Configure Archives

Important: You do not have the latest version of Historian! You are missing out on the newest capabilities and enhanced security. For information on all the latest features, see the Historian product page. For more information on upgrades, contact your GE Digital sales agent or e-mail GE Digital Sales Support. For the most up-to-date documentation, go here.

Configure Archives

Historian archives are stored data files, each of which contains data gathered from all data sources during a specific period of time. There are two types of archive files in an Historian archives directory:
  • Machinename_Config.ihc : a single .IHC file containing information about the archiver, tag configuration, and collector configuration.
  • Machinename_ArchiveXXX.iha: an archive data file where x is a number indicating the place of the file in a time-based sequence.

Archive files grow to a user-configured maximum size as data is recorded by the server. Historian will asynchronously create a new empty archive when data starts loading into an existing archive. Whenever the current archive becomes full, Historian will immediately serve data to a newly created archive. This significantly reduces archive creation and transition time. If the automatic create archive option is not enabled, however, you must open a new archive manually.

Note: If the Automatic create archive option is not enabled and you do not create a new archive manually, or if the available disk space is less than the required amount of free disk space, then a new archive will not be created.

If you enable the Overwrite Old Archives option, the system replaces the oldest archived data with new data when the latest archive default size has been reached. Since this action deletes historical data, exercise caution in using this feature. Be sure that you have a backup of the archive so that you can restore it later. Best practice is to create an additional archive to prevent premature loss of data due to overwriting. For example, if you want to save 12 months of data into 12 archives, create 13 archives.

During archiver startup and every 60 seconds while the server is running, Historian checks to make sure you have configured enough free disk space to save the archives, buffer files, and log files. If there is insufficient disk space, the Data Archiver shuts down and a message is logged into the log file. By default, you can view the Historian archiver log file in C:\Historian Data\LogFiles

[03/03/10 15:28:41.398] Insufficient space available in [d:\Historian\Archives\] 
        [03/03/10 15:28:41.399] The server requires a minimum of [5000 MB] to continue 
        [03/03/10 15:28:41.679] USER: DataArchiver TOPIC: ServiceControl MSG: DataArchiver(DataArchiver)
        Archiver shutdown at 03/03/10 15:28:41.653   
        [03/03/10 15:28:41.807] DataArchiver Service Stopped. 
        [03/03/10 15:28:41.809] [d:\Historian\LogFiles\DataArchiver-34.log] Closed.

Setting Archive Size

Since archived data files can become quite large, you should adjust system parameters carefully to limit data collection to meaningful data only and minimize the required size of system storage. This chapter describes techniques you can use in your application to accomplish these goals. Historian now supports a maximum Archive Size of 256 GB per archive.

Note: When you start Historian, it may take a longer time to start an archiver depending on the number of archives online, number of tags, and number of connections.

For each archive, you need approximately 1MB of archive space for every 1000 tags to store tag information. Archive size is a function of the rate at which you archive data and the time period you want the archive to cover. A typical user wants the archive to cover a time period of, say, 30 days. Factors that affect the rate at which you archive data are

Factors that affect the rate at which you archive data are:

  • Number of tags: A large number of tags.

  • Polling frequency of each tag: A high polling frequency of each tag.
  • Compression settings: Disabling compression or setting narrow deadband parameters.
  • Data types: Choosing data types that increase the number of bytes per value.

Example

The following is an example of a manual calculation of required archive size, using typical parameter values. This example archive needs to contain data collected over 30 days.

Assumptions:
  • No. of tags: 5000
  • Polling rate: 1 value/5 seconds
  • % Pass Compression: 5%. Pass Compression is the number of data values archived relative to the number of values read, expressed as percent.
  • Bytes/value: 4
  • Duration: 1 month (30 days)
Calculation:



The calculation shows that a file size of 500 MB is adequate for archiving one month of data for this application.

It is recommended that you set the default archive size to 500 MB for systems with 1000 tags or more. If you believe the computed size is too large for your application, you can modify parameters as follows:
  • Decrease the polling frequency.
  • Increase compression deadband, reducing the pass percentage.
  • Reduce the number of tags.
  • Add more disk capacity to your computer.

