DCS operation station backup issue
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Question: The DCS operation stations use DELL industrial computers. The operating system, DCS configuration, and application software need to be backed up regularly, but normal production operations do not allow the operation stations to be in an unmonitored state (turned off). As a result, the Ghost backup method commonly used on personal computers can no longer be used. How can I back up without shutting down the system? Thank you!
Is there only one control station? How is it possible for a DCS to have only one operator station? If there are multiple units, why can’t they be shut down for backup?
Reply to 2# zzzi: There are two operation stations in total, one of which is an engineer station that also serves as an operation station. The information is broadcast on the engineer station HMI, and the operator station HMI receives it for synchronized display. It’s equivalent to one primary and one secondary.
We regularly burn them to CDs using burning software
What’s the point of the GHOST system? Is there no operating system disk? Data backups should also include some operation records, historical trends, and configuration information! Just copy it directly using a dedicated, clean disk, that’s all. The operating system of the DCS control station generally doesn’t experience any problems either ； If there’s a problem, just reinstall the system ； However, no unrelated software should be installed on the control station except for the monitoring software ；
How could one back up the entire operating system directly? Usually, only the configuration data is backed up; if there’s a problem with the operating system, it can be reinstalled – backing up everything would be too complicated.
Reply to 5# cnooczhouyx: Under normal circumstances, following what you said is sufficient. The issue is that there are some parameters that need to be set for the programming software, HMI configuration, network communication, etc. I’ve just taken over this system and yet I’m not fully familiar with these settings. If problems arise, it’s fine to reinstall the system and software; but if these settings are not configured correctly, the system definitely won’t work properly. So I plan to first back up the entire system (Drive C) as a temporary solution; once all these settings are clarified, the method you mentioned can be used.
Backups are usually done only at the engineer station, while the data that is needed, along with historical data, is generally stored on the server
What does it mean for the engineer station and the operator station to be in a master-slave configuration? Where is that server?