Server Administration Guide - Server Label (System Architectures)

Server Label

Use the Server Label field on the Partners section of the Server Configuration Tool to define a label that uniquely identifies the server.

The Server label is used within the system architecture to uniquely identify the server. When connecting to a partner, the servers exchange label information. Likewise, clients obtain label information when they poll the server. On a new server, the Server Label defaults to the NetBIOS name of the machine on which the server is installed, however you can replace this name with a more meaningful label if required. Server Labels are restricted to 30 characters as they comprise the names of OPC properties.

Ensure that the Server Label field is populated with a label that is unique to all of the servers on your system.

When a ViewX client connects to a Geo SCADA Expert server, Geo SCADA Expert updates that client's ServerLabels.xml file to maintain Server Label information about the server(s) to which the client connects. (The Server Label information might change, for example, if the client's connections configuration is reconfigured, or the Server Label itself is reconfigured.) The xml file provides a mechanism to populate the Database Bar on the ViewX client with data about the server to which the client is currently, or was last, connected. This enables information to be provided about the server even if the client cannot currently connect to that server.

Geo SCADA Expert also uses the Server Label field to populate the Server Label OPC property value. In ViewX, you can access this and other OPC properties that relate to server status by expanding the System Status branch of the OPC Data Bar.

In order to cache information about the server, write access is required to the location at which the ServerLabels.xml file is stored on the View. If the user that is logged on to the ViewX client only has read access to this location, ViewX client will be unable to cache the server data. As such, additional Server Label information will only be available for the server to which the client is currently connected provided that the ViewX client is able to poll that server successfully (as opposed to if the client is currently unable to access that server).

Further Information

Location of the ServerLabels.xml file: see File Locations (Default) in the Geo SCADA Expert Installation Guide.

Use the OPC Data Bar to access status information about the servers on the system: see Access System Status Information in the Geo SCADA Expert Guide to Core Configuration.