Servers

A

FactoryTalk Directory

holds any number of applications and servers, such as data servers, device servers, alarm and event servers, and HMI servers. Optionally, areas organize and subdivide applications into logical divisions. The root of an application can contain only one HMI server. To add additional HMI servers, create a separate area for each server. The following are the server types that can be stored in a

FactoryTalk Directory

.

OPC

DA Servers

Provide tags contained in

OPC

-DA (Data Access) servers. Every vendor's

OPC

data server is different. Clients that need access to tags, such as

FactoryTalk View SE

and

FactoryTalk Transaction Manager

, use

FactoryTalk Directory

to locate the computers that are hosting

OPC

-DA 2.0 compliant data servers.

Data server information is stored as part of an application. Adding a data server to an application or an area provides a link between a hardware device containing tags (via the

OPC

server's defined topics) and the

FactoryTalk Directory

.

OPC

UA Servers

OPC

UA Servers are hosted by a

FactoryTalk Linx

OPC

UA Connector to provide

OPC

UA data tags to

FactoryTalk

applications.

Each

FactoryTalk Linx

OPC

UA Connector supports a maximum of 20

OPC

UA Servers.

Endpoints are defined on each

OPC

UA Server so that it can provide its data to a

FactoryTalk Linx

OPC

UA Connector. Server endpoints specify the instance of a server, the communications port, and the transport protocol. Endpoints are identified using a URL path in the format

opc.tcp://hostname

or

opc

.

ip:port/Endpoint/Name

The

FactoryTalk Linx

OPC

UA Connector aggregates the data and delivers tag values to

FactoryTalk

applications. One

OPC

UA Server can be read by multiple Connectors. Similarly, multiple

OPC

UA Servers can be read by a single

FactoryTalk Linx

OPC

UA Connector.

The

FactoryTalk

application,

FactoryTalk Linx

OPC

UA Connector, and

OPC

UA Servers can reside on the same computer, on separate computers, or a combination of computers. However, only one

FactoryTalk Linx

OPC

UA Connector can run on each computer.

Rockwell Automation

Device Servers (

FactoryTalk Linx

)

To access both tag values and alarm and event values from an

RSLogix 5000

processor, use direct references to the processor through a

Rockwell Automation

Device Server (

FactoryTalk Linx

).

Tag Alarm and Event Servers

To use

FactoryTalk

Alarms and Events services with older hardware devices, use Tag Alarm and Event Servers to set up tag-based alarm monitoring. Use tag-based alarm monitoring with PLC or

SLC

controllers,

RSLogix 5000

controllers with older firmware that does not support the new alarm instructions, or third-party devices communicating through OPC data servers. Software-based Tag Alarm and Event Servers monitor controllers for alarm conditions through data servers and publish event information for display and logging.

FactoryTalk View SE

Servers (HMI servers)

In

FactoryTalk View SE

, a network distributed application must have at least one HMI server. A network station application or local station application has no more than one HMI server. HMI clients use

FactoryTalk Directory

to locate the computers that are hosting HMI Servers. Use

FactoryTalk View Studio

to add HMI servers. HMI servers store and serve HMI projects that contain graphic displays, log models, HMI tags, and other services to clients such as

FactoryTalk View Studio

and

FactoryTalk View SE

Clients.