What is Niagara (Tridium)?

Niagara is supervisory software: the Niagara Framework, built by Tridium Inc., an independent business entity of Honeywell International. It normalises data from BACnet, Modbus, LonWorks and other building-automation protocols into one supervisory interface. It doesn't replace the field controllers underneath it; it sits above them and gives one console a common view of otherwise incompatible systems.

Niagara Framework and Niagara 4. Niagara Framework is the supervisory software Tridium builds for connected buildings and BAS integration. Buildings meet the current major line as Niagara 4 (public releases such as 4.14 and 4.15 on Tridium's site). A station runs a set of drivers, one per protocol, each translating a field device's native data into Niagara's object model. A BACnet chiller, a Modbus meter and a LonWorks VAV box end up represented the same way inside the station, so one interface can trend, alarm and schedule across all three. That Niagara software runs as a station on a JACE, a Honeywell WEBs supervisor, or another OEM brand built on the same framework.

Tridium and Honeywell. Tridium Inc. is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, USA, and builds the Niagara Framework. Honeywell International acquired Tridium in 2005; Tridium continues as an independent business entity of Honeywell International, licensing Niagara to a wide roster of BAS manufacturers rather than keeping it exclusive to Honeywell's own product line, which is why Niagara turns up under many brands. Stations show up as Honeywell WEBs-N4, Johnson Controls Facility Explorer, Vykon or Distech Controls EC-Net; analytics for those stations live on the Honeywell Niagara integration page.

JACE and WEBs. A JACE (Java Application Control Engine) is the small embedded controller that runs a Niagara station in the field, Tridium's own hardware line and the one most third-party integrators install. Honeywell WEBs is Honeywell's own branded product line, built on the same Niagara Framework: a WEBs supervisor is a Niagara station carrying Honeywell's badge.

Getting data out. Every Niagara station ships an oBIX driver as standard, both client and server, so enabling the server exposes the station's points, histories and alarms over plain HTTP without touching the wire sheet. The other common path is BACnet passthrough: most Niagara stations already run a BACnet driver internally, so a client can read the same points directly over BACnet. If you already run a Niagara station, the Honeywell Niagara integration page covers how Explore reads it over oBIX or BACnet passthrough, turns those points into a ranked queue, and how write access starts off. The wider Explore connection paths cover the other BMS brands in the same estate.

How FrostLogic reads a Niagara station. The FrostLogic Edge Agent connects to a station's oBIX service or reads it over BACnet passthrough, whichever the site already exposes. It runs alongside the supervisor, reads points and histories, and never changes station configuration or the wire sheet. Explore isn't a CMMS and doesn't take over control of the building; it adds a decision layer on top of what the station already knows. That decision layer is the same BMS analytics queue Explore shows for any vendor.