ACP is finding more customers who are using Thin Clients with the DeltaV Remote Client to locate full-function DeltaV operator and engineering workstations remote from their DeltaV control network. Once a Terminal Server is properly configured with the DeltaV software and licenses it becomes a trivial task to locate an operator interface anywhere on the plant LAN - just plug a Thin Client into the network and turn it on.
Using ThinManager's MultiSession you can also connect to multiple DeltaV servers (running 7.2 or later) from a single Thin Client, even if the DeltaV systems are on different revision levels. And once a Thin Client is set up as an operator station you can also use ThinManager to shadow that station and see the same thing that the operator is seeing on the plant floor from anywhere on the network.
DeltaV licensing is assigned to a session, not to individual Thin Clients. This makes it possible for a single workstation license to be shared by multiple users one at a time, allowing customers who may have mutually exclusive portions of their operation to extend the usefulness of licenses they already have. And when using Thin Clients the same license can easily be shared at many different locations around the facility one at a time without having to worry about matching software versions.
The DeltaV Remote Client is made up of two hardware components—a Windows Terminal Server and a Thin Client. The server needs to be a DeltaV node with DeltaV software installed. This node can be the ProfessionalPLUS or an Operator Station node dedicated to serving DeltaV information to the remote clients. The client computer can be any ThinManager Ready Thin Client or even an ACP WinTMC "fat" client. As with the Thin Clients, no DeltaV software is installed on the WinTMC PC so it does not need to be a DeltaV-compatible workstation.
The DeltaV Remote Client host server can support up to eight concurrent remote operator sessions with the DeltaV Operate HMI application running. Each session is totally independent and can have its own set of assigned areas. Just like a standard operator workstation, alarms from specific areas are reported only to the session or sessions to which those areas are assigned. The alarms will automatically follow an operator from one Thin Client to another as long as they log in to the same session as the same user on each client. When combined with ACP's TermSecure product the session can be configured to follow the user around automatically, appearing as he approaches a Thin Client and disappearing as he walks away. Based on their DeltaV login, operators have all the control capabilities they would have if they were sitting at standard Operator Stations connected to the DeltaV Control Network. They can navigate through displays, select control points and make control actions, view trends, and perform all their regular operator tasks. No special setup or conversion of displays or data is required. All of the standard display navigation, toolbar buttons, alarm banners and custom navigation, point information, and point selection methods work exactly the same as on a standard Operator Station.
Remote Clients can participate in the global horn acknowledgement. Operators can acknowledge alarms as usual and manage the entire process from the remote location just as if they were sitting in the control room. If a Professional Station license has been assigned to any Remote Client session then the operator can even have Remote Engineering functionality and can perform all engineering and configuration functions as well.
Using ACP's MultiMonitor Thin Client technology a single client can have up to 5 engineering windows open at the same display station. This ability allows a single Thin Client to serve as the Maintenance Station for any number of DeltaV systems.
Operators in a central control room can also use the remote client to monitor and control other DeltaV systems during off-shifts when other control rooms might be unmanned or as an “extra pair of hands” during plant startup or shutdown. The engineer can access other DeltaV systems for engineering tasks that allow engineering to be done from a single centralized location.
The DeltaV Remote Client uses the standard Microsoft security and standard DeltaV security to prevent unauthorized use of the DeltaV applications. Persons on the network who are not authorized DeltaV users are allowed access according to their normal DeltaV security privileges. In addition, each session can be reserved for a specific group of users or group of client nodes both to help prevent unauthorized access and to ensure that sessions are kept available for critical users. If desired, an additional layer of security can also be applied by installing ACP's TermSecure software.
Each client session requires one or more standard DeltaV workstation licenses. You must have an individual set of workstation licenses for each remote session that is configured under the Remote Client subsystem of the server. If you configure fifteen sessions, you must have fifteen sets of licenses—one for each session. Each of the remote sessions can support a different set of functionality that is determined by the DeltaV licenses assigned to each session. Licenses for the Remote Client sessions on the server are ordered using the same licensing numbers as used for local workstations.
The type and size of licenses assigned determines the functionality of the session. Remote Client sessions are sized and set up exactly as you would configure a local workstation.
Note that if you configure a Terminal Server to run your DeltaV application then only the Thin Clients can be used as an Operator Station or a Professional Station - not the server itself. Emerson recommends the use of a Dual Processor server with at least 2GB of memory as the Terminal Server.
For more information on ACP and Thin Client management software, please visit our web site at http://www.thinmanager.com
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