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Outpost - Overview

Autodesk Tandem Connect Outpost is a software component that runs on a customer-managed virtual or physical machine within their network. The customer is responsible for deploying Outpost to this machine.

Once deployed, Outpost is registered with the Tandem Connect platform. It then connects to the platform to retrieve its configuration.

To set up an integration:

  1. The customer builds an integration pipeline in Pipeline Studio, just as they would for a Cloud deployment.
  2. At deployment time, instead of selecting a cloud target, the customer chooses to deploy the pipeline to an Outpost device.
  3. On its next polling cycle, Outpost contacts the platform, downloads the pipeline configuration and required components, and starts the integration.
  4. The pipeline begins execution, connecting to relevant systems and processing data according to the provided configuration.

Supported Platforms

  • Outpost can run on either a Virtual Machine (VM) or a Physical Machine (PM).
  • The following requirements are based on typical low-volume integrations. Actual needs will vary depending on:
    • Number and type of plugins used
    • Volume of data processed
    • Nature of the processing workload

System Requirements

We recommend the following specifications, which should be sufficient for most deployments:

  • Operating System: 64-bit (amd64) Linux distribution (e.g., Ubuntu)
  • CPU: 64-bit (amd64) CPU
  • RAM: 8 GB
  • Storage: 256 GB
  • Networking: Dual NIC (Network Interface Controller)
Note:

This document assumes Ubuntu as the Linux distribution for all examples and instructions.

Performance Considerations

Lower-powered Devices

It is possible to run Outpost on lower-powered IoT devices. However, suitability depends on the specific workload and resource requirements.

Multiple Outposts on a Single Machine

You can run multiple Outpost instances on the same VM or PM. However:

  • Each Outpost instance can only run one pipeline.
  • Multiple Outposts cannot share the same inbound port. If two instances are configured to use the same port, it will result in a conflict and is not supported.

BACnet-Specific Requirements

Network Configuration

  • Physical Machine Requirement: Outpost must run on a Physical Machine that is connected to the same subnet as the BACnet router or gateway.

  • Dual Network Interface Cards (NICs): In some environments, the BACnet network may be isolated from the internet. To enable communication with Tandem Connect in these cases, the machine running Outpost must have two NICs:

    1. NIC 1: Connected to the isolated BACnet network
    2. NIC 2: Connected to a network with internet access

    This allows the machine to act as a bridge between the BACnet network and Tandem Connect.

Firewall Requirements

  • BACnet Communication:

    • Port 47808/UDP must be open in both directions between Outpost and the BACnet router/gateway.

  • Tandem Connect Communication:

    • Outpost requires access to the internet over port 443/TCP (HTTPS)
    • This must be allowed for connections to:
      • Tandem Connect API
      • Tandem API

Setting up the Outpost device

Currently, you must procure and setup your own Outpost device. For an outline of how to do this, see: Manual Setup

COMING SOON: In the near future, Autodesk will partner with a hardware provider so that you can purchase a pre-configured machine.

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