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Inform IT Process Information Web Server (PIWS ) Frequently Asked Questions

Introduction

The Inform IT Process Information Web Server allows a variety of process related information to be delivered anywhere in the enterprise it is required. Both standard displays as well as the ability to create custom displays are possible. Information can be delivered within a company LAN, WAN or Internet based on their needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Does PIWS-OPERATE IT B VIEWER work the same as PIWS-SL VIEWER?

A. The function is the same. Because of the architecture of Operate IT Process Portal B versus Conductor NT, the implementation of PIWS-OPERATE IT B VIEWER is slightly different.

Q. What versions of Conductor NT will the PIWS-SL Viewer support?

A. The PIWS-SL Viewer Provides Support for versions 2.2, 2.3, 4.0 and 5.0.

Q. Does PIWS-SL VIEWER offer the same functionality for Conductor NT as PIWS-PROCESS GRAPHIC VIEWER does for Conductor VMS Graphics?

A. Yes, it allows the display of previously created graphics in a web browser. However instead of using @aGlance as the data update mechanism, PIWS-SL VIEWER accesses the Conductor NT data base directly.

Q. What modules can’t the Control Network Viewer recognize?

A. PIWS-CONTROL NETWORK VIEWER cannot recognize the CTM or SPM.

Q. What sources of @aGlance data can the PIWS-BASE use?

A. PIWS-BASE has been tested against our own servers. Those are, OIS42 and higher, Conductor VMS, Conductor NT and DCI System 6. It has also been tested with IP.21; the customer should refer to the release notes for properly configuring IP.21.

It should work with any other source of @aGlance data however, formal tests with these third-party products have not been done.

Q. Can customers create their own custom PIWS pages?

A. Yes, we provide several options for doing this. The PIWS-Page Wizard allows point and click authoring for this product. There are also several prepared Java templates that can be customized by the customer. Finally an ActiveX component is provided to allow customers to script the many commercial ActiveX components with data from their processes via VBScript or JavaScript.

Q. I purchased a previous release of PIWS. Am I eligible for an upgrade?

A. With the purchase PIWS, you were entitled to 1 year of support, which includes access to any updates and releases for options that were included in that purchase. Additional modules must be purchased through the expansion nomenclature.

Q. Can PIWS-BASE, PIWS-CONTROL NETWORK VIEWER, PIWS-PROCESS GRAPHIC VIEWER and PIWS-SL VIEWER displays be shown from Conductor VMS and Conductor NT consoles?

A. All of the PIWS-CONTROL NETWORK VIEWER displays can be viewed from either console. Custom screens generated with PIWS-Page Wizard, as well as any of the Java templates can also be shown on Conductor VMS. However, Active X components can not be displayed on Conductor VMS. As a result, Conductor VMS cannot display the standard process display and graphing screens shipped with PIWS-BASE. Because of this same limitation, none of the PIWS-PROCESS GRAPHIC VIEWER or PIWS-SL VIEWER displays are available from Conductor VMS. In addition PIWS-SL VIEWER can not be displayed on a Conductor NT Server or Client since this would create a registry conflict.

Q. Does PIWS require an INICI03 communications module?

A. Only the PIWS-CONTROL NETWORK VIEWER option requires the INICI03 or INICI12-232L communications module. The Standard module (PIWS-BASE), PIWS-PROCESS GRAPHIC VIEWER, PIWS-SL VIEWER and PIWS-PI communicate with the control system through other data servers that are located on consoles or other products via the plant network.

Q. How many clients and @aGlance servers can a PIWS handle?

A. Here are performance guidelines for PIWS-AAG.

The number of clients and @aGlance servers that a PIWS-AAG can support simultaneously is a fairly complex question to answer, because the overall performance of the system is dependant on the performance of the individual clients, servers and intervening network pieces. However here are some guidelines.

First some brief theory of operation. The PIWS-AAG acts as a client to an @aGlance server. @aGlance servers are shipped as part of our OIS 42, 43, Conductor VMS, and Conductor NT consoles. They are shipped with one simultaneous client license, however additional simultaneous user licenses can be purchased. When a browser requests information from PIWS-AAG, PIWS-AAG then spawns a request to the @aGlance server. The @aGlance server then briefly uses an available client license to serve the request and then closes the connection. The period of time that the connection is open and the client license is in use is quite small. If another request shows up while all of the client licenses are in use, a message is sent to PIWS-AAG for that request that the number of licenses has been exceeded. If this occurs, it only affects that one scan for the one client. It will retrieve the proper information on the next scan. There can be an extremely large number of potential clients to PIWS-AAG, who may request generated reports, or other occasional usage types of information without any difficulties. However for users that are using the real-time update capabilities, we have developed the following basic formula.

Where

N = Number of simultaneous users actively polling the PIWS

T = Number of tag attributes requested per scan

S = Scan interval in seconds.

P= Performance of the System in tags/second

The formula would be (N * T) / S = P. The OIS has been tested at P= 500 tag attributes/second and can probably handle quite a bit more. However to be conservative, running at P = 200 or less would probably be appropriate to avoid any conflicts. If difficulties arise, then the number of simultaneous clients can be increased by purchasing them through the system product catalog for that particular console.

Additionally we recommend that the number of simultaneous users N not be greater than 10. If it is, then additional clients should be purchased. The number of @aGlance Servers that a PIWS server is connected to should also probably not exceed 5 for performance purposes.

Q. What are some sample uses of the PIWS suite of products?

A. The PIWS has been used in a number of ways. Such as:

• Remote monitoring of multiple plant sites using Conductor VMS @aGlance data servers.

• Remote diagnostics of Infi90 and Symphony (Harmony) systems with PIWS-CONTROL NETWORK VIEWER.

• Real-time data integrated with plant images for easy visual representation of the process.

Custom applications based on PIWS include:

• System wide asset performance reporting by plant and unit.

• Web page versions of plant operations logs.

• Plant performance calculation display

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