Rockwell Automation FactoryTalk View Site Edition Users Guide - Manual (Page 64)

F ACTORY T ALK V IEW S ITE E DITION U SER ’ S G UIDE
3–6
• •
•
•
•
For many purposes, you can access the values in controllers or devices directly, using a
data server in the application. For some purposes, you will need to use tags from an HMI
server’s tag database.
To determine which method is most appropriate, you need to know what kinds of
controllers or devices you are using, and how the application will communicate with the
controllers or devices.
Collecting only the necessary data
Design the control system so only essential data is collected. This will reduce the
processing power required for data collection, and help control the amount of traffic on
the communication channel or network.
You should also consider data collection requirements when designing the layout of the
programmable controller data tables and the tag database.
Ideally, to decrease network traffic and optimize system response, tag addresses should
reference contiguous blocks of programmable controller data tables.
Monitoring and controlling alarms
Alarms are an important part of most plant control applications because they alert
operators when something goes wrong.
An alarm can signal that a device or process has ceased operating within acceptable,
predefined limits, or it can indicate breakdown, wear, or a process malfunction. Often, it is
also important to have a record of alarms and whether they were acknowledged.
In FactoryTalk View SE, you can set up a traditional alarm system, using HMI tags. You
can also use FactoryTalk Alarms and Events services, to centralize the distribution of
alarm information from various devices in your application, to run-time clients and logs.
For more information about alarm monitoring and control, see Chapter 11, Setting up HMI
tag alarms, and Chapter 12, Setting up FactoryTalk alarms.
Planning an alarm monitoring and control system
Before deciding on the types of alarm monitoring and control to use in your system, plan:
 What conditions will trigger alarms.
 How operators will be notified of those alarms.
 What information alarm messages should contain.
 What actions will occur in response to those alarms.