Archive Size Calculator

An Archive Size Calculator tool is available to estimate archive size based on your input and estimates the archive size and collector compression based upon a tag that has already been configured. Log on to http://digitalsupport.ge.com to download this and other GE Intelligent Platforms freeware product solutions.

Creating Archives

New archives can be created automatically once the existing archive reaches a size limit or when a specific amount of time has elapsed since the last archive creation.

Archives based on size

collect data until they reach the specified storage limit. Once the limit is reached, a new archive is created and the data is loaded into that archive. Historian supports a maximum archive size of 256 GB per archive.

To create an archive based on size:

  1. Open the Data Store Maintenance screen and click the Data Store Options tab.
  2. In the Archive Creation section, in the Default Size (MB) field, select the BySize option from the drop-down list.
  3. Enter the size that you want to set to the archive. By default, the size is 100 MB.
  4. Click Update. An archive based on size is created.

Archive Creation based on Duration

To create an archive based on duration:

  1. Open the Data Store Maintenance screen and then click the Data Store Options tab.
  2. In the Archive Creation section, in the Archive Duration field, select the Days or the Hours option from the drop-down list.
    Note: If the archive is based on size, the Default Size (MB) field is displayed next to the drop-down list. If you select either the Days or Hours options, the Default Size (MB) changes to Archive Duration field.
  3. Enter the number of days/hours for which you want to create archives.
  4. Click Update. Depending on what you selected, an archive, based on days/hours is created.
    Note: Setting the day as 1 means that a new archive will be created every day starting from the time your first archive is created. The next archive is created after one day, 24 hours from the time the first archive was created.

    Setting the hours as 1 means that a new archive will be created after every hour starting from the time your first archive has been created. You can observe the archives on the left side, under Archives, with the name of the archive and start time for each archive.

Back Up Archives Automatically with ihArchiveBackup.exe

The Historian installation automatically installs an archive backup utility on your system at install time. The default path for this file is typically located in ..\Program Files\Proficy\Historian\Server\ihArchiveBackup.exe.

Note: Historian places backup files in the Archives folder specified during installation. By default, this is C:\Historian Data\Archives on both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows operating systems.
Example of a typical AT command for automatic backup: 
AT 23:59 /EVERY:M,T,W,Th,F "ihArchiveBackup.exe [-s ServerNodeName] [-u Username] 
[-p Password][-t TimeoutSecs][-n NumberOfArchives] or [-a ArchiveName]"

ihArchiveBackup.exe takes the following optional arguments. If no arguments are supplied, ihArchiveBackup.exe backs up the current Historian archive.

Switch Parameter Description
-s serverNodeName The Historian node to access archive data on.
-u Username The user name required to connect to the Historian archive.
-p Password The password required to connect to the Historian archive.
-t TimeoutSecs The time, in seconds, to wait before timing out and failing.
-n NumberOfArchives The number of archives to back up, counting backwards from the current archive.
-a ArchiveName The name of a specific archive to back up.
-c none Backs up only the Historian configuration (IHC) file .
-d DataStoreName The name of the data store to store your archive data.
Note: Using one instance of ihArchiveBackup.exe you can point to one data store, and by using multiple instances you can point to multiple data stores.

Configuring Automatic Backup for Windows XP

The Historian install program automatically installs an archive backup utility on your system at install time. The default path for this file is typically located in ..\Program Files\Proficy\Historian\Server\ihArchiveBackup.exe. To perform an automatic archive backup function on a regular basis, use the Task Scheduler supplied with Windows XP and the following procedure:
  1. Open the Control Panel.
  2. Double-click Scheduled Tasks.
  3. Double-click Add Scheduled Task.
    The Add Scheduled Task dialog box appears.

  4. Click Next.
  5. Click Browse and browse to the ihArchiveBackup.exe file.
  6. Double-click ihArchivebackup.exe.
    The Scheduled Task Wizard window appears with the executable filename displayed.
  7. In the Scheduled Task Wizard window, add the .EXE file extension to the filename, followed by the command line parameters for your application, if any.
    This example will back up the 3 most recent archive files on server EIGER on a daily basis:
    C:\Program Files\Proficy\Historian\Server\ihArchiveBackup.exe" -s EIGER -u bsmith -p pword -t 30 -n

    In this example:

