In today's data-driven industrial environment, even momentary gaps in historical data collection can have significant consequences. Missing information can compromise reporting, impede root cause analysis, and create blind spots in process optimization efforts. AVEVA Historian's Store and Forward functionality provides a robust technical solution to this critical operational challenge.
The Importance of Data Continuity in Industrial Operations
When network connections fail or historian servers undergo maintenance, traditional data collection systems may stop recording. Each missing data point represents potentially valuable information about your operation that cannot be recovered. For industries with regulatory requirements, these gaps can create compliance issues.
AVEVA Historian addresses this challenge through its Store and Forward implementation. This functionality creates a technical buffer that temporarily preserves data locally when historian connectivity is interrupted, ensuring data integrity across your operational technology landscape.
Technical Architecture: How Store and Forward Functions
Store and Forward operates by establishing a local storage repository for historical data during connection interruptions. This mechanism creates a dedicated directory where time-series data, alarm records, and events are temporarily cached.
The system monitors the connection status with the historian server. During normal operation, data flows directly to the historian database. When interruptions occur, the system automatically redirects data to the Store and Forward directory. Upon connection restoration, this cached data seamlessly forwards to the historian server, maintaining historical continuity.
Key Configuration Parameters
Successfully implementing Store and Forward requires the configuration of several technical parameters:
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Store Forward Directory Path: Specifies where temporary data files will reside. AVEVA recommends creating this directory within your InTouch application structure. This directory becomes the temporary repository for historian data during connection interruptions.
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Store Forward Threshold: Represents the disk space in megabytes reserved for buffer operations. This parameter accepts values from 0 to 65,535 megabytes, with proper sizing dependent on your system's data collection volume.
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Store Forward Minimum Duration: Determines how long the system remains in Store and Forward mode even after connection restoration. This setting, configurable between 30 and 3,600 seconds, creates a stabilization period that prevents data loss during fluctuating network conditions.
Building a Resilient Historian Infrastructure
Implementing Store and Forward represents a foundational element in building a resilient historian infrastructure. By ensuring continuous data collection regardless of network or server status, this functionality elevates your historical data system from a basic recording tool to a mission-critical operational asset.
Organizations in various industrial sectors rely on this functionality to maintain complete historical records for compliance verification, process optimization, and quality assurance. The technical architecture of Store and Forward provides the data continuity foundation necessary for analytics, reporting, and continuous improvement initiatives.
For comprehensive support in implementing Store and Forward within your AVEVA Historian environment, contact AVEVA Select California's technical specialists.