ACQUIRING DATA FROM MICROSCADA. ABB MicroSCADA

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4 ACQUIRING DATA FROM MICROSCADA

4.1 Relevant Data

There is some information that could be used to predict oncoming problems in

MicroSCADA.

Communication Problems

Communications between different stations and devices are the most important part of the MicroSCADA systems to work properly. Measurements, controlling, indications etc. all need a connection to the station in order to be able to control devices or read data from them in MicroSCADA. When the communication is lost, it may be caused by a power failure in the cabinet where the network switch is located, improperly functioning RTU or interruption in wireless mobile connection.

The system is usually configured so that the lost communication is generating an alarm in the MicroSCADA. If these alarms are occurring frequently, it can be assumed that there is something wrong with the system. MicroSCADA also has a lot of different status information and action counters that can be used as a sign of a problem.

System Resources Used by MicroSCADA

Running MicroSCADA application uses a certain amount of system resources.

These resources are the usage of memory, CPU power, handles and threads. The handles represent open instances of basic operating system objects applications interact with, such as files, registry keys and shared memory. The threads are small processes within processes that share resources, such as memory. When

MicroSCADA is in the normal idle mode, it only uses small amount of system resources. If there are some actions taking place within the program, the memory and CPU power usage both raise. If the usage of system resources rises without any particular reason, it could be a sign of a problem.