This section provides instructions on creating MSIB nodes and configuring the BACnet Proxy service. From a high level, creating and configuring nodes is a two-step process:

  1. Create a virtual node in MSIB for the purpose of exposing data to BACnet clients.
  2. Configure the BACnet Proxy Configuration service for the virtual node to receive data from its source.

Before beginning

To create MSIB nodes and configure services, the following source and client information is required:

  • An understanding of both the source and client systems will be necessary in order to configure MSIB nodes for communication.
  • The BACnet network number used by Insight BACnet Server and the IP address of the Insight PC will be required.
  • Point lists for sources of data will need to be imported into MSIB nodes.
  • Online access to source data will be necessary to verify communication with the source.
  • For other needs, see System Requirements for MSIB with BACnet Proxy Service found in the section titled MSIB Application Requirements.

BACnet server mode

While running in BACnet server mode, additional services should not be added and are not supported for created nodes.

Creating new nodes

The first step to configuring MSIB is to create a virtual node or nodes. Creating multiple nodes is the most common and most efficient.

Creating multiple nodes

The multiple node creation option allows you to create multiple nodes that come from one Insight BACnet Server output file. This configuration will allow you to include all of the nodes from this one output file. If you wish to limit your set up to just one panel from the Insight BACnet Server output file, then use single node create instead.

  1. Select Create multiple nodes.
  1. In the Create multiple nodes wizard, select BACnet Proxy Configuration Service from the drop-down list.
  1. For Import Type, select Insight BACnet Server from the drop-down list.
  1. Select Choose file and select the import file.
  1. In the Create MSIB nodes on BACnet Network field, fill in the BACnet network number on which the created MSIB nodes reside.
  1. Enter the Source IP Address and the Source BACnet Network number. Information on BACnet networks and devices for the Insight BACnet Server can be found in two locations.
  • Navigate to the Cimetrics BACstac Gateway [Version Number] Port Table dialog box, accessed by double-clicking the baccfg.bat file from [Drive]:\Program Files\Cimetrics\BACstac [Version Number]. This application displays the BACnet network numbers being used. Find the Virtual Type row and use its Network Num value for MSIB source configuration.
  • The Physical Network shows the IP address being used for BACnet. Enter this for the Source IP Address.
  • Alternatively, Insight System Profile can be used to locate the BACnet network number and IP address.
  • To locate the network number, the BACnet Object Browser can be launched from a BACnet ALN in Insight System Profile (right-click the ALN, and select BACnet). Selecting the icon for “Who-Is” and selecting Send Who-Is will return the devices and their Network Numbers. The device created during the BACnet export will be included in the list and display the Network Number to be entered in the MSIB source configuration.
  • To locate the IP Address, right-click on the BACnet ALN icon within System Profile and select Properties. Within the Building-Level Network Definition dialog, select the Settings button in the Connection section. The IP Address is the first four segments of Insight’s BACnet MAC Address.
  1. The Source BACnet Port is used by the source for BACnet communication. The default for BACnet devices is 47,808.
  1. Enter a desired Polling Interval or leave the default of 900 seconds between polling cycles (15 minutes).
  1. Enter a desired Separation for the number of milliseconds between point requests within a polling cycle or leave at the default of 600 milliseconds.

A separation of 600 means that 1.5 points will be polled per second. With a Polling Interval of 900 seconds, a total of 1,350 points can be polled from this source.

The intent of the separation for a polling period is to reduce the amount of data requested from a device at any one time. Older source devices with limited resources are especially prone to going offline when they are being overwhelmed with requests for data.

  1. Select Create and start.
  • You may need to refresh the page before the data displays. This is especially true for larger amounts of data. MSIB will start sending data to the Navigator site. For details about the operation of nodes, see Working with nodes.

Creating a single node

There may be times you wish to add a single node. This is the case if you wish to include only one field panel from an Insight BACnet Server output file. This node will appear as a BACnet device to any connected BACnet systems.

