Ignition Edge Sync Services acts as a limited remote server that synchronizes data from the edge of the network to a central Ignition server. 

  • Remote tags 
  • Tag history sync
  • Alarm journal sync
  • Audit log sync
  • Remote alarm notification profiles

Sync Services can be used with the EAM product or separately. For an example of architecture using Sync Services, see Edge Architectures


Agent Gateway

Ignition Edge Sync Services, acting as an Agent Gateway in a secure, high-performance Ignition Gateway Network, can share information with other Ignition Gateways through Distributed Services, including distributed tags, history, and remote alarming.


Store and Forward

Ignition Edge Sync Services comes with up to one-week of data buffering so it can be used to store-and-forward your data to a central server in case of network failure.


Data Synchronization

Synchronization allows you to sync your historian data, audit records, and alarm journal entries from the Edge Gateway to a Standard Ignition Gateway, allowing you to save past the one week data limit. The Edge Gateway will still only see the one week of data that it can hold internally, but it will allow you to store the data in a more permanent database that can be viewed from other Ignition systems.

Before data can be synchronized across Gateways, your Standard Gateway's system must be configured to accept Edge storage. This can be completed by navigating to Config > Security > Service Security and select Query and Storage for the sections you will be receiving data from such as Alarm Journal Access, Audit Log Access, or History Provider Access.  

Once you've allowed storage access, you can navigate back to your Edge Gateway to finish configuring your synchronization settings under Config > Enterprise Services > Settings page.

Note: As of 8.1.8 the Sync settings were moved to the Config > Data Sync > Settings page.

The following table describes the synchronization settings.  

Main

Settings


Remote Gateway NameThe gateway to target for remote synchronization.

Remote History Sync Enabled

Remote History Provider NameThe remote history provider to sync data to.
Remote History Sync EnabledWhether to send local tag history data to the remote system. The remote system must have the Tag Historian module installed, and allow remote storage. Default is false.
Max Batch SizeThe maximum number of data points that will be sent per batch to the remote gateway.
Sync FrequencyThe frequency with which data will be sent to the remote gateway. This setting will be used in conjunction with the sync schedule, if enabled.
Sync Frequency UnitsUnits are defined as milliseconds, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years.
Enable ScheduleIf enabled, the data will only be synchronized during the times specified by the pattern provided.
Schedule PatternA comma separated list of time ranges that will determine when data will be sent over the network.

Remote Audit Settings

Remote Audit Profile NameThe remote audit profile to sync data to.
Remote Audit Sync EnabledWhether Remote Audit Sync is enabled. Default is false.
Sync FrequencyThe frequency with which data will be sent to the remote gateway. This setting will be used in conjunction with the sync schedule, if enabled.
Sync Frequency UnitsUnits are defined as milliseconds, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years.
Enable Schedule

If enabled, the data will only be synchronized during the times specified by the pattern provided.

Schedule PatternA comma separated list of time ranges that will determine when data will be sent over the network.

Remote Alarm Journal Settings


Remote Alarm Journal NameThe remote alarm journal to sync data to.
Remote Journal Sync EnabledWhether Remote Alarm Journal settings are enabled. Default is false.
Sync FrequencyThe frequency with which data will be sent to the remote gateway. This setting will be used in conjunction with the sync schedule, if enabled.
Sync Frequency UnitsUnits are defined as milliseconds, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years.
Enable ScheduleIf enabled, the data will only be synchronized during the times specified by the pattern provided.
Schedule PatternA comma separated list of time ranges that will determine when data will be sent over the network.


Sync is unique in that if the connection to the remote Ignition Gateway is severed, the Edge Gateway will use its week of storage as a Store and Forward buffer, allowing you to store up to a week of data before data is lost. Once the connection is restored, the Edge Gateway will send data over based on the max batch size and data frequency until all previous data is sent.


Sync Reset

Edge has a way to reset synchronization state for remote services. If you restored a Gateway backup onto a system with existing locally "syncable" configuration files, then the backup may have IDs from a range beyond the local files. Use the Reset action button to reset your local sync configuration.

To do a Sync Reset, go to Edge Gateways under Config > Enterprise Services > Sync Reset.

This feature was changed in Ignition version 8.1.8:
The Sync Reset functionality was moved in 8.1.8 to the Config > Data Sync > Overview page. 

Select Reset for the desired configuration to perform a Sync Reset.


Remote Alarm Notification Profiles

Sync Services allows alarms in the Edge gateway to invoke remote alarm pipelines, via a remote alarm notification profile (configured on the Edge gateway). 

Local alarm pipelines may not be used with Edge.

For more information, see Alarm Notification Profiles


Remote Tag Provider

With Edge Sync Services installed, Ignition Gateways will be able to create remote tag providers, targeting a provider on an Edge Gateway: either the system provider or the one realtime tag provider.

Note: The Edge IIoT product also unlocks this feature.




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