Re: [foxboro] P92 Quad KVM Extension

  • From: "Fitzgerrell, Kevin" <Kevin_Fitzgerrell@xxxxxxx>
  • To: <foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:59:32 +0900

Yes, absolutely!  

I really liked the WP30/AP20 paradigm.  The major difference here is
that the WP30s were getting their data via IPC (if I remember right - I
only had a few) and my thin clients will be just an extension of my
servers.

I'd love to see this done officially too - it's much easier for me to
buy "official" solutions.  

At my site now, I've got around 50 workstations and 167 stations total
on our larger network.   Doing a committal is a real nightmare -
reducing the number of workstations makes committals simpler (although
that Windows committal is far worse than a Solaris committal).  I've
currently had to go back to CP10 style ring-routes (not so good a
paradigm as the WP30/AP20) to mitigate IPC connection problems.  The
thin-client/server model makes most of my IPC connection problems just
go away (although merging CP30s to CP270s for fewer controllers and a
higher IPC connection limit will really help too).

I'm not too worried about the annunciator keyboard.  I can run much
longer cable to GCIOs in the control rooms than I can to high resolution
monitors. I can probably extend those over fiber or even pass through
the network if I really need to.  For now I'll keep the GCIOs on the
servers and continue to put an annunciator in front of each display (or
vertical stack of displays).  In many cases the annunciator keyboards
are really only an alarm silence button - what I'd really like to see is
an "official" alarm silence button!

Cheers,

Kevin

-----Original Message-----
From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Johnson, Alex P (IPS)
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 12:38 PM
To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [foxboro] P92 Quad KVM Extension

Back to the future!

The WP30/AP20 paradigm returns! I'd love to do this officially. 

We do need a wireless annunciator keyboard to make the solution
complete.

Regards,
 
Alex Johnson
Invensys Process Systems
10900 Equity Drive
Houston, TX 77041
713 329 8472 (desk)
713 329 1600 (operator)
713 329 1944 (SSC Fax)
713 329 1700 (Central Fax)
alex.johnson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

-----Original Message-----
From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Kevin Fitzgerrell
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2009 7:46 PM
To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [foxboro] P92 Quad KVM Extension

Shaun,
My solution may not work for you, but I'll chime in here anyway.  We're
going another route for our workstation upgrades.
I'm putting P91s in our cabinets (big cabinets!) and using IGEL 2110 LX
thin
clients at the operator stations.  Thin clients have come a very long
way
since we struggled with the WYSE ones 4 or 5 years ago.  I'm pretty
pleased
with these things, the following is me being enthusiastic, not a sales
pitch
or recommendation:

These IGELs have two video outputs so I can run dual headed.  The
resolution
runs up to 1920x1440 on the VGA and 1600x1200 on the DVI.  Mine run
Linux
(the LX model) but they are also available with CE or XP embedded.
There is
a 4 headed version that might work for you in lieu of KVM extenders, but
I've never tried to RDP a really big desktop with multiple monitors.

I can use these to connect to ALL of my IA boxes - they will get RDP
sessions from my P91s, and X windows from my Solaris 10 and 51 series
boxes.  I can connect to a different server on each head for redundancy,
or
I can extend a single desktop across both heads.  I get an XDMCP session
from a 51 series box and run it at 256 colors for DM on session or head
and
another XDMCP session from a Solaris 10 box with 65K colors for FoxView
to
do side by side evaluations as I migrate from DM to FoxView - makes it
very
easy for the operators to show me their concerns.

Although I do have access to the shell, I haven't needed it, as the
setup &
configuration menues are excellent.  For around US$250 I'm very pleased
with
these.  They have an evaluation program, so if you want to try some you
don't have to buy first.

My overall plan is to have 2 P91s and a P82 in each major plant area,
and
run the 2 headed thin clients in the control rooms off of these, with
each
client connecting to two of the servers, one session on each head.  I'll
preserve a local head on each server for engineering or emergency
operator
access.  This should let me go from about 50 workstations to 15 over the
next few years, and actually improve reliability in most plant areas.

Cheers,

Kevin







On Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 4:30 AM, Goldie, Shaun S <
Shaun.Goldie@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Hi List
> Has anybody out there tried the P90's Remote Graphics Unit in a P92
>
> I purchased a P92 Quad 21" NEC LCD's and Foxboro 100 foot (30M) VGA
> Extension cables the video quality is un-acceptable (operations told
me
> to go away).
> I tried UTP extenders and they are not much better
> To do a tidy install I need about 40M
>
> The RGU is not qualified for a P92 by Foxboro and it aint cheap but it
> compares well with 4*Fibre VGA Extension + Keybord extension
> The RGU also achieves DVI extension which is probably the video mode
we
> should be aiming for now
> Shaun
>
>
>
>
>


 
 
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Systems (formerly The Foxboro Company). Use the info you obtain here at
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