Before creating the node, consider how it will appear to the client system. This client or consumer is the device or system that is ultimately going to use the data made available via MSIB. Six pieces of information are needed to create a new node. Three of them are filled in by default but may be overwritten to customize the virtual node to conform to site specific guidelines. To create a BACnet virtual node in MSIB the following must be entered:

  • MSIB Virtual BACnet Node Name
  • MSIB Virtual BACnet Node Device Instance number
  • Network Number on which the MSIB Virtual BACnet node will reside
  1. Select Create single node.
  1. Enter the Navigator Device Username and Navigator Device Password.

The name must match the desired panel name from the BACnet Insight Server export file. Panel names are located in the fifth column of the row containing the Device object information for the desired panel.

BACnet Insight Server Panel Names
  1. (Optional) Enter a BACnet Object Name and BACnet Description. If nothing is entered in these fields they default to being the same as the Node Name.
  1. Enter the BACnet Device Instance number for the virtual node, again keeping in mind how the node will appear to the client system. In a BACnet system the Instance number must be unique on a network segment. For consistency, consider keeping it the same as the instance number of the data source.
  1. Enter the BACnet Network number for the new virtual node. The Network Number identifies the devices that reside on a particular network segment. The BACnet network number entered for the virtual MSIB device must relate to the BACnet network that is part of the client. If a BACnet system is going to access the object data in the MSIB BACnet device created in this step, then the network number must match that of the requesting client system. MSIB does not support BBMD functionality and therefore must be on the same BACnet segment as the client system.

This is not the network number of the source of the data. That will be entered later in the configuration of the data source service.

  1. Enter a BACnet MAC Address for the virtual MSIB node. This number is required in BACnet for message routing. In MSIB the BACnet MAC Address defaults to be the same as the Instance number but this may be overwritten to meet site specific requirements.
  1. In Configure Service Details, select the BACnet Proxy Configuration Service from the drop-down.
  1. For Import Type, select Insight BACnet Server from the drop-down list.
  1. Select Choose file and select the import file.
  1. Enter the Source IP Address and the Source BACnet Network number. Information on BACnet networks and devices for the Insight BACnet Server can be found in two locations.
  • Navigate to the Cimetrics BACstac Gateway [Version Number] Port Table dialog box, accessed by double-clicking the baccfg.bat file from [Drive]:\Program Files\Cimetrics\BACstac [Version Number]. This application displays the BACnet network numbers being used. Find the Virtual Type row and use its Network Num value for MSIB source configuration.
  • The Physical Network shows the IP address being used for BACnet. Enter this for the Source IP Address.
  • Alternatively, Insight System Profile can be used to locate the BACnet network number and IP address.
  • To locate the network number, the BACnet Object Browser can be launched from a BACnet ALN in Insight System Profile (right-click the ALN, and select BACnet). Selecting the icon for “Who-Is” and selecting Send Who-Is will return the devices and their Network Numbers. The device created during the BACnet export will be included in the list and display the Network Number to be entered in the MSIB source configuration.
  • To locate the IP Address, right-click on the BACnet ALN icon within System Profile and select Properties. Within the Building-Level Network Definition dialog, select the Settings button in the Connection section. The IP Address is the first four segments of Insight’s BACnet MAC Address.
  1. The Source BACnet Port is used by the source for BACnet communication. The default for BACnet devices is 47,808.
  1. Enter a desired Polling Interval or leave the default of 900 seconds between polling cycles (15 minutes).
  1. Enter a desired Separation for the number of milliseconds between point requests within a polling cycle or leave at the default of 600 milliseconds.

A separation of 600 means that 1.5 points will be polled per second. With a Polling Interval of 900 seconds, a total of 1,350 points can be polled from this source.

The intent of the separation for a polling period is to reduce the amount of data requested from a device at any one time. Older source devices with limited resources are especially prone to going offline when they are being overwhelmed with requests for data.

  1. Select Create and start.
  • You may need to refresh the page before the data displays. This is especially true for larger amounts of data. MSIB will start sending data to the Navigator site. For details about the operation of nodes, see Working with nodes.