# Connect

> Bring machines, sensors and systems into Proxus, and send their data on to the places that use it.

Source: https://proxus.io/docs/connect

Everything Proxus knows about your plant arrives through **Connect**. Here you tell Proxus which machines to
read, how to reach them, and where their data should go next. In the hub, these screens are in the **Connect**
menu.

## What you set up here

| Screen | What it is for |
| --- | --- |
| **Devices** | One entry per machine, PLC, robot or sensor that Proxus reads. A device belongs to one edge gateway and uses one device profile. |
| **Device Profiles** | How to talk to a kind of device: the protocol, its connection settings and the list of tags to read. Many devices can share one profile. |
| **Edge Gateways** | The Proxus runtime that sits close to the machines, reads them and forwards the data. The hub itself runs one gateway, called **SYSTEM**. |
| **Outbound Targets** | Places outside Proxus that receive the data: databases, message brokers, cloud services, REST APIs. |
| **Notification Channels** | Ways Proxus sends messages to people: email, SMS, Teams, Slack and others. |
| **Import Devices** | Adds many devices at once from a spreadsheet. |
| **Kepware Project Importer** | Brings devices and tags over from an existing Kepware project. |

## How the pieces fit

A **device** is read by an **edge gateway**, using the protocol and tag list of its **device profile**. Every
value the gateway reads is a **tag** value. The gateway publishes it in the Unified Namespace and sends it to the
hub, which stores it in the Proxus historian. The gateway also sends it to each **outbound target** you chose for
the device, so a target must be reachable from that gateway's network.

## Start here

## By protocol

## Gateways, profiles and destinations