Confirm that your primary and secondary computers meet the minimum hardware requirements for the Enhanced Failover feature. For a list of supported hardware, refer to the Hardware Requirements section of the iFIX Getting Started guide, or the IPI.
For Enhanced Failover, Gigabit-Ethernet cards (or better) are required for Data Sync Transport communication. When using UDP, a dedicated card is required for Data Sync Transport communication. When using TCP, one card can be used for both iFIX and Data Sync Transport communication, although two are strongly recommended to avoid slower updates of data and alarms on clients.
Use the following checklist to confirm that your primary and secondary computers are configured properly before continuing with the rest of the Enhanced Failover configuration. Validate that the SCADAs, I/O drivers, and iClients function independently before continuing with the Enhanced Failover configuration.
The next set of configuration steps describe how to enable Enhanced Failover and defines partner nodes, so that the SCU configuration on both the primary and secondary nodes is also the same.
Preparation Checklist for Enhanced Failover
When you configure the primary and secondary computers for Enhanced Failover, both SCADA computers should be configured the same way. Each computer should have:
- A License key with the Enhanced Failover option enabled.
- If you are using UDP, one additional Gigabit-Ethernet card (or better) dedicated for SCADA-to-SCADA traffic (for a total of two network cards). The dedicated SCADA-to-SCADA network card should be excluded from the iFIX-to-iFIX network (i.e., not enabled for LAN redundancy) and used exclusively for Enhanced Failover synchronization. Both network cards must be of the same speed, and appear on the compatibility list for each card. It is strongly recommended that the cards be of the same make and model number, and use the same drivers.
- As noted above, the use of two NICs is strongly recommended, although not required, for TCP.
- If using an ESXi Server, or any other virtual machine, each SCADA should have the same type of virtual NIC and virtual NIC driver.
- Both network cards should be installed and configured properly on both SCADAs. The wake-up upon receiving a socket or/and request feature must be disabled on the dedicated SCADA-to-SCADA network card. SpeedStep® technology is not supported and must not be enabled. Due to limited bandwidth and latency, it is strongly advised that you do not use wireless networking technology in your networking solution. It is also recommended to disable all Offload settings for your Enhanced Failover and iFIX networking NIC properties. If using a virtual server, you may also have to do this on the virtual NIC’s and/or switches.
- Each network card (NIC) should have a name. For instance, you can use iFIX, SCADA Sync, a company network name, and so on. Did you record the IP address? The NIC slot/order or IP address could be affected. It is desirable that both machines have the same NIC cards and NIC order (slot). The power save settings on your computers and dedicated network card (NIC) must be disabled. Do not use any power setting features that affect CPU clock speed.
- All network cables and connections should be correct. If you are using UDP, you must use a direct connection via a Cat6 crossover cable, without going through any switches, hubs, or routers.
- If you are using UDP, Jumbo Frames technology must be used on the dedicated network for Enhanced Failover. Jumbo Frames technology allows for an Ethernet frame of 9000 MTU for the payload, compared to a frame of 1500 bytes without the Jumbo Frames.
- Additional hardware requirements should be met. Please refer to the Systems Requirements tab in the IPI.
- The same version of the Windows operating system running.
- The same major and minor version of iFIX with the same SIMs installed, if any, on both the primary and secondary nodes.
IMPORTANT: If Proficy Historian is integrated with iFIX, be sure to additionally review the Historian and Enhanced Failover section.
- The same iFIX security configuration in the Enhanced Failover pair, plus all View/iClient nodes connecting to the SCADA Server. In order to automatically fail over, you need to have either security enabled on all nodes, or security disabled on all nodes. Discrepancies in security configuration levels may result in an inability to automatically fail over.
- The same I/O drivers with the same configuration, including polling times. Confirm the I/O drivers are listed in the same order in both SCUs, on both SCADAs.
- The same Database (.PDB) files on both the primary and secondary nodes. Both Primary and Secondary SCADAs should be shut down when you copy the iFIX PDB and Driver files from the Primary SCADA to the Secondary SCADA.
- The same Database Dynamos (loadable blocks) installed. Be sure that the slot numbers for Database Dynamos are also identical. For more information on slot numbers, refer to the steps in the Understanding Slot Numbers section in the Building a SCADA System e-book.
NOTE: Database Dynamo mismatches cause the synchronization process to fail, and may prevent your standby computer from becoming active.
- Connections to the same PLC(s).
- The same system time.
- Identical iFIX system configuration for any of the following items, if used:
- User and application features, if security is enabled in iFIX
- PIC directory (optional)
- .INI files, including the Scadasync.ini, network.ini, and filterderrors.ini (optional)
- Background Scheduler
- System Extension Toolkit (STK) modules
- Integration Toolkit or Productivity Pack
- Alarm Services
- Alarm printer, file, history queues, and areas
- Auto Alarm Manager (AAM)
- Proficy Historian Collectors
- iFIX security settings
NOTE: The Alarm Areas (AAD) need to be defined on the local node and then synchronized with the partner node. Even though the LogicalName may point to the local node, in the AAD it could be pointing to the partner node. With the desired .PDB loaded on the active SCADA, copy the AlarmAreas.AAD file from the PDB folder on the active SCADA to the PDB folder on the standby SCADA. File Synchronization will, by default, copy the .AAD file. You should now be able to view Alarm Areas correctly on either SCADA node.