    • The name of the executable file is ihArchiveBackup.exe
    • The -s switch specifies the server name (EIGER)
    • The -u switch specifies the user name (bsmith)
    • The -p switch the password (pword)
    • The -t switch a 30 second timeout for the ihArchiveBackup call
    • The -n switch specifies the number of files to be backed up (3)
    Note:
    • You must put a space between each switch and the associated parameter info. If you omit a space after the number of archives changes, for example, only the most recent archive is backed up.
    • All command line entries are optional. If no arguments are supplied, ihArchiveBackup.exe backs up the current Historian archive.
  8. In the same window, select the task schedule by clicking one or more options, then click Next.
  9. In the next dialog, select the time of day to perform the task, the interval in weeks, and the days of the week to run the task, then click Next.
  10. Enter the username and password the task will run under, and click Next.
  11. (Optional) Click the Advanced Properties box to review the settings for the Task Schedule and to add advanced parameters such as Security and Auditing specifications.
  12. Click Finish.

Configuring Automatic Backup for Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008

To perform an automatic archive backup function on a regular basis, use the Task Scheduler supplied with Windows Vista or Server 200 and the following procedure.
  1. Open the Control Panel.
  2. Click Administrative Tools.
  3. Double-click Task Scheduler.
    The Add Scheduled Task dialog box appears.
  4. In the Actions Pane, click Create Basic Task.
    The Create Basic Task wizard appears.
  5. Follow the instructions in the Create Basic Task Wizard.
  6. In the Start a Program window, add the .EXE file extension to the filename, followed by the command line parameters for your application, if any.
    This example will back up the 3 most recent archive files on server EIGER on a daily basis. The name of the executable file is ihArchiveBackup.exe, the -s switch specifies the server name (EIGER), the -u switch specifies the user name (bsmith), the -p switch the password (pword), the -t switch a 30 second timeout for the ihArchiveBackup call, and the -n switch specifies the number of files to be backed up (3). 
    C:\Program Files\Proficy\Historian\Server\ihArchiveBackup.exe" -s EIGER -u bsmith -p pword -t 30 -n
    • You must put a space between each switch and the associated parameter info. If you omit a space after the number of archives changes, for example, only the most recent archive is backed up.
    • All command line entries are optional. If no arguments are supplied, ihArchiveBackup.exe backs up the current Historian archive.
  7. Click Finish.

Back up Archives with Historian

Best practice is to back up your Historian archive files periodically to ensure your data is protected. Historian bundles alarm and event data with tag data in its backup files. Once an archive has been backed up, it can be stored to a shared network location, stored off-site, or written to physical media.

Important points to remember for backing up archives in Historian:

  • The .IHC file is automatically backed up when, and only when, you backup the current archive .IHA file. By default, the .IHC backup path is the same as the archives path.

  • The .IHC uses the following naming convention: ComputerName_Config-Backup.ihc. If the default backup path is different than the archives path, the .IHC file is copied to the backup folder with the standard .IHC naming convention: ComputerName_Config.ihc.

  • In the Mirroring system, the Client Manager sends a backup message to the Data archiver located on the Client Manager node to which the user is connected. The backup, then, happens in the specified location on that node. If that Data archiver is not running the user will get a NOT_CONNECTED error message and the backup will not happen.

  • If you back up an archive more than once, the backup tool will (by default) attempt to use the same name for the backup file and will detect that an archive with the same name already exists. Rename the backup archive file or move the original backup archive file from the target backup directory.

    For more information on archiving, refer to Backing up an Archive Manually.

Zipping backup files

By default, Historian 7.0 SP1 does NOT store backup files as ZIP files. If you want to store backup files as ZIP files, then you can manually configure registry keys to specify this.

CAUTION:
When you enable the registry keys to store backups as ZIP files:
  • If you are collecting alarms, then your alarms may not be backed up.
  • You cannot export alarms to another Historian server.
  • Disaster recovery of data may be limited.

Backing up alarm data

When backing up your Historian archives, any alarms with a life cycle that overlaps the data archive being backed up will be included. This means that an alarm with a long life cycle can be included up in multiple backups. For example, say the following alarm and archive dates were the following:
Table 1. Sample Alarm Data
Alarm/Data Archive Start Time End Time
Alarm1 09/02/2004 09/06/2004
Archive1 09/01/2004 09/03/2004
Archive2 09/03/2004 09/04/2004
Archive3 09/04/2004 09/06/2004

If any or all of these archives are backed up, Alarm1 will go into the backup for each. When the archives are restored, Historian will analyze the included alarm data and, if already in the Historian archive, is intelligent enough to know it already has the alarm.

