[foxboro] AIM* questions

Hi all-knowing list,


I am investigating a migration to the AIM* historian from legacy.  Legacy 
works fine, and I normally would not change anything, but we are averaging 
about one new "initiative" a month that requires some sort of data 
collection from the DCS, some of it at relatively high frequencies, and of 
varying types (point values as well as alarm and OAJ events).


My primary goal in all this is to establish a "buffer" box that can supply 
data to any external application(s) that will tolerate changes in those 
applications' collection characteristics without increasing system 
loading.  I currently am running two Solaris AWs, each with legacy 
historians; they were redundant at one time but we exceeded the 4000-point 
limit and had to split them.  I am envisioning something like the 
following:


|------------|        |-----------|
|     AW     |        |     AW    |
| with hist. |        | with hist.|
|  (box 1)   |        |  (box 2)  |
|------------|        |-----------|
       |                     |
       |   (2nd ethernets)   |
       ---------| |-----------
                | |
                | |
            |------------|
            | Windows PC |
            | with hist. |
            | (box 3)    |
            |------------|
                  |
                  |
              External
                apps


Box 1 and Box 2 would be running redundant AIM* instances supplying data 
to the system for operator functions, and to Box 3.  Box 3 would collect 
from Box 1's and Box 2's historians (not the CPs directly), with the 
capability to fail over between them (for when we back up an AW) or at 
least allow manual switching, as well as reconstructing the data from Box 
1 and/or Box 2 if Box 3 fails or loses connection totally.  External apps 
would collect from Box 3; adding additional external collection would 
slightly increase Box 1/2/3's loading, but not the CPs', as long as that 
collection was asking for data already configured in Box 1's and Box 2's 
historians.


So my questions are:


1)  Will AIM* do what I want here?  Can it collect from another instance 
of itself?  Can it fail over between collection sources, or at least allow 
manual switching?


2) What other "server" interfaces does AIM* offer?  I see legacy and 
AIM*API and ODBC/OLE DB in the PSS, but what about OPC DA or HDA?


3) How does AIM* present alarm history data to the AHD on the system? Does 
it still generate the almhist file, or does it use some other mechanism? 


4) Any other ideas or thoughts on architecture or other software to do 
this?  Any actual experience anyone would like to share (with AIM* or 
something else)?


Thanks,

Corey Clingo
BASF Corporation



 
 
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