OPC SERVER FOR MOD300 - 800xA PLC CONNECT
Hi All,
I made some test in lab to connect different MOD300 system
by means of PLC Connect OPC client on one side and a standard OPC
for MOD300 server on the other.
This test was done just to satisfy a customer request to exchange
data between two different MOD300 systems, using existing opc server
on a ethernet plant network.
I wonder if anybody already have some experience on this topic.
Thanks a lot
PB
Answers
Hi,
we did something simular where we connected a 800xA System with Master Connect to a MOD300 OPC Server. We were not using PLC Connect. We connect the created a CS on the 800xA side looking to an OPC Server on the Remote MOD300 OPC Server node.
Once the DCOM is set correctly or both nodes are in the same domain this will work well. We did some intensiv testing and found basicly 2 things:
Frequent writing to MOD using the OPC server will eventually create Parameter Change Message in the MOD System if CCF_EVENT Messages are recorded.
We build up the following type of connection: Primary Client/Server network to Firewall to OPC Server; The same was done for Secondary Client/Server network. THis will not allow for an automatic switch over if CSN1 fails.
Working on a single network only causes no problem!
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As an alternativ you may connect 2 800xA Systems using the 800xA OPC server. In this case you can run 2 CS on one side connecting to 2 Client on the other side. Providing full redundacy. This works without using PLC Connect.
We completed a project a few years ago that connects 2 paper machines running older MOD controllers to AC800M based QCS via an OPC Link.
The MOD Connect OPC Server is a huge bottleneck. Ultimately this is because of limits on the performance of the DCN ring. Peformance is obviously quite adequate when used to drive 800xA based graphics, but you MUST NOT over load it using fast subscription rates via any client including PLC Connect, Property Transfer etc.
Pay close attention to how your OPC subscription lists are built, and the subscription rates used. The subscription rates must match the cycle time of lists on the DCN ring which is generally 4 seconds for operator displays. Limit numbers of tags can be subscribed briefly at 1 second. Check the Manuals for details of suitable cycle times.
We found that ABB's OPC DataLink basically solved 90% of the problems we had communication to the MOD controllers. It does exactly what you want to do - link MOD systems together via OPC. Unfortunately, there is no word if this product is being updated past Win Server 2008.
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