Alex,
We have configured most flows to update at 10 seconds, and most everything
else to update at 30 seconds, with change deltas of 0.1% of engineering
units. I wish there was a way to configure deltas as percent of actual
observed range, like the Biles AIM product used to have. That would really
be nice.
I had never even heard of fastest_rsr until the Connoisseur guys added it to
foxapi.cfg, but that of course does not affect AIM*Historian. That would be
/opt/aim/bin/aimapi.cfg. Does fastest_rsr also apply there, or is it
something different?
How does one obtain the Solaris Configurator? Is it part of the "you must
ante-up some more cash" version 3.1, or can I get it for my current version
3.02?
I did refer to I/A Report Writer, which I think is the same thing as the
Foxboro Canada report package with a different name.
Tim Lowell
Control Systems Engineer
Phillips Petroleum Company, Trainer Refinery
Phone: 610-364-8362
Fax: 610-364-8211
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----Original Message-----
From: Johnson, Alex (Foxboro) [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2001 10:29 AM
To: Foxboro DCS Mail List
Subject: RE: Legacy Historian Upgrade
Re: Loading
The load is proportional to the number of changes and the update
rates.
What is your setting for fastest_rsr in /opt/fox/ais/bin/foxapi.cfg?
This
controls how often updates are sent from the CP to the historian.
How do you change deltas now compare with the ones then?
Re: You must have at least one Windows NT workstation or server on
the
network to configure it. It cannot be configured from Solaris
except with
the command line interface, which is great for bulk edits but
cumbersome for
small changes. This could be a problem for sites not running
Windows NT.
The Solaris Configurator is available and has been for a few months.
Re: no tools are provided for extracting real-time data into tabular
or text
format with AIM*Historian by itself
The I/A Series Report Writer is available.
Regards,
Alex Johnson
10707 Haddington
Houston, TX 77043
713.722.2859 (office)
713.722.2700 (switchboard)
713.932.0222 (fax)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
-----Original Message-----
From: Lowell, Tim: [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2001 9:07 AM
To: 'Foxboro DCS Mail List'
Subject: RE: Legacy Historian Upgrade
And now a customer perspective...
Pros of AIM*Historian:
1. You can modify it while it is running.
2. You can run it on the NT platform as well as AW51,
and you
can set
up remote collectors on both NT and Unix platforms.
3. Much better archiving and storage tools.
4. Reasonably clean Windows NT interface (with some
annoying
little
quirks) as well as the usual bulk command line interface.
Cons of AIM* Historian:
1. It can be an enormous resource hog. Our
6000-points-or-so
AIM*Historian runs on an AW51E, 256 MB RAM, a 9.1 GB hard
drive, and
we
notice considerable sluggishness over the AW51E we have that
doesn't
run
AIM*Historian. The Legacy Historian is no slouch hogging up
resources also
of course, but I can recall a few years back at another site
running
a
similar number of points on an AW51C with a 1.2 GB drive
without
many
problems.
2. Could be a cost issue for some companies. And the
AIM*Suite
utilities (AIM*Datalink, et. al.) don't buy you much over
the ODBC
interface
you can already get with the Legacy Historian. AIM*Datalink
is a
woefully
inadequate product. The only thing we use it for here is
the DDE
interface
so that we can link AIM*Historian real-time data to our
Excel Visual
Basic
sheets. Otherwise, no one uses it because it is cumbersome
and
requires
intimate knowledge of how the I/A system is put together,
which our
process
engineers don't have.
3. You must have at least one Windows NT workstation or
server
on the
network to configure it. It cannot be configured from
Solaris
except with
the command line interface, which is great for bulk edits
but
cumbersome for
small changes. This could be a problem for sites not
running
Windows NT.
4. Unlike Legacy Historian, no tools are provided for
extracting
real-time data into tabular or text format with
AIM*Historian by
itself.
There is an Excel add-in, which is only somewhat helpful,
but you
must buy
the whole AIM*Suite to get it. If you want any sort of
customization at
all, you must create your own tools using C or Visual Basic.
If you
happen
to know or want to learn C or VB, that's great, but if you
don't
know it or
don't have time to learn, you'll have to spend more money to
hire
someone
who does. You could also buy the Foxboro Canada report
package,
which also
works with the Legacy Historian.
We have AIM*Historian here, and I would never want to go
back to the
Legacy
Historian, despite the myriad of problems we have had with
issues
mostly
related to the remote collector we set up. We bought the
whole
AIM*Suite as
a small part of a huge project, we have NT here, and I
happen to
know a
little VB, so the cons are not an issue here, but they may
be for
some
sites. The fact that you can modify it while it is running
is a big
enough
pro for me to recommend it, especially to sites where
historian
uptime is a
big deal, like a refinery.
Tim Lowell
Control Systems Engineer
Phillips Petroleum Company, Trainer Refinery
Phone: 610-364-8362
Fax: 610-364-8211
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----Original Message-----
From: Johnson, Alex (Foxboro)
[SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2001 9:25 AM
To: Foxboro DCS Mail List
Subject: RE: Legacy Historian Upgrade
You should give consideration to moving to AIM*. It
contains
migration
utilities that preserve the customer's data and
configuration
information.
Regards,
Alex Johnson
10707 Haddington
Houston, TX 77043
713.722.2859 (office)
713.722.2700 (switchboard)
713.932.0222 (fax)
[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This list is neither sponsored nor endorsed by the Foxboro
Company.
All
postings from this list are the work of list subscribers and
no
warranty
is made or implied as to the accuracy of any information
disseminated
through this medium. By subscribing to this list you agree
to hold
the
list sponsor(s) blameless for any and all mishaps which
might occur
due to
your application of information received from this mailing
list.
To be removed from this list, send mail to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
with "unsubscribe foxboro" in the Subject. Or, send any mail
to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This list is neither sponsored nor endorsed by the Foxboro Company.
All
postings from this list are the work of list subscribers and no
warranty
is made or implied as to the accuracy of any information
disseminated
through this medium. By subscribing to this list you agree to hold
the
list sponsor(s) blameless for any and all mishaps which might occur
due to
your application of information received from this mailing list.
To be removed from this list, send mail to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
with "unsubscribe foxboro" in the Subject. Or, send any mail to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This list is neither sponsored nor endorsed by the Foxboro Company. All
postings from this list are the work of list subscribers and no warranty
is made or implied as to the accuracy of any information disseminated
through this medium. By subscribing to this list you agree to hold the
list sponsor(s) blameless for any and all mishaps which might occur due to
your application of information received from this mailing list.
To be removed from this list, send mail to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
with "unsubscribe foxboro" in the Subject. Or, send any mail to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
