# Step 2: Connect Data

Let's get some data flowing! We'll start with simulated data, then you can connect real devices later.

## Navigate to Data Flows

1. Click **"Data Flows"** in the left menu
2. Go to the "Bridges" tab. Here you find all of your bridges.
3. Click **"Add Bridge"** (that's it - no other options to confuse you!)

![Data Flow](https://3966587046-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPQ7UY9eT1SiICDqYFZdA%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-b500632337088925b2861a57b0886c4f5af5baae%2Fdata-flow.png?alt=media)

## Configure the Bridge - General Tab

* **Bridge Name:** `my-first-bridge`
* **Instance:** Your UMH Core instance
* **Location:** Pre-filled with your instance location. You can add more detail later, but for now leave it as is. In the screenshot, we're defining a bridge for `enterprise.siteA`.
* **Connection:** Enter the IP/hostname and port of the device you want to connect to. Since we don't have a real PLC for this tutorial, we'll use `localhost` as IP and `8080` as port.

![Bridge General Configuration](https://3966587046-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPQ7UY9eT1SiICDqYFZdA%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-d63297bda5e23142970210d67b356633a9657750%2Fbridge-general.png?alt=media)

Click **"Save and Deploy"**. A popup will show the deployment progress and any errors or warnings. If everything goes well, you'll be automatically redirected.

![Bridge Deploy Status](https://3966587046-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPQ7UY9eT1SiICDqYFZdA%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-a2eeb3462eac0ee3adbc6c0ac2d1f812ad5c3e97%2Fbridge-general-deploy.png?alt=media)

Back on the "General" tab, you can verify the connection was successful. Here we see a latency of "0 ms" since we're connecting to localhost.

![Bridge Latency Good](https://3966587046-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPQ7UY9eT1SiICDqYFZdA%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-c852e4fa878c22f9ee721fdd6cacf3054774c286%2Fbridge-general-latency.png?alt=media)

If connecting to a real PLC fails, the latency indicator will turn orange:

![Bridge Latency Bad](https://3966587046-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPQ7UY9eT1SiICDqYFZdA%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-5afae85fcbe8a5d7532597c552f2884b5cc9b9ef%2Fbridge-general-latency-bad.png?alt=media)

The status "starting\_failed\_dfc\_missing" means we haven't configured a data flow yet - we've only tested the connection. Let's actually get data flowing by configuring the "Read" tab.

![Bridge Read Header](https://3966587046-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPQ7UY9eT1SiICDqYFZdA%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-7c570e3d82d82ca8543358c11652e84bcc00792d%2Fbridge-read-header.png?alt=media)

* **Protocol:** Select the protocol to read from. Choose "Generate" to simulate data without a real PLC.
* **Data Type:** Select "Time Series" (the standard for PLC tags).
* **Monitoring:** Shows the bridge state (currently "starting\_failed\_dfc\_missing") and throughput (currently zero).

![Bridge Read Input](https://3966587046-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPQ7UY9eT1SiICDqYFZdA%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-5a46e0c86ea3babe48f8da159f90a7e97637ad84%2Fbridge-read-input.png?alt=media)

* **Input:** Since we selected "Generate", we can create test messages. With real protocols like "Modbus" or "Siemens S7", you'd see protocol-specific settings here. For now, use the defaults: generate `hello world` every `1s`.

![Bridge Read Processing](https://3966587046-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPQ7UY9eT1SiICDqYFZdA%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-2fa8da3a2420a4a09098b9e1eca86f4313801086%2Fbridge-read-processing.png?alt=media)

* **Processing:** The "Tag Processor" appears because we selected "Time Series" data type.

Three required fields:

* **location\_path:** Where the data goes (auto-filled from bridge location)
* **data\_contract:** Leave as `_raw` for now (no validation rules)
* **tag\_name:** Name your tag (data point) - we'll use `my_data`

💡 **What's a tag?** In industrial systems, a "tag" is a single data point - like a temperature sensor reading, motor speed, or valve position. Think of it as a variable that changes over time.

