Create an OPC Classic Data Access (DA) Collector

Before you begin

  1. Deploy Proficy Historian for AWS.
  2. Install collectors. You can install them on-premises or on a VPC (which can be different from the one on which Proficy Historian for AWS is deployed).

About this task

The OPC Classic DA collector collects data from any OPC 1.0 or OPC 2.0 compliant OPC server. The collector automatically determines the capability of the OPC server to which it is connected and supports appropriate features based on this information.

Features:
  • You can browse the source for tags and their attributes on an OPC server that supports browsing.
  • Both the polled and unsolicited data collection are supported; when changes to the OPC source tags are detected, they are sent to the Historian server. Unsolicited data collection is supported for OPC 2.0 only. The minimum poll interval is 100ms. The collector duplicates raw samples from the OPC server into the Historian data archive.

    For unsolicited data collection, if collector compression is disabled, all new values produce an exception. And, the deadband percentage is determined by the collector deadband percent. You can only configure the collector deadband percent by enabling compression.

  • The supported timestamp resolution is 1ms.
  • Floating point, integer, binary, and string data are supported.
  • Python expression tags are supported.
  • Device timestamps are accepted.
Supported data types:
The OPC Data Type Recommended Data Type in Historian
I1 - 16 bit signed integer Single Integer
I4 - 32 bit signed integer Double Integer
R4 - 32 bit float Single Float
R8 - 64 bit double float Double Float
UI2 - 16 bit unsigned single integer Unsigned Single Integer
UI4 - 32 bit unsigned double integer Unsigned Double Integer
UI8 - 64 bit unsigned quad integer Unsigned Quad Integer
I8 - 64 bit quad integer Quad Integer
BSTR Variable String
BOOL Boolean
I1 - 8 bit single integer Byte
Note: The collector requests data from the OPC server in the native data type. Then the collector converts the received value to a Historian Data Type before sending it to the data archiver.
Supported tag attributes:
  • Tagname
  • Source Address
  • Engineering Unit Description
  • Data Type
  • Hi Engineering Units
  • Lo Engineering Units
The Engineering Unit Description, Hi Engineering Units and Lo Engineering Units vary based on the OPC server vendor.

Procedure

  1. Run Command Prompt as an administrator.
  2. Run the CloudHistorianConfigurationUtility.exe file. It is provided along with the collectors installer. After you install collectors, it will be available in the C:\Program Files\GE Digital\Historian Cloud Config folder by default.
  3. Enter the number corresponding to creating a collector instance.
  4. Enter the following details:
    Field Description
    Interface Name Enter the name that you want to provide for the collector instance. A value is required and must be unique in the DNS.
    NLB DNS

    Enter the Amazon Network Load Balancer (NLB) DNS. A value is required.

    Tip: To find the NLB DNS:
    1. Access the EKS cluster on which you have deployed Proficy Historian for AWS.
    2. Access the EC2 instance.
    3. In the navigation pane, under Load Balancing, select Load Balancers.
    4. Select the load balancer for which you want to find the DNS.
    5. In the Description section, copy the DNS name.
    Username Enter the username to connect to Proficy Historian for AWS. A value is required.
    Password Enter the password to connect to Proficy Historian for AWS. A value is required.
    Tip: For the default user, ihCloudHistAdmin, this is the value you entered in the Password field under UAA Configuration when you created the stack.
    OPC server Enter the prog ID of the OPC Classic server. A value is required.
    The OPC Classic DA collector is created.
  5. Start the collector instance (as a Windows service).