TwinCAT Backup: Convenient saving and backing up of data
Beckhoff understands PC-based control and the need for quick set up of all programs and data given the production
environment. That is why Beckhoff offers products like TwinCAT Backup to make Industrial PC based control backup
very quick and easy. For an office PC the task of setting up a new PC is quite involved. In a production environment,
there is limited downtime to replace a control computer, therefore the slow process of setting up an office PC would
never fly. Production environments require quick changeover which is made easier
when all PC data are frequently and even automatically saved and backed up. | | | Save and restore data and programs, |
| | | Enable incremental saving at any interval, |
| | | Not require operator interaction, and |
| | | Be freely configurable. |
Quite often it is not the simple task of copying data that creates problems during restoration, but the variety of settings required for a PC, such as:
| | | Specification of the PC name and user information, |
| | | Configuration of the network, |
| | | Installation of programs, |
| | | Fieldbus card settings. |
The TwinCAT Backup Server, which can run like a normal program under a Windows operating system, offers all this and more. Unlike an image, which can only be exchanged between two identical PCs, a backup created with the TwinCAT Backup Server can be restored on nearly any Industrial PC. Differences in hard disks, network cards, operating systems and fieldbus cards are detected and if possible compensated automatically and without user intervention.
Freely configurable backup/restore
The TwinCAT Backup Server is configured via an XML file, supported by a configurator.
What to save, and where and when to save it, is specified within the configurator.
In addition to pure data, operating system and TwinCAT settings can also
be saved. Disks, USB sticks or network drives are suitable backup media; all
files and settings are saved in a Zip archive.
The configurator can manage several backup profiles simultaneously, and it can
activate and deactivate them individually. A distinction can thus be made between
a complete backup of all data and incremental backups of modified data
only. The backup can be carried out manually, or automatically every day, week
or month. A complete backup can be carried out as a one-off, for example, followed
by incremental backups every day or week.
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| Differences between the TwinCAT Backup Server and an image | |
| An image can restore an operating system on a blank computer, provided the computers are identical. On the other hand, the TwinCAT Backup Server requires a functional operating system, but it nevertheless offers many advantages compared with an image: | |
| | | The computers may be different |
| | | The operating systems may be different |
| | | Updates can be carried out via setup |
| | | Differences in fieldbus cards can be compensated automatically |
| | | Full TwinCAT support |
If things go wrong
What can a backup and restore scenario look like? Once the PC has been installed
and configured manually, a complete backup of the PC is created on a network
drive. In addition, an incremental backup is configured that stores important data
such as PLC programs or recipes on a network drive once per day. A third backup
saves PC names, user information and associated rights and the network settings
on a disk.
If a fault occurs on the machine computer that requires it to be replaced, this
should naturally be carried out as quickly as possible and without requiring special
operator knowledge. The operator fetches a replacement PC, on which the
operating system and the restore components of the backup server have already
been installed, from the storeroom. The fieldbus cards may already be present, although
possibly on different PCI slots. Or perhaps an ISA fieldbus card present in
the old PC cannot be used in the replacement PC, since it only has PCI slots, in
other words the replacement PC has a comparable PCI fieldbus card instead of
an ISA card.
The PC is installed in the control cabinet and booted up. The first restore is carried
out from a backup disk: The replacement PC retrieves its name, its user information
and its network connection information. The second restore is then carried
out automatically via the now reachable network. TwinCAT and the visualization
are installed and configured; recipes and other data are copied. The
reboot required after the restore is carried out automatically. After the reboot, the
restore component is reactivated and checks the fieldbus cards. Differences between
the original PC and the replacement PC are determined and automatically
compensated. In this way, different slots and different yet similar fieldbus
cards can be exchanged without user interaction.
During the last restore step, the incremental backup of the PLC project is restored,
a boot project is created automatically, and TwinCAT is started. The previous state
has now been reinstated, and the plant can be restarted.
Not just for backup and restore
The TwinCAT Backup Server can not only be used for the complete restoration of
a PC, but also for smaller updates, without requiring user knowledge about the
operation of the individual programs. New versions of PLC programs and new
recipes can be loaded, or any installation initiated.
