System Description

WEB-FAQtory is the first and only Distributed SCADA System. All other SCADA applications are essentially standalone, at best only communicating with a database and require separate, expensive, licenses to run on different PCs. WEB-FAQtory, on the other hand, allows unlimited copies of the equivalent of other SCADA applications (the WEB-FAQtory Client) to run on unlimited PCs at unlimited sites/plants. All communicating with each other and the central Server.

WEB-FAQtory is designed to use the Internet as its communication medium and by utilizing the unique WEB-FAQtory TCP/IP based Network OS, the bandwidth requirements are at the absolute minimum. Coupled with the WEB-FAQtory DNS (Domain Name Service) and full buffering for network failures, allows the components of the WEB-FAQtory system to use cheap, readily available dial-up Internet accounts. No dedicated IP addressees are required.

The WEB-FAQtory system consists of the following seperate applications:

The Server. The Server receives all data changes from all Clients and saves them in a RDBMS (SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, Access and Foxpro). Each database type is fully optimized for minimum data size and maximum flexibility. Full use of Stored Procedures in the SQL Server and Oracle databases allow for the maximum possible database utilization (the MySQL database is still faster then SQL Server/Oracle and is the recommended database for WEB-FAQtory). Access and Foxpro are included for maximum compatibility with existing SCADA installations. Unique WEB-FAQtory database design allows for unlimited historical trending of any combination of tags (from any Client), irrespective of the frequency of individual tag updates. The Server is also an OPC Server, allowing the display, in an OPC Client, of all the tags connected to the Server irrespective of how the tags are connected to the originating Client. Full display and trending of all tags, grouped by Client. The Server is also the central security system for connections by Clients and Monitors with fully configurable groups for maximum flexibility in user access/privilages. Full SNMP node for integration with Network Monitoring applications. A WAP interface to the Server allows the display/update of any tag from a WAP enabled mobile phone. More
The Client. The Client is the equivalent of a conventional SCADA/HMI application but vastly more capable and advanced. The schematics/pages built by the Client are separate runtime applications and all building/changing is done in realtime. Unlike all other SCADA applications where the user has to constantly swap between the development and runtime environments, the Client is 100% runtime only. Everything is done in the runtime environment with just a few clicks of the mouse. This means that the Client is several orders of magnitude easier to use then any other SCADA application and no matter what changes are being made to the Client it is always communicating with the Server and the other Clients. No need to stop the plant to change the schematic. As all schematics are separate runtime applications, they are always live and saving data/checking for alarms irrespective of their being displayed or not. Each Client can connect to unlimited tags either via OPC,DDE or one of the several hundred included WEB-FAQtory drivers. Unlike all other SCADA applications, there is no tag limitation to WEB-FAQtory and unlimited PCs running unlimited copies of the Client can connect to the Server with no additional license requirements. More
The Monitor. The Monitor is basically a remote copy of the Client with exactly the same facilities (apart from making changes to the schematic). Unlimited Monitors can connect to a single Client. The WEB Monitor is the Monitor running in a Web Browser and for the first time for any application (SCADA or otherwise), allows for pixel perfect display of the original schematic with the full facilities of the Monitor. More

In addition to the above, WEB-FAQtory includes a full SDK (Software Development Kit), for the building of user defined applications based on the WEB-FAQtory suite. The SDK consists of a DLL for building ASP pages and several ActiveX controls for advanced standalone applications using virtually any development environment (VB, Delphi, VC++, Access, VFP, etc.).

System Description