The aggregator supports connecting machines from multiple facilities to one MES instance. For this, 2 network setups are possible:
One aggregator per facility
In this case, the aggregator is running in each facility individually.
Advantage:
No port forwarding or firewall rules needed
The persons setting up the aggregator can easier obtain IP addresses and Ports of the printers.
Disadvantage:
Each facility needs to setup the aggregator. Probably multiple administrators need to be involved.
One aggregator for all facilities
In this case, one aggregator is deployed on a central location (e.g. within the same environment as the 3YOURMIND MES Software.
Advantage:
One single instance of the aggregator needs to be set up. This could be handled by one single person.
Disadvantage:
Each printer needs to be accessible by the aggregator on a printer specific port. Those Ports need to get forwarded per printer. Firewall rules need to get adjusted.