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The GESRTP (GE Service Request Transfer Protocol) Communication Driver is a Microsoft® Windows® application program that acts as a communications protocol server. It provides other Windows application programs with access to data within the GE family of PLCs. The GESRTP Communication Driver provides access to a GE PLC through a standard Ethernet network interface card in the computer.

The GESRTP Communication Driver is primarily intended for use with the InTouch® HMI software. However, the Communication Driver can be used by any Microsoft Windows program capable of acting as a DDE, FastDDE, SuiteLink™, or OPC client. It supports the GE family of hardware and firmware listed in Tested GE Hardware.

The GESRTP Communication Driver is hosted by the OI Server Manager, a Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in. Many high-level functions and user-interface elements of the OI Server Manager are universal to all Communication Drivers. Only the documentation for the OI Server Manager contains descriptions of those universal functions/UI elements.

Reading the documentation for both the MMC and the OI Server Manager is critical to understanding this Communication Driver documentation. To read the documentation about the MMC and OI Server Manager, click the Help topics on the MMC Help menu. Both the MMC and Communication Drivers Pack Help are opened.

Note: The GESRTP Communication Driver supports multiple network interface cards in the computer. The network card that the server uses depends on the operating system.

This section describes the following:

• Supported communication protocols

• Access items via the communication driver

• Demo Mode

• Windows firewall considerations