Considering datafinder for publishing data

[ChrisFarmerWIS]

Hi

I am considering a data publishing system.  We currently have a server that holds data in the form of CSV files. We require a system that allows multiple clients (offsite - around the world) to access/view/analyse the data, ie view logged data for a given day, perform a histogram on data for the past month etc.

I have been looking at the options, and just from what I can see on the NI web site, a possible solution could be:

• DataFinder Server Edition running at our office, constantly indexing the data
• LabVIEW applications deployed to my client's sites, using Datafinder toolkit to retrieve data to then process.

This seems fairly straight forward.  The main downside being the deployment cost.

What I’d like to find out more about, is how this goes running over the internet.  Also, they could potentially have a large number of clients wanting to view data at any one time.  How scalable is this solution? Would we need to look at using Webservices in any fashion – or what about this new Web UI Developer that’s coming out soon – can this call Datafinder Toolkit functions to produce a non-LabVIEW based front end?

Thanks!

[Brad_Turpin]

Hi Chris,

The 2010 version of the DataFinder has no built-in mechanism to offer query access to remote clients through a web browser.  If your "multiple clients (offsite - around the world)" are connected via WAN (ethernet), then there is no trouble with the LabVIEW clients contacting the DataFinder "remotely".  If instead your "multiple clients (offsite - around the world)" are outside your company firewall, then you will need to build your own web service to bridge this gap.  The LabVIEW UI Builder would in principle be an excellent choice for this task, but it does NOT work with the DataFinder Toolkit.  The best option to build a web service that talks with the DataFinder on the back end is to use "regular" LabVIEW 2010.

The DataFinder operating normally within an in intranet supports concurrent access and scales nicely with client loading.  If you have to create a web service to bridge the gap between the DataFinder and customers outside your firewall, then the scaling and loading will depend keenly on your web service implementation.

Brad Turpin

DIAdem Product Support Engineer
National Instruments