CitectScada v7.0 introduces a new architecture based on advanced clustering to help safeguard plant reliability. The new version offers rapid-change deployment and other enhancements to increase security and maximise engineering productivity.
Craig Resnick, research director, ARC Advisory Group reports that users now have the ability to put local systems and centralised servers into redundant pairs, providing the benefits of standardisation through the use of a single configuration across all displays, while at the same time locating alarms, reports, trends and I/O servers local to the process that they control.
Clustering can be across multiple sites, providing hybrid solutions of centralised and distributed control. Many local control servers can be paired with a single central standby server or the control system can segmented to add separation between parts of the control system or to reduce the impact of system expansion.
The new architecture offers customers significant cost savings from the new dynamic-point licensing. Because the same project configuration can be used across an entire site, customers need only pay for the tags they use at each operator display. This new version also helps provide standardisation and a single point of change when CitectScada is used as the central control system and on local control panels.
Advanced clustering technology:
* Provides a seamless operator view across existing control systems.
* Provides a combination of control (including alarms, reports and trends) local to the process, paired with a central standby server.
* Supports additional processing for expansion requirements by simply adding a new server to the control system.
* Segments clients' control systems to ensure changes in one business unit do not affect the others.
* Connects to multiple control systems to analyse the alarms and trend data directly from the scada systems.
* Uses cluster swapping to re-use graphics screens between matching systems, for simulation or replay.
Rapid change deployment facilitates:
* The roll out of changes to graphics screens without restart.
* The changing of alarms, trends and reports without client restart.
* Deployment of changes to all systems in a single step.
Other enhancements in v7.0
* Increased network fault tolerance support.
* Greater communication control with priority levels for standby communication paths.
* Reduced code overhead by processing code only when tags change.
* Simplified logging of users' actions.
* Support for MS Windows XP-embedded.
* Support for Virtual Machine environments.
For more information contact Niconette du Toit, Citect, +27 (0)11 699 6600, [email protected], www.citect.com
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