Backing up an Archive Manually

Ensure you have enough hard drive space on your default backup location before backing up your archives.
Note:
  • Ensure you have enough hard drive space on your default backup location before backing up your archives.
  • Always back up archives before a planned Historian software product upgrade.
  • Use Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service when backing up archive files that are more than 2 GB in size or when backing up more than the last two archives. For more information, refer to Back Up Archives with Volume Shadow Copy Service.
  1. Open the Data Store Maintenance screen.
  2. In the archive window, select an existing archive.
  3. On the Archive Details tab, click Backup .
  4. Save the backup file to the default archive backup file location (preferably different than the default archive file location).
    A backup successful message will appear.
  5. In the archive window, select the same archive.
  6. On the Details tab, click Close Archive.
    If Automatically Create Archives is enabled, a new archive file will be created and will become the current archive.
  7. In the archive window, select the closed archive and click the Remove button.
    The closed archive is removed from the list of archives in the Historian Administrator, but not deleted from disk.

Enabling or Disabling Archive ZIP Compression

This procedure configures two registry keys that toggle whether or not Historian archives are stored as compressed ZIP files.
  1. From the Start menu, select Run and enter Regedit.
  2. Open the following key folder: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Intellution, Inc.\iHistorian\Services\DataArchiver\
  3. Create a new DWORD called DoNotZipArchives.
  4. Specify whether backup files should be zipped (compressed).
    • To specify that backup files should not be zipped, set DoNotZipArchives to any non-zero value.
    • To specify that backup files should be zipped, set DoNotZipArchives to 0.
  5. Open the following key folder: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Intellution, Inc.\iHistorian\Services\ClientManager\
  6. Create a new DWORD called DoNotZipArchives.
  7. Specify whether backup files should be zipped (compressed).
    • To specify that backup files should not be zipped, set DoNotZipArchives to any non-zero value.
    • To specify that backup files should be zipped, set DoNotZipArchives to 0.
  8. Click OK.
  9. Close the Registry Editor and open the Historian Administrator to back up Historian archive files.
    You do not need to restart the Data Archiver.
    CAUTION:
    Be aware of the following when you are using DoNotZipArchives registry key:
    • If you are collecting alarms with DoNotZipArchives registry key enabled, then your alarms may not be backed up. Also, you cannot export alarms to another Historian server.
    • DoNotZipArchives registry key can limit the ability to recover the data from disaster.

Changing Alarm Timestamp Check Intervals

Use the following procedure to speed up, slow down, or disable alarm timestamp checking,
  1. From the Start menu, select Run and enter Regedit.
  2. Open the following key folder. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Intellution, Inc.\iHistorian\Services\DataArchiver\
  3. Create a new DWORD called AlarmTimestampCheck and set its value to 1.
    Set AlarmTimestampCheck to 0 to turn off timestamp checking entirely. Set AlarmTimestampCheck to 2 for slower timestamp checking.
  4. Click OK.
  5. Close the Registry Editor.
  6. Restart the Data Archiver for the changes to take effect.

Adding, Backing up and Restoring Archives

You may need to add an archive when the current archive is nearly full and you have not enabled automatic creation of archives. You may need to restore an archive when you start up after an unplanned shutdown or when you need to retrieve data from an old, inactive archive. You may need to backup and archive before a planned Historian software product upgrade.

Adding Archives

Important: If you plan to create multiple archives at the same time, then you must set the following parameters. These parameters apply only when creating multiple archives at the same time.
  • In the Details Tab, set File Attribute to Read/Write.
  • In the Global Options Tab:
    • Set Maximum Query Time (seconds) to 60 seconds.
    • Set Maximum Query Intervals to 100000 intervals.
    • Set Automatically Create Archives to Disabled.
    • Set Overwrite Old archives to Enabled.
    • Set Maintain Auto Recovery Files to Enabled.
    • Set Store OPC Quality to Disabled.
  • In the Security Tab:
    • Set Data is Readonly After (Hours) to 1 month.
    • Set Security Groups to use local.
    • set Generate Message on Data Update to Disabled.
    • set Require Point Verification to Disabled
CAUTION:
If you are creating multiple archives on a remote machine, then you must ensure that you have enough hard disk space on that machine. The Allocate Space slider does not display a remote machine's hard disk space. In other words, if you are creating multiple archives on a remote machine, you must ignore the r;percentage of available disk space will be usedmessage displayed by the Allocate Space slider.

