Hello, today i wish to share my successful testing of Woodward SOS latest version which i just downloaded from Woodward website. To my surprise, it is freely distributed without any license. Other Turbine Control System / DCS OEM like GE, Yokogawa, Honeywell etc etc surely will charge for their OPC server.
The reason of this testing is for my preparation for upcoming project to upgrade OPC server for Woodward Micronet Plus which is installed at GDC KLIA Plant for 2 x GE LM2500 Aeroderivative Gas Turbine.
My intention is to upgrade existing GE iFIX 3.5 SCADA which is running on Windows XP. Nowadays, WinXP is no longer supported and vulnerable to security threat. The idea is to upgrade to latest version of GE iFIX running on Windows 7 or perhaps Windows 8.
At the moment, our OSIsoft PI System is getting its data from GE iFIX OPC Server. I just discovered that Woodward has its own OPC DA and AE server called Woodward SOS. I would reckon this is similar case like Rockwell RSLinx OPC Server versus RSView OPC Server. Both exist on the same machine ie. the HMI machine.
But typically, i prefer to connect PI OPC DA Interface with OPC Server supplied by HMI vendor simply because i've seen many times, that tags are often "manipulated" at SCADA level eg. scaling. So if you try to get value from OPC server provided by PLC/Controller eg. Rockwell RSLinx OPC Server or in my case here, Woodward Servlink OPC Server (SOS), i would need to do the scaling again on PI Server side. That is something i want to avoid.
We will see how later.. i dont know at GDC KLIA, whether there's any scaling done at GE SCADA side. I can only confirm once i connect the Woodward SOS with Woodward Micronet Plus controller.
But today's testing is sufficient to prove that latest Woodward SOS software works on Windows 7 smoothly !!
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| Woodward Servlink OPC Server V4.06B running fine on Windows 7 Pro 64 Bit |
