8.1 Redundancy with Kepware OPC

Ignition
1

A customer has a redundant 8.1 system that we are discussing redoing the OPC systems. They are using KepDirect (retired) for their many AutomationDirect controllers and KepServerEx for their many Siemens/TI 505 controllers. The OPC servers currently reside on the redundant server.

We are moving towards replacing the redundant server as it is targeted by IT as needing to be replaced and have to make a decision about the Kep software. We considered converting the AutomationDirect and Siemens/TI controller addressing to ModbusTCP, but they had some performance issues when they performed a test, so keeping Kep is the desired approach.

What would the active Ignition public do in this situation? We would like to avoid double addressing the PLCs by running multiple Kep servers in parallel. A third PC / virtual machine is a possibility with this customer.

2

I would move Kepware to a third server, and point both Ignition master and backup at that instance. Keep a good system image so you can fire up a replacement quickly.

3

If you need redundancy on the OPC servers as well, you'll probably have to look at Kepware's Redundancy Master software.

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4

Thank you for the guidance. We will use a third box.