If you receive the error message r;Runtime error 330 Invalid Property Value" while creating multiple archives on a remote machine, it is probably because you do not have enough hard disk space on that machine. When you click OK on the error message, Historian Administrator may disappear. You must now clean up the remote machine's hard disk space and restart the Historian Administrator.

Note: Historian now supports maximum Archive Size of 256 GB per archive.

Adding a new Archive

When the current archive is full, the system writes to the next archive in the sequence in which the archives were created.
  1. In the Data Store Maintenance screen, click Add New Archive(s).
    The Add New Archive(s) dialog box appears.
  2. In the Archive Name field, enter the name of the archive. The archive name must be the same as the file name.
  3. In the Data Store field, select the User or the System Data Store.
  4. In the File Location field, enter the pathname of the archive from a local drive or specify a UNC path.
  5. In the EachArchive Size (MB) field, enter the size of the file in MB.
  6. In the Number of Archives field, set the Number of Archives to create.
  7. Optionally, use the Allocate Space slider to set a local machine disk space and the number of archives to be created based on each archive size.
  8. Click OK.
    A status bar appears displaying the progress.
    Note: Click Cancel to abort the operation as a result the archives that are created will be deleted.

Restoring Archives with Historian

CAUTION:
Restoring an archive is a resource-intensive operation and should be scheduled for non-peak usage times.
Warning: Never restore an archive to a production Historian server without a current archive already online.

Under certain circumstances, you may want to restore tag and alarm and event data to Historian. This may be after an unplanned shutdown, or you may need to retrieve data from an old, inactive archive.

Before restoring an archive from a removable disk, copy the archive file to the normal archive path and then restore the archive from that location. Leave the original backup file in the backup file folder.

Archives that have been previously removed from Historian can be found in the \Archives\Offline directory.

  1. Open Windows Explorer.
  2. Locate the backup archive file and copy the file to the Default Archive path.
  3. Open the Data Store Maintenance screen.
  4. Click Restore An Archive From Backup . The Restore Archive dialog box appears.
  5. In the Archive Name field, enter the name of the archive you want to restore.
  6. Specify the location of the Archive file.
    • Enter the pathname of the archive from a local drive, or specify a UNC path, OR
    • Browse to the file location and select a single archive file or multiple archive files in the File Location Field.
  7. Verify that the filename and path are correct.
  8. Select the Configured Data Store option from the drop-down list to restore the archive to the data store specified within the archive file.
    If Historian is unable to find the correct data store to load this file to, then it will be loaded to the default data store.
  9. Click OK.
    The restored archive is moved to the \Archive directory and is made available for querying.

Configuring System File Cache Memory

Historian allows you to specify the maximum disk cache memory that an archiver can use. By default, Historian consumes 25% of system memory. If your computer has extra memory, then you can increase the disk cache. Increasing the disk cache memory optimizes the Historian performance. You should not increase system file caching cache memory if you do not have the necessary system resources.
  1. On the Start menu, click Run, type Regedit, and then click OK.
    The Registry editor appears.
  2. Open the following key folder.HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Intellution, Inc.\iHistorian\Services\DataArchiver\
  3. Create a new DWORD called FileSystemMaxCacheMB
  4. Set the decimal value to a number. The value that you enter represents the maximum disk cache memory that an archiver can use.
  5. Click OK and then close the Registry Editor.
  6. Restart the Historian Data Archiver service.

Back up Archives with Volume Shadow Copy Service

Use the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service to back up large archive files, or if you want to back up more than the last two archives, as it allows you to backup and restore archives reliably and in a short period of time without affecting the data collection.

The Volume Shadow Copy feature is provided by Windows Operating System, and the instructions to use backup and restore vary depending on the backup application that is used in the Windows operating system.

