Patent ID: 7987254

Claim:
An automation network, comprising: a plurality of automation devices, each automation device comprising a control program having operating data for controlling a process; one or more remote computers for providing remote access to one or more of the plurality of automation devices for making changes to the operating data of the control program; a remote access server located between the plurality of automation devices and the one or more remote computers for controlling access to the plurality of automation devices, wherein the remote access server is configured to initiate and manage a session-oriented access between the one or more remote computers and the plurality of automation devices, by: (a) receiving a request for access to a requested automation device of the one or more of the plurality of automation devices from a requesting computer of the one or more remote computers and initiating the session-oriented access using computing resources determined to be available; (b) creating a software object as an image of the requested automation device comprising a model of the requested automation device; (c) when changes to the operating data are intended by the session-oriented access, creating a further software object, wherein the further software object models the process with the intended changes to allow for a simulation of the process with the intended changes, (d) running the simulation of the process with the intended changes; (e) determining if the simulation of the process with the intended changes is valid; (f) transmitting the intended changes to the requested automation device to update the operating data only if determined to be valid, such that any changes are checked before forwarding to the automation device; and (g) terminating the session-oriented access and releasing the computing resources.