Overview
Traditionally, the TLServer program is used as the software gateway to connect the (now legacy) M-series PLCs to the corporate LAN or the Internet so that they can be controlled and programmed by a i-TRiLOGI client from anywhere in the world. M-series PLCs did not have built-in TCP/IP network capability and therefore had to rely on the PC and TLServer software to provide the network connectivity. TLServer provides the TCP/IP interface to the network client and it then pass the data to/from the PLCs via their RS232 or RS485 serial ports only.
On the newer Super PLCs such as the Nano-10, FMD or F-series PLCs, there is already a built-in Ethernet port which allows them to be connected to a router and hence directly accessible to/from the Internet. TLServer is therefore not needed for normal operation .
Importance
However, TLServer is still an important tool for i-TRiLOGI software to connect to the PLCs under the following circumtances:
1) A router connection is not readily available to the PLC.
2) The IP address and/or port number of the PLC's Ethernet port is unknown and needs to be configured.
3) The PLC' Ethernet setup parameter table is corrupted, rendering the Ethernet port
inaccessible.
4) Providing File Services
to one or more PLCs
5)
Acting as an Email Relay Server for one or more PLCs
With TLServer, as long as there is an available serial port (RS232/RS485 or USB-RS232/RS485 adapter) on the PC, the i-TRiLOGI software will be able to connect to the PLC without using the PLC's Ethernet port at all. This allow i-TRiLOGI software to reset the PLC's Ethernet configuration in case of corruption or lost configuration data.
Configuration
If a serial port connection is being used between the PC and PLC, then TLServer is required and the PC serial port must be setup correctly. Click on the "Serial Port Setup" button below for more details.
It is possible to configure additional users for TLServer (default is username: samples with no password). Click on the "Configure Users" button below for more details.
TLServer can be used as an Email Server Relay to manage sending of Emails for one or more PLCs (serial or TCP connection). Click on the "Setup Emails" button below for more details. NOTE: TLServer version 3.20 has a new and improved Email Setup area.
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Useful Functions TLServer Provides to Connected PLCs
1) File and Email Services
TLServer provides "File and Email Services" to the PLC. That means that a PLC can send a command to the TLServer to open a file and save its data into the PC's harddisk.
2) Email Server Relay
TLServer 3.17 and up also features an "Email Relay Server" to help PLC send out emails via authenticated SMTP servers.
The new Email Service requires configuration in both TLServer via the Setup Emails page and the PLC via the Ethernet & ADC Configuration tool
Technical Operation Details
When a client program such as i-TRiLOGI wants to read from or write to a PLC, it sends a command to the TLServer using the TCP/IP protocol transported via the Intranet, the Internet or a local host connection. The TLServer, upon receiving the command, will carry out the actual reading or writing to the PLC via the PC's RS232 or RS485 port. The data received from the PLC is then relayed back to the client program via TCP/IP protocol.
TLServer is also a Web Server which serves up web pages that contain the i-TRiLOGI Java Applet to enable you to use any Java-enabled Web browser to access the PLC without the need to install a local copy of the i-TRiLOGI application software.
When TLServer is first started, it will query the operating systems for the IP addresses of the computer that it runs on. (It may take a while if the O/S is slow to return the IP address). It will then display the obtained IP addresses (maximum of two) on the TLServer front panel so that the user can quickly determine the IP addresses that they can use to access the PLC. The following are some possible IP address scenarios:
- If the computer is not linked to any network or the Internet and does not have any
network adapter installed, then only the local host IP address will be displayed, e.g.
127.0.0.1: 9080 where 9080 is the port number). Note: regardless of whether your PC
is networked or not, the local host IP address: 127.0.0.1
is always available to the client program running on the same PC where the TLServer
is running, even though it may not be displayed on the TLServer's front panel. (
i-TRiLOGI or TRi-ExcelLink are all known as "client" programs). So whether your
PC is networked or not, you can still use TLServer and i-TRiLOGI on a localhost
connection. In that case the i-TRiLOGI and TLServer work together on the same PC just like
a normal Window based programming software. We recommend using the localhost IP address:
127.0.0.1:9080 if you are running both the client and the server on the same PC.
- If the computer has an 'always on' connection to the Internet directly then the IP address will be your Internet IP address.
- If the computer is networked to the corporate Intranet, or you have connected this computer to a router to share internet connection with a few other computers, then the IP address shown is an internal IP address, also known as the "Intranet" IP address. The intranet IP address is assigned by either the System Adminstrator or the router (known as DHCP server). You can access this computer from other computers in the same LAN, but the intranet IP address is not accessible from outside of the LAN. To access the TLServer from outside of the LAN, You will need to configure your router's internal settings to define the PC that runs the TLServer as a "Virtual Server". You can then access the TLServer using the router's public IP address and the router will does the job of translating the public IP address to the intranet IP address and route the messages to/from the PC that has been defined as the virtual server. This process is known as Network Address Translation (NAT).
Dial-Up Users: If you are testing the internet capability of TLServer using dial-up connection, you must connect to the Internet first before starting TLServer so that TLServer can report the correct Internet IP address to you. You will not see the local host IP address (127.0.0.1), only the Internet IP address will be shown.
The moment TLServer is running, it is ready to accept connection from the i-TRiLOGI client. You can also configure TLServer's communication port setting, add/remove users from the system and set up TLServer to query the PLC for outgoing email requests and process them accordingly. For explanation of the function of each button, click the image link of respective buttons below. You can also call up their context-sensitive help by pressing <F1> key after pressing the relevant button on the TLServer front panel.
New Features:
TLServer 3.17 and up now supports large font size increment so that it can display larger graphic on high resolution monitor on small screen.
TLServer 3.17 and up also features an "Email Relay Server"
TLServer 3.20 and up supports encryption for Email management.