u/OptigoNetworks

We brought on Andrew Rodgers (ACE IoT) and Aaron Brondrum (Neeve) to talk through what edge computing actually looks like in a real building — not the marketing version.

They take opposite architectural routes (open-source vs. proprietary secure edge-to-cloud), so we expected a debate. Instead the interesting takes were the ones they agreed on:

• For most legacy OT systems (BMS, card access), streaming every point is such a small amount of data that edge vs. cloud comes down to management capacity, not technical need. Cameras/NVR is where "hyper edge" actually matters.
• "Building automation has always been edge." The real change is decoupling hardware from software — drop a new container in, point it at your BACnet controllers, keep the wiring.
• Their blunt advice to SIs: transform into managed-service providers or get relegated to installer work.

Andrew also claimed clients running advanced system optimization on their platform are saving building owners ~30% energy with no capital equipment changes — curious what people here think of that number.

Full episode (plus the new Niagara Traffic Capture driver we announced): https://www.optigo.net/blog/how-to-handshake-ep-8-livin-on-the-edge/

Worth a listen if you work on OT networks or BACnet troubleshooting.

https://preview.redd.it/3ed2kbj6dzfh1.png?width=3000&format=png&auto=webp&s=bb54124f309857de2d484cdf0aa9736dc24e0208

The Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) agency activated its cybersecurity incident response capabilities across the entire state after hackers targeted more than 30 community water systems in “a coordinated cyberattack.”

​The attacks occurred on Sunday and Monday, July 26 and 27, and targeted operational technology (OT) systems at local water utilities.

N4 users, rejoice! Optigo’s traffic capture software now includes integration with Tridium Niagara systems. Simply install the driver on any JACE to capture BACnet traffic at the source. The Optigo driver handles the packaging, encryption, and upload to OptigoVN automatically.

OptigoVN users can now download the latest capture driver JAR file for Niagara and follow our step-by-step instructions. We’ve also created easy to follow videos for configuring the capture driver in both Workstation and Supervisor setups.

Links and guide: https://optigo.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/44877964176141

N4 users, rejoice! Optigo’s traffic capture software now includes integration with Tridium Niagara systems. Simply install the driver on any JACE to capture BACnet traffic at the source. The Optigo driver handles the packaging, encryption, and upload to OptigoVN automatically.

OptigoVN users can now download the latest capture driver JAR file for Niagara and follow our step-by-step instructions. We’ve also created easy to follow videos for configuring the capture driver in both Workstation and Supervisor setups.

Links and guide: https://optigo.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/44877964176141

N4 users, rejoice! Optigo’s traffic capture software now includes integration with Tridium Niagara systems. Simply install the driver on any JACE to capture BACnet traffic at the source. The Optigo driver handles the packaging, encryption, and upload to OptigoVN automatically.

OptigoVN users can now download the latest capture driver JAR file for Niagara and follow our step-by-step instructions. We’ve also created easy to follow videos for configuring the capture driver in both Workstation and Supervisor setups.

Links and guide: https://optigo.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/44877964176141

N4 users, rejoice! Optigo’s traffic capture software now includes integration with Tridium Niagara systems. Simply install the driver on any JACE to capture BACnet traffic at the source. The Optigo driver handles the packaging, encryption, and upload to OptigoVN automatically.

OptigoVN users can now download the latest capture driver JAR file for Niagara and follow our step-by-step instructions. We’ve also created easy to follow videos for configuring the capture driver in both Workstation and Supervisor setups.

Links and guide: https://optigo.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/44877964176141

How to Handshake (Optigo Networks' OT networking podcast) is putting together an all-questions episode and is collecting them from the community.

On the table: OT networking, BACnet, building automation, IT/OT convergence, careers, where the industry is heading — the bigger-picture stuff.

One rule: no service-ticket questions. The show isn't going to troubleshoot a specific help-desk issue on air. Think "how should teams approach X," not "why is my controller offline."

To submit: drop it in the comments, or send a DM and include an email address so you can be followed up with (and credited if it makes the episode).

Most OT networks in our buildings were designed on one assumption: they'd never touch the outside world.

That assumption is long gone. Cloud analytics, web-based BAS front ends, vendor remote access — they've all punched holes in what used to be a closed environment. And yet "it's not connected to the internet" is still the most common answer building owners give when you ask about their security posture.

In Episode 7 of How to Handshake, Fred Gordy (KMC Controls) and James Roberts (Kelso Building Services) break down where the real risk lives — and where to actually start.

Three questions Fred asks every building owner: Do you know what you have? Do you know how it's connected? Do you know who has access? Most can't answer all three.

Full episode, transcripts, and subscribe links: https://www.optigo.net/blog/how-to-handshake-ep-7-ot-cybersecurity/

Episode 6 just dropped. We sat down with Justin Carter (ENFRA) and Rudy Bohince (Albireo Energy) to dig into what "predictive maintenance" actually means in practice, and how much of it is vendor marketing layered on a fancier dashboard.

A few threads we pulled on:

• The difference between predictive and proactive
• Why dirty data, duplicate BACnet device IDs, and operator overrides that never get cleaned up quietly poison most analytics platforms
• Justin's three verticals for making FDD work
• Whether AI can actually run an OT network without a human in the loop
• The red flags when an analytics vendor only walks you through dashboards and never asks about your architecture

Best line in the episode, from Rudy on a customer who didn't need the pitch: "I know I have a hole in the wall — I don't need to pay you to tell me that."

Full episode, show notes, and transcript: https://www.optigo.net/blog/how-to-handshake-ep-6/

If you've rolled out FDD or advanced analytics on a portfolio recently — what's actually been worth it, and what turned into a glossy report you stopped opening after six months?

https://reddit.com/link/1u7eshj/video/zhtnpi603a6h1/player

For experienced folks here: what's the thing — the metric, the diagnostic check, the configuration detail — that you wish had been part of every handoff checklist before you learned the hard way to watch for it?

A few starters:

• Broadcast traffic baseline at sign-off, so there's something to compare against six months later
• Discovery traffic patterns — a quiet network shouldn't be hunting for peers
• A device inventory that includes the "shadow" gear: unmanaged switches inside switchgear, isolation panels, metering cabinets
• Polling rates per integration, because somebody always sets them aggressively at startup and forgets

What would you add, or what would you replace on that list?

Episode four is up. Jim Meacham from Altura Associates and Doug Plumley from Dartmouth College joined Ping and me to talk about IT/OT convergence — not the LinkedIn-headline version, the version where someone walks into a meeting and says "I have eighteen routers" and the room goes quiet.

A few things we got into that are worth a watch:

• It's all IT once it's on the network, and the "OT" label sometimes gets in the way of the coordination that actually has to happen.
• Ping's million-dollar broadcast-storm story. IT comes in, rips everything out, drops new top-of-the-line switches. System gets worse.
• Security policy when IT's priority order is confidentiality-integrity-availability and OT's is the reverse. Short version: business priorities first, then policy, then a multi-year mitigation plan, because the lifecycle of these systems is way longer than IT is used to.
• Where to actually start as a director on either side: leadership, curiosity, and — Doug's contribution — pizza.

Watch the full version and subscribe for more: tohandshaketheotnetworkingseries.riverside.com