VSS provides fast volume capture of the state of a disk which is called a snapshot or shadow copy. When the snapshot is taken, disk writes are suspended for a brief period of time, typically on the order of milliseconds. After the snapshot, disk writes can resume, but the original state of the files are maintained by a difference file. The difference file allows the state of the original file at the time of the snapshot to be reconstructed. This behavior allows files to be backed up while new data is being written to files.

If you are using ihArchiveBackup.exe before the upgrade, your backup will continue to work in the same or similar manner as it did before the upgrade. There is no change in the backup procedure and the Auto Recovery Backup Files option remains unchanged.

Note: Though you could use either ihArchiveBackup.exe or VSS for backup, VSS is a better choice for both larger archives or if you are backing up more than the last two archives to reduce the load on the Data Archiver service.

Microsoft uses a backup format called Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) to back up files.

When you create archives backup using Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service, you must first restore the archives files (that is, .bkf or .vhd into .iha) using the Windows Restore wizard, and then restore the archives (.iha) into Historian. For more information on restoring an archive (.iha) into Historian, refer to the Restoring an Archive topic.

Note: It is recommended that you:
  • Use Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service when you want to back up archive files that are more than 2 GB in size, or if you are backing up more than your last two archives.
  • Ensure you have enough hard drive space on your default backup location before backing up your archives.
CAUTION:
The Backup and Restore Center in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 32-bit and 64-bit does not allow you to back up selected files or folders. However, you can do volume backups. The features included and enabled in the Backup and Restore Center depend on the Windows editions.
Important: For optimum performance, it is recommended you to save paging file of the operating system, Historian archives, and scheduled backup directory on separate drives.

Backing up Archives Using Shadow Copy Service on Windows Server 2008 or 2008 R2

To access backup and recovery tools for Windows Server 2008, you must install backup and recovery tools first. You must also be a member of the Backup Operators or Administrators group. For more information about Installing Widows Server Backup Tools, refer to Microsoft's website at: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770266(WS.10).aspx.

If you need additional assistance about using Windows Server Backup Wizard, refer to Microsoft's website at: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc75352aspx.

In addition to using the Backup and Restore wizard, you can also use the command line utilities. Refer to the following website for information on how to use command line parameters with the Ntbackup command: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/814583 Refer to the following website for information on how to use command line parameters with the Wbadmin command: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc754015(WS.10).aspx.

  1. Click Start, point to All Programs > Administrative Tools, then click Windows Server Backup.
    The Windows Server Backup Wizard appears.
  2. In the Actions pane, click Backup Once to create a manual backup.
    Note: If you want to back up your archiver files regularly, you can set the scheduler to back up your files automatically.
    The Backup Once Wizard appears.
  3. Click Next.
    The Select Backup Configuration screen appears.
  4. Select Custom, and then click Next.
    The Select Items for Backup screen appears.
  5. Specify items to back up.
    • Windows Server 2008: Select the check boxes for the volumes that you want to back up, and then click Next.
    • Windows Server 2008 R2: Click Add Items. The Select Items screen appears. Expand the folder tree, select the items that you want to back up, click OK, and then click Next.
    Note: Windows Server 2008 32-bit and 64-bit does not allow you to backup selected files or folders. The features included and enabled in the Backup and Restore Center depend on the Windows editions.
    The Specify Destination Type screen appears.
  6. In the Choose the type of storage for the backup area, select the appropriate storage option, and then click Next.
    The Select Backup Destination screen appears.
  7. Select the destination path from the Backup destination drop-down list, and then click Next.
    The Confirmation screen appears.
  8. Click Backup.
    The Backup Progress screen appears.
  9. When the backup process completes, click Close.

Backing up Archives Using Shadow Copy Service on Windows Vista or Windows 7

This process backs up an archive using Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service on Windows Vista or Windows 7. If you need additional assistance with using Windows 7 Backup Wizard, refer to Microsoft's website at: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IN/windows7/Back-up-your-files
  1. Open the Control Panel.
  2. Click Back up your computer.
    The Back up or restore your files screen appears.
  3. Click Setup Backup.
    The Setup backup screen appears.
  4. Select the backup destination, and then click Next.
    The What do you want to Backup screen appears.
  5. Select the Let me choose option, and then click Next.
  6. Navigate to the archive files folder you want to back up by selecting the check box to the left of a file or folder.
    Important: Backup and Restore Center in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 32-bit and 64-bit does not allow you to backup selected files or folders. The features included and enabled in the Backup and Restore Center depend on the Windows editions.
  7. Click Next.
    The Review your backup settings screen appears.
  8. Click Change schedule to configure how often to back up your files.
  9. Click Save settings and run backup.

