Which technology can monitor and aggregate real-time data from control systems?

Data historians are specialized software systems designed to collect, store, and aggregate large amounts of real-time data from various control systems, such as industrial processes. They play a crucial role in industries like manufacturing, energy, and utilities by providing historians with the ability to not only capture real-time data but also manage historical data for trend analysis, reporting, and compliance purposes.

These systems facilitate access to time-series data, allowing organizations to monitor the health and performance of their equipment and processes. This can lead to informed decision-making based on data trends and insights over time, ultimately enhancing operational efficiency.

While fieldbus technologies facilitate communication between devices in control systems, they primarily focus on protocol and connectivity rather than data aggregation. A Human-Machine Interface (HMI) serves as a user interface that enables interaction with the control system but does not aggregate data on its own. Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) are essential for automating processes but do not typically serve the data aggregation function that historians do. Thus, the functionality of a data historian as it relates to monitoring and aggregating real-time data from control systems makes it the correct choice in this context.