D2MS Community Edition, which supports third-party devices through OPC DA, is freely available to everybody who wants to try it. D2MS Community Edition shares most of the code with the native version that ships with our CloudReady systems. It features the same powerful data management capabilities, including online- and offline-data integration, batch comparison, data analysis, and even advanced control by User Defined Functions (UDF) via python scripts, which, in theory, can automate the entire fermentation process. But eventually, what you can do is limited by the number of parameters on the 3rd party device via OPC. For a breakdown of all the different feature packs, see the chart below. CloudReady comes with D2MS Native Pro.
We have split the installation into three main steps, so you can download and install several smaller files instead of one gigantic file. This also makes it easier to update different components of D2MS in the future, as we continue to add more features to it. It may sound like a lot of work, but in reality it is just a few clicks. A step-by-step guide is given below, with demonstration videos.
1. LabVIEW Run-Time Environment and NI License Manager
The front-end of D2MS is developed mostly using LabVIEW hence the its Runtime Engine needs to be installed. You can download those from official NI website (version 2018 sp1, 32bit). You may also need the latest version of Package Manager and NI License Manager (D2MS is developed based on version 4.7, later versions may also work).
The video shows that we are installing only LabVIEW Runtime Engine. But for the community editions, DataSocket is also needed for OPC support. Please see the screenshot below for more information.
2. SQL Server 2017 database engine and Python
This is a customized installer developed by us. It will install SQL server database engine, .Net Framework and Python (with necessary libraries) with a single click. 64 bit Windows 8.1 and above is required.
3. D2MS front-end application
If you want to try D2MS on your personal computer (i.e., not attached to a bioreactor), we also include an OPC simulation server and configuration files in the installation package. Please refer to the operating instructions in the compressed file.
We suggest that you check the MD5 fingerprint of the downloaded files and scan them using more established Antivirus software such as Windows Defender, McAfee, etc., while we try to work out a solution with Malwarebytes.
Database_Deployment.exe (1.0.0.16): c8c4ac3846a27ee3d44799bb3c3ddc10
OPC_Logger.exe (1.0.0.15): c979fdd2f534bb71c421bfb32a6adc10
OAJ.exe (2.6.2.13): e7d852d56c6fa1d003621b7f5bc01a65
Registration.exe (1.0.0.11): f7f59ceb0f24a1c022675a7904d620ce
QR_Registration.exe (1.0.0.9): cd0cf7abfc1ccacc18a92aa671031a85
4. D2MS Application Registration
Although D2MS Community Edition is totally free, in order to notify you with important updates in the future, the software needs to be registered. We will not use your contact information for anything else. The registration process is demonstrated in Video #3. If the PC you are installing D2MS has internet connection, the easiest would be using the Registration app. Otherwise, use the QR code method. Either way, the information verification on our side is a manual process (to make sure the software is not abused). We will inform you once your information is verified, then you can run the Registration app again, to activate your copy of D2MS.