What is redundancy for industrial automation, exactly? What does it look like in OPC? If I want to implement redundancy for my OPC-based system, what do I need to know? What should I look out for? These questions are addressed in a new Cogent white paper: "Redundancy for OPC."

The paper gives an introduction to redundancy, explains how it is typically implemented in an OPC environment, and then looks at some practical considerations for choosing good redundancy management software. Whether you are currently using a redundant system, planning to implement one, or simply want to broaden your understanding, you will find some valuable information here.

The next major version of the OPC DataHub, version 7, will offer support for hot standby redundancy for OPC. This will allow the OPC DataHub to connect to two OPC servers with identical data sets and provide a single output, based on the highest-quality, most available data stream.

The OPC DataHub's implementation of redundancy is quick and robust, offering such features as seamless hot switchover, event-based switching, high-speed network failure detection, and multiple connection support. It is easy to implement, with no programming necessary, and runs on any modern Windows platform.

Cogent welcomes eFALCOM in Argentina as a distributor for the OPC DataHub and other Cogent software, to provide state-of-the-art data integration capabilities to engineers and system integrators in South America.

"We have known about Cogent since the 90's," said Enrique Modai, Business Development Manager of eFALCOM. "They were offering software bridges between Wonderware and QNX, which was the king of realtime PC operating systems back then. Now that the world has gone with Windows, we support OPC as the protocol of choice, and recognize the benefits that the OPC DataHub can provide to our customers."