Justify SCADA server replacement

[ppj]

We are running iFix 4.0 on redundant servers thatare 5 years old. I would like to upgrade to 5.1 and replace the servers, but I know we do not have the $$ to do that in one year so I am trying to change the servers this year and the software next year.

Here is the problem. My city manager wants me to provide justification for replacing the 5 year-old servers before funding it.

Question: What is the norm for replacing SCADA servers? Since these are machines running 24x7 I was thinking that is equal to 15 years of normal computer ioperation.

What is your experience and has anone have to justify?

Thankx
Peter

[pphillips]

We have a similar problem with similar timing. We have begun to have hardware failures at about 5 years out (same 24/7 operation). The other issue is that WinXP updates are set to cease in 2014, so that OS won't be good for another 5 years. However, if you don't upgrade iFix, you can't run iFix 4.0 on anything after XP or Server 2003.

About the only justification is obsolescence. If they don't want to spend the money for a complete upgrade now, you better have some spare machines to keep you going until then.

[MitchStripp]

In my opinion, I would budget and do the iFix upgrade and server replacement at the same time. I would not be happy if I was forced to upgrade hardware, only to do a software upgrade the following year.... That way you can get your system up and running with the new machines, and work out any bugs while you have your old hardware and ifix severs running. If you cant get the money in 1 year, order the new servers in December and the ifix upgrade in January? That is unless you pay for Global Care, in which case the ifix upgrade is already included in the cost.....

[shaunrbennett]

I just upgraded my system from iFIX 3.5 to 5.1. I replaced 6 older SCADAs with no redundancy with 2 redundant SCADAs. I paid for the server hardware one year and the iFIX license upgrade to v5.1 professional the next (I ordered and recieved the keys prior to 2011, but paid the invoice after the new year with the new budget). Doing this all at once is definitely the way to go, that way you can deal with all the issues at the same time. I recieved two demo keys to use while I configured and debugged each redundant pair, that way when the switch was made it was relatively seamless.

[Jmoure]

What kind of server are you buying? We are in the process of replacing all 28 of our SCADA nodes with regular Dell Optiplex 980's. You don't need to spend thousands of dollars for a server grade computer to run iFix.