SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)

Industrial/ICS 🏭 Difficulty: free

Definition

SCADA is a supervisory control architecture for monitoring and controlling geographically distributed industrial assets using central control software, remote field devices, and telemetry networks.

Examples

  • A water utility supervises dozens of remote pump stations and reservoirs from a central control room, starting pumps and adjusting setpoints over radio links.
  • A pipeline operator monitors pressure and flow along hundreds of kilometers, issuing remote open/close commands to valves via cellular and leased-line communications.

Discover 🔎

SCADA systems connect a central control center to remote industrial assets. Operators view live data, acknowledge alarms, and issue high-level commands, while local controllers or RTUs execute the detailed logic. SCADA favors wide-area, intermittent, and bandwidth-limited communications, so reliability and availability are prioritized alongside safety.

Open the interactive lesson Browse more topics

Tip: The interactive version includes progress tracking, decks, and premium deep dives.