The basic hardware for the Process Historian is the SIMATIC PCS 7 Industrial Workstation of type IPC847D, server version (see section "Industrial Workstation/IPC"). With larger quantity frameworks (more than 1 OS server in maximum archive configuration), the premium server from Catalog ST PCS 7 AO can be used, for example. Individual consultation on project-specific hardware configurations is recommended.

If high online availability is required, a redundant Process Historian can be configured with a server pair.

The Information Server can be installed and operated on the Process Historian hardware or on separate hardware. When the Process Historian is configured redundantly, the separation of the Information Server is mandatory. When the Information Server is separate, any OS client version of the SIMATIC PCS 7 Industrial Workstation is suitable (see section "Industrial Workstation/IPC").

The Process Historian and Information Server run with Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard 64-bit or Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard 64-bit operating system; the Information Server on separate hardware can also run with Windows 7 Ultimate 32/64-bit or Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB 64-bit.

The Process Historian and Information Server do not need a connection to the plant bus. They can be connected to the OS and batch servers of the SIMATIC PCS 7 system via terminal bus, e.g. via the integrated network connection (Ethernet RJ45 port onboard) of the server.

Configuration of the Process Historian

The licenses contained in the SIMATIC PCS 7 Process Historian Basic Package, SIMATIC PCS 7 Process Historian Server Redundancy or SIMATIC PCS 7 Process Historian and Information Server Basic Package are required for configuration of the Process Historian as the long-term archive of a SIMATIC PCS 7 system. These licenses must always be stored on the Process Historian server. The SIMATIC PCS 7 Process Historian Archive BATCH software product for archiving batch data from SIMATIC BATCH can be ordered optionally.

Configuration of applicative couplings with the Process Historian

Reading of Process Historian data via OPC UA

As an OPC UA client, any applications can read the process values and messages archived in the database of the Process Historian. A SIMATIC PCS 7 Process Historian OPC UA Server is required for this on the Process Historian (software from SIMATIC PCS 7 Software Media Package plus single license for one installation).

Configuration of the Information Server

In addition to the SIMATIC PCS 7 Information Server Basic Package or the SIMATIC PCS 7 Process Historian and Information Server Basic Package, for configuration of the Information Server you require cumulative SIMATIC PCS 7 Information Server Client Access licenses corresponding to the number of clients that access the Information Server.

The Information Server is able to access one or multiple data sources in parallel. In addition to the Process Historian, this might also include archive data from from operator stations (OS single station, OS server). In contrast to accessing the Process Historian, to read data from OS single stations and OS servers you need cumulative licenses for SIMATIC PCS 7 Information Server Data Source Access. The license volume depends on the number of sources.

The installation of the SIMATIC PCS 7 Information Server Client Access and Data Source Access licenses is performed on the Information Server.

Configuration options

The SIMATIC PCS 7 Process Historian Conversion Pack 2x Server to Server Redundancy enables you to convert two Process Historian (PH) servers with the Process Historian Basic Package to redundant PH servers with Process Historian redundancy.

Conversion of Central Archive Server (CAS)

Change in product from CAS to Process Historian

A change in product from CAS to Process Historian is possible with products from the SIMATIC PCS 7 V8.0 range. In the separate catalog section "Previous versions", the following conversion packages are available under "SIMATIC PCS 7 V8.0, Process data archiving and reporting":

• SIMATIC PCS 7 CAS Conversion Pack "Single CAS Software V7.1+SP4/V8.0 to Process Historian Basic Package V8.0" for conversion of a single CAS to a corresponding Process Historian
• SIMATIC PCS 7 CAS Conversion Pack "Redundant CAS Software V7.1+SP4/V8.0 to Process Historian Server Redundancy V8.0" for conversion of a redundant CAS to a redundant Process Historian

The single or redundant Process Historian V8.0 can subsequently be upgraded to V8.2 (for further information, see "Update/upgrade packages, Upgrades from SIMATIC PCS 7 V8.0/V8.1 to V8.2, Upgrades for Process Historian and Information Server").

Migration of CAS database

The migration wizard of the Process Historian V8.2 supports the migration of CAS databases of SIMATIC PCS 7 V7.0 and higher.