DNP3 was designed to optimize the transmission of data acquisition information and control commands from one computer to another.
It is intended for SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) applications.
It is not a general purpose protocol like those found on the Internet for transmitting email, hypertext documents, SQL queries, multimedia and huge files.
The reasons for the adoption of DNP3 by users are primarily:
-
It is an open protocol
-
It is optimized for SCADA communications
-
It provides interoperability between different vendor’s equipment
-
It is supported by a substantial number of SCADA equipment manufacturers
-
It will provide immediate and long-term benefits to users