The **Always** section uses JavaScript to process messages. We're not modifying anything for now, just passing the data through.

💡 **Tip:** You can modify data here later (e.g., unit conversions, renaming). If you don't know JavaScript, any LLM (ChatGPT, Claude) can help write the code.

![Bridge Read Output](https://3966587046-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPQ7UY9eT1SiICDqYFZdA%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-d1043ebb0f619f3625798c8341fcfee5a63e3904%2Fbridge-read-output.png?alt=media)

The Output section is auto-generated - it sends data to your Unified Namespace.

Click **"Save & Deploy"**.

![Bridge Read Deployed](https://3966587046-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPQ7UY9eT1SiICDqYFZdA%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-13d419e08110d6e87c866c95b15e950a742cea23%2Fbridge-read-deployed.png?alt=media)

## 🎉 Success!

You should now see:

* **Status:** Active ✅
* **Throughput:** \~1 msg/sec

Your data is flowing!

## Step 3: View Your Data in the Topic Browser

![Topic Browser My Data](https://3966587046-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FPQ7UY9eT1SiICDqYFZdA%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-22c15c615c42c3ef45014a41f101fab59bfeb3b9%2Ftopic-browser-my_data.png?alt=media)

Click **"Topic Browser"** in the left menu. This shows all data in your Unified Namespace.

You'll see your data organized as a **topic**:

* `enterprise` → `siteA` → `_raw` → `my_data`

This is the full topic path: `enterprise.siteA._raw.my_data`

Exactly as we configured it! Click on `my_data` to see details.

* Topic Details shows your bridge configuration and data location
* Last Message shows the most recent `hello world` message with timestamp
* History shows a table of recent messages (would be a chart for numeric data)
* Metadata contains additional information about the data source (we'll use this later)

## Understanding What You Built

You just created a complete data pipeline:

```
Bridge → Processing → Unified Namespace → Topic Browser
```

**Key Concepts:**

* **Bridge:** The ONLY way data enters UMH (ensures quality and monitoring)
* **Location Path:** Organizes your data hierarchically (`enterprise.siteA`)
* **Data Contract:** Currently `_raw` (no validation rules)
* **Tag:** Your data point (`my_data`)
* **Topic:** Complete address in the UNS (`enterprise.siteA._raw.my_data`)

## What's Next?

**You have data flowing!** This is already production-ready for many use cases.

**Want to organize better?** → [Continue to Step 3: Organize Your Data](https://docs.umh.app/getting-started/2-organize-data)

**Connect a real device?** Simply change the protocol from "Generate" to:

* **OPC UA** for modern PLCs
* **Modbus** for older equipment
* **MQTT Subscribe** for existing MQTT devices
* [See all 50+ supported protocols →](https://docs.umh.app/benthos-umh/input)

## Concepts Learned

Building on the location path from Step 1, you now understand:

* **Unified Namespace (UNS)** - Event-driven data backbone that eliminates point-to-point connections ([learn more](https://docs.umh.app/usage/unified-namespace))
* **Bridge** - Gateway for external data into the UNS (the only way data enters)
* **Data Flows** - Configuration area for bridges and other data pipelines
* **Protocol** - Connection method (manufacturing protocols like OPC UA, Modbus, S7, or IT protocols like HTTP)
* **Connection** - IP/hostname and port settings with latency monitoring
* **Tag** - A time-series data point (like a PLC variable)
* **Tag Processor** - JavaScript-based transformation for time-series data
* **Topic** - Complete data address: `location_path.data_contract.tag_name` ([topic convention](https://docs.umh.app/usage/unified-namespace/topic-convention))
* **data\_contract** - Data validation rules (`_raw` = no validation)
* **Topic Browser** - UI for viewing all data in the UNS
* **Throughput** - Tag updates per second for time-series data

***

**Pro tip:** Everything you just configured in the UI is stored as YAML. As you get comfortable, you can copy and modify these configurations for faster setup of similar devices.