Press
Release
February 2003
February 2003
A choice not to be taken lightly !
Through its large range, PANORAMA offers three catagories of operator workstation licences, each of the three types corresponding to different requirements.
In order to help you make the choice that best suits your needs, we are keen to clarify this subject.
These are designed for critical applications where the availability and performance are the operational priorities. They are also used for applications where is it necessary to control the plant and / or for large-scale applications (with many thousands of variables to manage).
The application configuration and the PANORAMA programs are loaded onto all workstations that are then dedicated to running the SCADA. GESVAR, the "real-time" heart of PANORAMA, exchanges the data between the stations using optomised TCP/IP messages.
These are used on applications where you wish to view and monitor the data at a second level of operations using the company's intranet or extranet. They are for uses less intense than those needing high availability or high levels of performance. It is, however, possible to modify the values of the variables from this type of workstation and also to acknowledge and handle alarms. Since the access must be done by standard workstations, with the minimum of software to install and maintain, through an extended IT network, PANORAMA perfectly matches this requirement by offering a " Pure Web " solution. This is done by adding a dedicated Web Server (a client to the PANORAMA data acquisition servers, which are themselves based on " Thick " client technology) that publishes all or part of the SCADA application to a thin client equiped with a simple Internet browser like Microsoft Internet Explorer. The publication is done using the protocol " http " (Hyper Text Transport Protocol) on port 80, the flow of " XML " data easily integrates into the company's IT structure (accepted by the firewalls and the routers) and benefiting from the security strategies already in place.
These are used where simple, non critical SCADA workstations are required and where the applications are limited in their size.
The application is loaded onto a terminal server (Windows 2000 Server) and a new session will be launched and independantly run for each of the clients that connect to it. Thus, 10 clients will open 10 copies of the application in 10 sessions (on top of the " Console " session for that machine). All of the operators in effect work on the same server PC that sends the graphics, keyboard and mouse to a terminal using RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol). For this reason, the server must be high powered with at least a gigabyte of memory fitted. This machine is also quite critical beause if it breaks down, all the terminals will be out of service.
Furthermore, the RDP protocol uses a non-secure port (a port different to port 80), which limits its use to only a specific part of the network (outside of the main company office network). Hence, it will be necessary to configure specific firewalls and intranet network routers. Thus these are therefore confined to shopfloor and very local applications. Furthermore, under Windows 2000 Server, the RDP protocol limits the files to 256 colours on the terminals.
The great advantage is its simplicity to install and to get running, because a standard PANORAMA application works well with this method because it can be easily " cloned " onto terminals. Thus making it possible to integrate and maintain a single application at a site in order to simultaneously serve the operational needs of the central control room and the local shopfloor. Moreover, the application is installed and updated just once on a single machine (The terminal server) so that the clients have immediate access to the application functions. Finally, the client needs little in the way of ressources, like memory and CPU power, thus they are often based upon ultra-lite Operating Systems (like Windows CE) and cost much less than a standard PC.
So, we now
hope that you will have the confidence to successfully choose the solution
most suitable to your needs.
Have a great time running your PANORAMA system !!
Designed to be the most portable - hand-held clients appear in the form of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) known as PocketPCs, wireless notebooks type terminals or tablet PCs. The main constraint in there use is the availibility of a wireless network (WiFi wireless ethernet 802.11 or GPRS). In the case of GPRS, it is essential to go through an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to give access to the Web Server or the Terminal through its IP address (Fixed IP supplied by the ISP) or via a domain name dynamic IP address management (DYNDNS). The " Tablet PC " is used like a Thick mobile client. The " PocketPC " and the Wireless Terminal are used like a Terminal client for critical type operations (control). Finally, monitoring via the Web can can be done using all 3 types of devices.
Panorama has been developed since 1987 by SCADA specialists to allow technicians, process engineers and integrators to configure and use their own applications running under the Windows environment. Panorama offers a set of functions essential for monitoring and controlling processes in order to provide an optimum working environment for the operators.
Les Quadrants
Communication :
Laëtitia BANSSE
Tél : +33 1 53 94 94 53
E-mail : laetitia.bansse@lesquadrants.com