includes configuration changes to the database such as changes to point configuration.

In addition, history
archives, report output and OPC integrator configuration files are automatically transferred.
You might also want automatic copy of other files after they are modified on the primary server, such as any
custom Quick Builder projects, custom displays and application source files.
To synchronize these other files, you configure a file replication.
Related topics
“Storing the report definition file” on page 572
“File replication configuration checklists” on page 664
CONFIGURING AND MONITORING A REDUNDANT SERVER SYSTEM
601

What causes a failover of a redundant server system?

The backup server takes over from the primary if:
• The primary server software or hardware fails and the backup cannot communicate with it.
• All network links between the primary and backup server are broken.
• A user does a manual failover.
The following actions do not cause a failover:
• The CNet cable is disconnected.
• A C300 or C200 controller is disconnected or fails.
The backup server does not take over from the primary if a SCADA channel fails.
Related topics
“Manually failing over a redundant server system” on page 605
CONFIGURING AND MONITORING A REDUNDANT SERVER SYSTEM
602 www.honeywell.com

Configuring automatic failover if CDA communication fails

If you have Process Controllers, you can specify that failover occurs when there is a failure in the Process
Controller communications subsystem. The following actions cause a failover:
• The Experion PKS Control Data Access Server service is stopped via the Windows Control Panel.
• The RSLinx service is stopped via the Windows Control Panel.
This also stops the Experion PKS Control Data Access Server service.
• RSLinx terminates abnormally.
• A critical Process Controller communications failure is detected.
To specify failover when the CDA communications subsystem fails
1 Synchronize the servers.
2 Call up the Redundant server advanced display.
3 Select the check box labeled Failover to backup server on CDA hosts, devices or nodes
Communications Subsystem failure if servers are synchronized.
Related topics
“Redundant server advanced display reference” on page 599
CONFIGURING AND MONITORING A REDUNDANT SERVER SYSTEM
603

Configuring the primary server to restart if it fails

The primary server can be configured to restart (with the backup server becoming primary) if one of the
following tasks fails:
• timer controls timing of all Experion server tasks (Task 50)
• scanx controls the SCADA scanning subsystem (Task 60)
• daqmgr controls the delivery of SCADA acquisition requests to the appropriate SCADA driver (Task 61)
By default, these tasks are set to restart if they fail.
To configure the primary server to restart if a task fails
1 In Station, choose Configure > Application Development > Watchdog Timer.
2 Set the Action for the appropriate task to Reboot.
CONFIGURING AND MONITORING A REDUNDANT SERVER SYSTEM
604 www.honeywell.com

Manually failing over a redundant server system

There might be times when you want the backup server to run as the primary for a while. For instance, you may
want to upgrade your primary server in some way (for example, upgrade memory, upgrade the hard disk or
install a Windows Service Pack).
Experion supports manual (operator-controlled) failover from the primary server to the backup server. This
failover causes the backup server to run as the primary.
CAUTION
• If you manually fail over your Experion system, the primary and backup servers lose synchronization. The
servers need to be resynchronized if they are to run in redundant mode again. The automatic transfer of
database updates from the primary server to the backup server does not occur until the two servers have been
synchronized.
• When you want to fail back to your primary server after a failover, you must first resynchronize your servers.
If you do not resynchronize them you lose changes to the Experion database that were made while the backup
server was running as the primary.
• Stopping Experion on your primary server also causes your system to fail over to the backup server. If you do
not want this to happen, you should always stop your backup server before stopping your primary server.
To manually fail over
1 In Station, choose View > System Status > Server Redundancy.
The Server Redundancy Status display appears.
2 Click Manual Failover. This notifies the backup server that it is to run as the primary.
Related topics
“What causes a failover of a redundant server system?” on page 602
CONFIGURING AND MONITORING A REDUNDANT SERVER SYSTEM
605

How can you make failover faster?

It takes approximately 45 seconds for Station to reconnect after a server failover. It is possible to tune server and
Station redundancy time-out parameters to achieve approximately a lower Station reconnect time (also known
as fast failover).
Configuring fast failover is only recommended for high performance servers running on high performance
networks, because it increases:
• The traffic that the Stations and servers put onto the network
• The servers' susceptibility to failover from disruptions on the network
One way to improve failover time without affecting network performance is to define IP addresses in the hosts
files so that IP address resolution is faster.
If you want to configure fast failover, you set parameters for:
• The time until the backup server becomes primary after it detects that the primary is down.
• The time until the server allows a new Station connection to use a Station number after a Station connection
fails.
• The time until a Station fails over to the backup network after a connection to the server fails.
Related topics
“Station.ini” on page 148
“Making IP address resolution faster” on page 609
“Tuning the time until backup server becomes primary” on page 606
“Tuning the time until server disconnects Station” on page 607
“Tuning the time until Stations fail over to backup network” on page 607
Tuning the time until backup server becomes primary
To tune the time until the backup server becomes primary after it detects that the primary server is down, you
reset the number of messages permitted to be lost before failover occurs. The following steps must be performed
on both the primary and backup server:
1 On the primary server, choose Start > All Programs > Honeywell Experion PKS > Server >
Diagnostic
Tools > Experion Command Prompt to open the Experion Command Prompt window.
Attention
To run Experion commands and utilities, you must be a member of the Product Administrator group.
You must run Experion commands from the Experion command prompt and not the Windows command prompt,
otherwise you will not see the output from the command and the command will fail.
2 Type hscserver /database to stop the Experion server.
3 Isolate the network between the servers from other network traffic.
4 Edit the PSW00 line in the redundancy configuration file, <data folder>\Honeywell\Experion PKS\Server
\User\redun.hdw.
Where <data folder> is the location where Experion data is stored. For default installations, <data folder>
is C:\ProgramData.
• For fast failover, add IDLE=5 READ=10 to the PSW00 line