Process Data Integration (PDI) System Requirements

License Requirements

The OPC Interfaces license is required to take advantage of Process Data Integration functionality.

Additional Components Required

In addition to the basic GE Digital APM system architecture, the following additional components are required:

Meridium APM Process Data Integration Server: A machine on which the Meridium APM Process Data Integration Service is installed. The Meridium APM Process Data Integration Server must contain Microsoft Message Queuing (MSMQ).

Note: While MSMQ is not a prerequisite to installing the Meridium APM Process Data Integration Service, it must exist on the machine before users begin using the Process Data Integration feature.

If you are using a virtual machine (VM) to host your Meridium APM Process Data Integration Server, we recommend that:
- You increase the physical server CPU and hard drive space requirements by 20% to ensure that the application will perform equivalently in a virtualized environment.
- You double the physical server memory requirements.
- Each VM have its own dedicated processor cores and memory allocation to ensure appropriate performance.
GE Digital supports Hyper-V and VMWare platforms.

These requirements may not be sufficient, depending upon how your system is configured. Parameters that affect the hardware requirements include the number of users, modules purchased, database size, and other factors that can vary from one customer to another. For help refining your specific system requirements, contact GE Digital.
OPC Server: A machine on which the OPC-compliant server software is installed. The software requirements of this server are determined by the third-party distributor of the software.

To reduce your number of configuration tasks, (i.e., to avoid configuring a COM or DCOM connection), we recommend that this be the same machine as the Meridium APM Process Data Integration Server, (i.e., the machine on which the Meridium APM Process Data Integration Service is installed). If, however, your company restricts the installation of additional applications on the OPC Server, the Meridium APM Process Data Integration Server may be a separate machine from the OPC Server. Note that if you choose this deployment method:
- The OPC Server must be accessible from your Meridium APM Process Data Integration server.
- The Meridium APM Process Data Integration Server must connect to the OPC Server using a COM or DCOM connection. Meridium does not provide documentation or support for configuring this connection.
IMPORTANT: The OPC Server must pass time data to the Meridium Process Data Integration Service using the UTC time zone in order for the PDI functionality to work as designed.
Process Historian: A machine that contains the process historian software. The software requirements of this machine are determined by the third-party distributor of the software.

Refer to the supported software and devices documentation for information about the OPC Servers and process historians are supported for the PDI feature. Other OPC Servers and process historians have not been tested and connections to them are not supported by GE Digital.

System Architecture

The following image shows how these machines should be incorporated into the basic GE Digital APM system architecture if you implement the standard configuration where the OPC Server software and the Meridium APM Process Data Integration Service are installed on the same machine.

The following image shows the alternate configuration of these machines when the OPC Server software is installed on a separate machine from the Meridium APM Process Data Integration Service.

Deploying Process Data Integration

After you have installed and configured the basic GE Digital APM system architecture, you will need to perform some configuration steps specifically for Process Data Integration.

If you want to use Process Data Integration with Asset Health Manager and Policy Designer, you must also configure the services associated with these modules. For additional information on how services used by these three modules interact, select this link.

Supported Features in APM Now

This GE Digital APM module is not available in the APM Now environment.