SCADA architectures

SCADA architectures
The United States Army's Training Manual 5-601 covers "SCADA Systems for C4ISR Facilities".

SCADA systems have evolved through 3 generations as follows:[citation needed]
[edit] First generation: "Monolithic"

In the first generation, computing was done by mainframe systems. Networks didn’t exist at the time SCADA was developed. Thus SCADA systems were independent systems with no connectivity to other systems. Wide Area Networks were later designed by RTU vendors to communicate with the RTU. The communication protocols used were often proprietary at that time. The first-generation SCADA system was redundant since a back-up mainframe system was connected at the bus level and was used in the event of failure of the primary mainframe system.
[edit] Second generation: "Distributed"

The processing was distributed across multiple stations which were connected through a LAN and they shared information in real time. Each station was responsible for a particular task thus making the size and cost of each station less than the one used in First Generation. The network protocols used were still mostly proprietary, which led to significant security problems for any SCADA system that received attention from a hacker. Since the protocols were proprietary, very few people beyond the developers and hackers knew enough to determine how secure a SCADA installation was. Since both parties had vested interests in keeping security issues quiet, the security of a SCADA installation was often badly overestimated, if it was considered at all.