The Polar Cloud Software license is billed per Tag and per Gateway in the field. There are a number of different packages that include certain numbers of Tags and Gateways in the packages. 

This article will take you through what these represent and how the licensing structure is billed for on the Polar Cloud. 

What is a Tag? 

A Tag is a historically monitored parameter or Input/Output on a devices dashbaord. A Tag or the tag count also includes any control buttons that are added to the same dashboard. 

What is a Gateway? 

A Gateway is the Polar Monitoring Gateway or Glacier Edge. These are the hardware components that link your devices in the field to the Polar Cloud via RS-485 or Modbus TCP. Gateways can be spread around the site to limit cable runs and increase redundancy. 

What is a Tags polling rate/interval? 

Tags on the Polar system can be polled at a minimum interval of 5-minutes. This means that the Polar Cloud will store data in 5-minute readings on the cloud. 
Depending on the device and parameter being monitored there are different polling intervals that have been set by default. These can be adjusted through the tile editor window on the device dashboards. 

How many tags do I need? 

Each device will have its own number of default tags enabled. Depending on the nature of the device they can vary between 2 and 32 tags enabled by default on a single device. 

Each device being used on the same site, whether on the same Gateway or not, will add to the tag count and ultimately dictate what license is required. 

For example: if you are connecting 5 devices each with 9 tags eneabled, you would have a total of 45 tags. this would mean that you would require the 50 Tag package to use the system. 

How long is Tag Data kept? 

Tag data is kept and stored on the Polar Cloud for as long as the license is being paid for. The longer the license has run for the longer the data is kept. All stored data on Polar is kept for the lenght of service to the Polar Cloud.