Reviewer details
Name: Details withheld at reviewer request
Product details
Vendor: SCADAGroup
Product(s): ClearSCADA 2007
Phone: 0861 000 SCE
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: www.scadagroup.co.za
Application
Industry: Raw water
Server OS: N/A
Client OS: Windows XP Pro
Front end: 1*S7-400 Siemens PLC, 4*SCADAPack telemetry PLCs, 10*SSE telemetry units, 10*GPRS outstations, 6*Isoil battery flowmeters
Tag count: 1700
Updates per day: Approximately 7 million per day
General
Q: Briefly describe the application including information on any pre-existing system that was in place.
A: The system consists of multiple pump stations and a telemetry system. The scada serves as a remote control room and is a standalone system with remote report viewers.
Q: Who performed the scada configuration?
A: Atiflex Engineering.
Q: Approximately how many man-hours did the scada configuration take?
A: About 300 man-hours.
Q: Was a structured process followed to determine expected performance under full load and during abnormal failure conditions?
A: During the design phase node failure actions were planned. Factory testing included tests on power loss.
Q: What sort of licensing agreement applies to this particular system?
A: The full licence for the allocated tags includes all scada functionality.
Q: What upgrade agreements are in place? Are patches and version upgrades free, covered under annual maintenance or managed in some other way?
A: The system is covered under the ScadaCARE program for 18 months from date of purchase. This provides for licence updates at no further cost.
Q: How is after-sales support handled?
A: By the SI via e-mail or telephone.
System architecture
Q: What impresses you most about the architecture?
A: The ability to include a wide range of properties in a building block, making expansion and standardisation easy.
Q: What are the key physical communication layers and communication protocols employed in the system?
A: Ethernet, radio, GPRS wireless and e-mail.
Q: Is the scada system integrated onto an intranet or the Internet? If so, what level of remote monitoring and control is configured?
A: The web interface allows full remote control and monitoring.
Q: Does the application utilise web services?
A: Yes, via WebX it provides web clients with data displays and control through MS Internet Explorer with zero additional engineering.
Q: What redundancy is incorporated in this scada application?
A: None.
Graphics
Q: Describe the graphics development process.
A: A combination of both standard library images and custom images was used.
Q: How would you describe the library of graphic images?
A: The vector graphics ensure clear images with no fuzziness.
Q: What human factors were taken into consideration in the HMI design process?
A: An easy to understand 'click on target' philosophy was implemented.
Q: Did you use any ‘special’ images or video technology?
A: No.
Compatibility
Q: Do you run the scada in conjunction with any third-party application software?
A: Yes. E-mail utilities dump data from the flowmeter into the integrated SQL database to include this data in the historical values. Crystal Reports is also used for reporting.
Q: Was any custom code or scada scripting written for this project?
A: Data from CSV files is transferred to the built-in SQL database with date and time stamping. MS Access code has been developed to populate historical scada with data received via e-mail. ClearSCADA then interrogates this data as normally collected data and can display trend values.
Management reporting and integration
Q: Is a trending and historical data reporting system included?
A: Yes. This functionality is included in the package and is utilised for daily and monthly reporting.
Q: Is a management reporting system included in the package?
A: No.
Q: Is the system integrated with an MES / ERP or other management reporting or control system?
A: No.
Q: Are any production benchmarking tools configured as part of the scada system?
A: No.
Q: Does the application include asset management functionality?
A: No.
Q: Does the application include GIS (geographic information systems) integration?
A: No.
System safety, security and data protection
Q: What alarm management standards or best practices were adopted in configuring the scada system?
A: Alarms configured on each tag and incorporated into the wizards for each device.
Q: How were the potential consequences of abnormal process conditions taken into consideration during the HMI design process?
A: Upfront area planning for alarms was done to enable drill down capabilities.
Q: Does the design make provision for a DMZ and firewall segregation of process network and business networks?
A: N/A. This was a single node application.
Q: What intrusion detection is incorporated on the plant network(s) on which this scada system exists?
A: Not considered applicable.
Q: What configuration backup and archive backup methodologies have been adopted?
A: The database is archived.
Conclusion
Q: What was the predominant feature(s) that made you decide to employ this scada, rather than another?
A: The internal SQL database and the vector graphics.
Q: What impresses you the most about the system?
A: The template flexibility and features allowed for changes to be done effectively.
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