Alarm Server Overview

The Alarm Server is a critical component of GENESIS. It is a comprehensive software platform designed for industrial automation, visualization, and supervisory control (SCADA/HMI) applications. The Alarm Server provides advanced alarm management capabilities, enabling organizations to monitor, manage, and respond to alarms generated by various data coming from industrial processes and equipment. It is engineered to efficiently centralize and handle large volumes of real-time alarms. It adheres to ISA 18.2 for alarm management best practices.

The Alarm Server is a modernized upgrade to the legacy AlarmWorX™64 Server, introduced as Hyper Alarm Server™ in the GENESIS64™ 10.97 release. The Alarm Server represents a significant step forward in alarm management systems. It overcomes the technical and functional limitations of AlarmWorX64 and provides greater flexibility, performance, and ease of use. With its native integration, redundancy features, and ability to manage complex alarm configurations, it is well-suited for modern industrial control systems. This new approach ensures efficient, reliable, and scalable alarm monitoring, which is essential for large dynamic systems.

The Alarm Server addresses the following AlarmWorX64 limitations:

  • Legacy communication protocol: AlarmWorX64 uses a legacy DCOM-based communication interface (OPC AE 1.0), which is outdated and difficult to port to other platforms.
  • Redundancy and configuration complexities: AlarmWorX64 Server added redundancy after the release and required design revisions. It had complex configurations which included hard-coded limits of alarm values.
  • Static alarm templates: AlarmWorX64 relied on static templates with limited customization, which often led to oversimplified or overly complex configurations.

Key Features and Improvements

The following table contains the main Alarm Server features that considerably improve the functionality compared to AlarmWorX64 Server.

Feature

Description

Native integration with GENESIS components
  • The Alarm Server fully integrates with FrameWorX™, a unified GENESIS communication framework. This offers improved performance and seamless interaction with other GENESIS components.
  • It is integrated with the Workbench configuration tool.
  • Alarms can be directly configured in Assets—the asset management system.

Redundancy and fault tolerance
  • The Alarm Server includes a built-in redundancy with synchronization through FrameWorX. This allows for uninterrupted alarm processing which ensures system reliability in case of server failures.
  • Failover mechanisms ensure that alarms continue to be monitored even if one server goes down.

Simplified alarm configuration

The Alarm Server simplifies the configuration process by introducing alarm types. These predefined alarm templates allow users to define alarm behavior and structure while linking them to multiple areas within their process control system.

Advanced alarm handling
  • You can temporarily hide non-critical alarms to reduce clutter.
  • Acknowledgment mechanisms allow tracking who acknowledged an alarm and when.

Enhanced alarm processing
  • With asynchronous processing, even long evaluation times from one alarm source will not block other alarms which ensures efficient system operation.
  • The Alarm Server supports accessing historical data and third-party data sources, further improving flexibility.

Alarm source customization

You can create and customize alarms based on project requirements, reducing the complexity compared to AlarmWorX64. The Alarm Server treats alarms that span multiple areas as single entities, which simplifies alarm counting and tracking.

Support of advanced alarm states

The Alarm Server incorporates ISA 18.2 state machines, including modifications like Latch states to manage alarm conditions more effectively.

Modular and scalable system

The Alarm Server is modular, meaning it can scale with the system’s growth, adding new alarm sources and types as needed without heavy reconfiguration.

Use Cases

The following table lists examples of the Alarm Server use in various industries.

Industry

Use

Manufacturing

Real-time monitoring of production lines and equipment for malfunctions or inefficiencies.

Energy and Utilities

Alarm management for power generation plants, water treatment facilities, or renewable energy systems.

Building Automation

Monitoring HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning), lighting, fire protection, and security systems in large commercial buildings.

Oil and Gas

Monitoring pipelines, refineries, and other facilities for safety and environmental concerns.