Redundant server systems offer increased plant availability
Siemens Industry Automation & Drive Technologies has launched software aimed at ensuring fail-safe plant connections for HMI devices within Industrial Ethernet or Profibus networks.
The firm says its S7 OPC Redundancy application allows users to configure redundant OPC UA servers (Openness, Productivity and Collaboration, Unified Architecture).
OPC is the standard, open interface for connecting Windows applications on plant – using protocols such as S7-communication, Profinet and SNMP – and Siemens explains that the extended development version, OPC UA, provides security and redundancy functions.
In the event of a power outage or system failure, the backup server immediately assumes the functions of the failed OPC UA server. Hence, connected clients, such as HMI devices, can access the central data and remain operational.