Engineering Magazine – June 2019

ENGINEERING JUNE 2019 33

missing key data. And what’s more,
for automation teams that operate in
remote plant sites or without dedicated
IT staff on site, the extra time needed
to address SCADA and HMI downtime
can be even more painful.
Fortunately, best practices are
emerging to minimise downtime
and complexity in SCADA and HMI
environments.
Virtualisation, in which multiple
applications are run on a single physical
server, is perhaps the most valuable
strategy for minimising SCADA and HMI
failures. This practice essentially builds
an abstraction layer that allows SCADA
and HMI systems to run on parallel
virtual machines (VMs) on the same
hardware server. Automation teams
running virtualised SCADA and HMI
applications can greatly reduce costs
by decreasing the amount of hardware
devices required on the manufacturing
floor. Additionally, virtualised servers
benefit from downtime-free software
patches, since they can create and test
new VMs with updated patches, then
use them to replace previous VMs.
Industrial automation teams running
virtualised applications should be sure
to select hardware that supports their
needs and minimises risk of failure.
By consolidating SCADA and HMI
applications to a single hardware
device, manufacturers make the

availability and proper functioning

of that device more important than

ever. Fault-tolerant servers can help

detect potential failures in real-time

and ensure continuous availability of

critical SCADA and HMI applications.

These capabilities, once typically used

for larger control room environments,

are now making their way to the plant

floor and other remote environments,

with ruggedised, ease to deploy and

maintain systems at the very edge of

plant operations.

As the manufacturing industry

embraces the tremendous potential of

IIoT, the ability for SCADA and HMI

systems to collect, monitor, and control

industrial processes can unlock new

automation possibilities. But like all

technologies, SCADA and HMI must

be reliable in order to prove useful for

manufacturers. By virtualising SCADA

and HMI on fault-tolerant systems,

automation teams are unlocking new

value by reducing hardware costs,

preventing unplanned downtime and

maximising data collection. This new

level of efficiency will prove critical in

realising the full potential of IIoT.

John Fryer, senior director of industry

solutions, Stratus Technologies

http://www.stratus.com

SCADA

SCADA

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