-defined devices can be easily done without in-depth IT expertise.