The architecture of the engineering system depends on how the SIMATIC PCS 7 project is processed:

• Locally, on a central engineering station
• In the engineering network (concurrent engineering)

Central engineering station

Hardware platform for the central engineering station is the SIMATIC PCS 7 Industrial Workstation for ES/OS single station. This is based on a SIMATIC IPC of Rack PC design which is prepared for installation in 19" rack systems. Two versions are available for communication connection to the Industrial Ethernet plant bus:

• Communication over BCE
  Connection to plant bus with 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ45 network adapter and Basic Communication Ethernet (BCE) for communication with up to 8 automation systems (no redundancy stations)
• Communication over Industrial Ethernet
  Connection to plant bus with CP 1623/1628 communication module for communication with up to 64 automation systems

Two onboard 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet RJ45 ports are available for connecting to the terminal bus.

The Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB 64-bit operating system and the SIMATIC PCS 7 engineering software for AS/OS are preinstalled on the SIMATIC PCS 7 Industrial Workstation. The scope of performance of the pre-installed SIMATIC PCS 7 engineering software is defined by installation of the purchased software licenses.

Engineering network

With concurrent engineering in an engineering network, the project is localized on one of the participating Engineering Stations, the "Project server". The engineering stations working as "project clients" can access the project server data over LAN/WAN. Every engineering station in the network (project server/client) is able to download configuration data to a SIMATIC PCS 7 subsystem provided it has the required communication connections.

In this architecture, it is sensible to install the project server on a SIMATIC PCS 7 Industrial Workstation for OS servers. The Windows Server 2012 R2 Standard Edition 64-bit operating system and the SIMATIC PCS 7 OS software server are preinstalled on this (adaptation/expansion of SIMATIC PCS 7 installation required).

Two versions are also available for the communication connection to the Industrial Ethernet plant bus with the SIMATIC PCS 7 Industrial Workstation for OS servers:

• Communication over BCE
  Connection to plant bus with 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ45 network adapter and Basic Communication Ethernet (BCE) for communication with up to 8 automation systems (no redundancy stations)
• Communication over Industrial Ethernet
  Connection to plant bus with CP 1623/1628 communication module for communication with up to 64 automation systems

With the SIMATIC PCS 7 Industrial Workstation for ES/OS single stations, you can use the same hardware platform for the project clients as for the central engineering station.

Configuration can be made easier by multi-monitor mode with up to 4 process monitors, both for a central engineering station and for individual stations in an engineering network.

See section "Industrial Workstation/IPC" for ordering data and detailed information on the product package and technology of the SIMATIC PCS 7 Industrial Workstations.