You use External Log Storage feature to store historical data from EcoStruxure BMS. The amount of stored data is limited only by the equipment you use, and not by the capacities of the feature.
External Log Storage decreases the amount of extended trend logs retained on the EcoStruxure BMS servers. External Log Storage enables economizing the space on your servers. The External Log Storage feature uses an external database administered by either a combination of TimescaleDB and PostgreSQL software, or Microsoft SQL server.
The following EcoStruxure BMS trend logs send (and read) data to the external log storage:
When an EcoStruxure BMS server uses External Log Storage, the server still writes to the internal storage with the limitations described in Architectural Guidelines.
For more information, see Architectural Guidelines 6.0.1, 6.0.2, 6.0.3, and 6.0.4
.
Events are propagated from field servers to the Enterprise Server and to the Enterprise Central. If events are enabled and sent to External Log Storage from field servers, the events are stored twice in the External Log Storage. WorkStation and WebStation display just one entry. However, when you look in the PostgreSQL database or use other external tools to view the data, you will see the duplicates.
You can also merge log data from an extended trend log to the source log in External Log Storage.
For more information, see Merge of Trend Log Data
.
When the External Log Storage feature is activated and configured, WorkStation and WebStation display the historical data in the event and trend views from the External Log Storage.
External Log Storage with TimescaleDB and PostgreSQL Components
TimescaleDB and PostgreSQL are products of a third-party developer. These components are installed using installation packages available at the websites of those developers.
Before you install TimescaleDB and PostgreSQL, ensure that the computer on which you want to install them meets the hardware and software requirements for the database. If you install the Ecostruxure BMS external log storage components on a computer other than the localhost, make sure the components communicate with that computer. You also need to ensure that you have installed or enabled certain prerequisite items of software. In systems containing more than 100 servers, in order to handle both read and write, you need a fast SSD and more than 64 GB RAM on the database PC.
External Log Storage with Microsoft SQL Server Components
Microsoft SQL Server is installed using installation packages available at the website of Microsoft. See the Microsoft SQL Server documentation for instructions https://www.microsoft.com/sql-server
External Log Storage with TimescaleDB and PostgreSQL Encrypted Communication
An EcoStruxure BMS server can communicate with External Log Storage using encrypted communication to increase security. The EcoStruxure BMS server uses then the certificate installed on the PostgreSQL server and it does not support client certificates for PostgreSQL.
Commands on the External Log Storage
You execute commands on your trend log stored in the external storage log to manage the stored logs.
Enable
,
Disable
,
Clear
and
Delete
are commands that you execute on a log stored in the external log storage. When a command is executed from a server other than the one you are logged on, the command is written to the log's meta-data table as a pending command. Every hour every server reads its own meta-data table, so it goes through all the pending commands. If the log belongs to the server that executes the command, it will be performed right away without waiting for the hourly process.
For more information, see Commands on External Log Storage
.
External Log Storage Backup and Restore
The External Log Storage feature uses an external database software. Either a combination of TimescaleDB and PostgreSQL software, or Microsoft SQL Server. The EcoStruxure Building Operation backup and restore feature cannot be used to back up and restore the External Log Storage data. Instead you use the backup and restore function of the database software External Log Storage is configured with. See the TimescaleDB documentation or the Microsoft SQL Server documentation for instructions.
For more information, see External Log Storage Backup and Restore
.
External Log Storage with PI System
You can configure your system to write historical data to AVEVA PI System. The historical data can only be written to PI System and cannot be read back to. For more information about PI System and how to setup the database, visit the AVEVA web site.
External storage with PI System requires a license.
External Log Storage with PI System Workflow
Use this workflow to install and configure the EcoStruxure BMS External Log Storage feature using PI System.
For more information, see External Log Storage with PI System Workflow
.
External Log Storage Overview
TimescaleDB - Basic View