Backing up Archives Using Shadow Copy Service on Windows XP, Server 2003, or Windows XPe

If you want to back up your archive files regularly, set the scheduler to back up your files automatically. If you need additional assistance with using Windows Backup Wizard, refer to Microsoft's website at: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308422 .
  1. Start the Backup or Restore Wizard
    • Click Start, point to All Programs > Accessories > System Tools, then click Backup, OR
    • On the Start menu, click Run, type ntbackup, and then click OK.
    The Backup or Restore Wizard appears.
  2. Click Next.
    The Backup or Restore screen appears.
  3. Select Back up files and settings, and then click Next.
    The What to Backup screen appears.
  4. Select Let me choose what to back up, and then click Next.
    The Items to Back Up screen appears.
  5. Specify the archive files or folder to back up by selecting the check box to the left of the file or folder.
  6. Click Next.
    The Backup Type, Destination, and Name screen appears.
  7. Specify the location of the file.
    • Enter the absolute path where you want file to be located, OR
    • Click Browse to navigate to the file location.
  8. In the Type a name for this backup field, enter a name for the backup file, and then click Next.
    The Completing the Backup or Restore Wizard screen appears as shown below.
  9. Click Advanced.
    The Type of Backup screen appears.
  10. From the Select the type of backup drop-down list, select Copy, and then click Next.
    The How to Back Up dialog box appears.
  11. Select the options you want to use, and then click Next.
    The Backup Options dialog box appears.
  12. In the Backup Options area, select the appropriate backup option, and then click Next.
    The When to Back Up screen appears.
  13. In the When to Back Up area, select the appropriate option, and then click Next.
  14. Click Finish.
    The Backup Progress screen appears.
  15. When the backup process completes, click Close.

Restore Archives with Volume Shadow Copy Service

Microsoft uses a backup format called Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) to back up files. When you restore archive backups using Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service, you must stop the online Historian archiver, convert the shadow archive files (.bkf or .vhd) into archive files (.iha) using the Windows Restore wizard, and then restore the archives (.iha) into Historian.

Restoring Archives Using Shadow Copy Service on Windows Server 2008 or 2008 R2

This procedure will restore an archive using Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service on Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2.

To access backup and recovery tools for Windows Server 2008, you must install backup and recovery tools first. For more information about Installing Widows Server Backup Tools, refer to Microsoft's website at: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770266(WS.10).aspx.

If you need additional assistance with using Windows Server Recovery Wizard, refer to Microsoft's website at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc77202aspx.

  1. Click Start, point to All Programs > Administrative Tools, and then click Windows Server Backup.
    The Windows Server Backup Wizard appears.
  2. In the Actions pane, click Restore.
    The Recovery Wizard appears.
  3. Select the appropriate option that contains the backup, and then click Next.
    The Select Backup Date screen appears.
  4. Select the date and time of backup you want to restore from, and then click Next.
    The Select Recovery Type screen appears.
  5. Expand the folder tree and select the items that you want to restore, and then click Next.
    The Specify Recovery Options screen appears.
  6. Select the appropriate storage option, and then click Next.
    The Confirmation screen appears.
  7. Click Recover.
    The Recover Progress screen appears.
  8. When the recovery process completes, click Close.

Restoring Archives Using Shadow Copy Service on Windows Vista or Windows 7

This process will restore an archive using Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service on Windows Vista or Windows 7. If you need additional assistance about using Windows 7 Restore Wizard, refer to Microsoft's website at: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IN/windows7/Restore-files-from-a-backup
  1. Open the Control Panel.
  2. Click Back up your computer.
    The Back up or restore your files screen appears.
  3. Click Restore my files.
  4. Click Browse for files or Browse for folders.
  5. Select the items that you want to back up, and then click Next.
  6. Select the destination path, and then click Restore.
    The Confirmation screen appears.
  7. Click Recover.
    The Recover Progress screen appears.
  8. When the recovery process completes, click Close.

Restoring Archives Using Shadow Copy Service on Windows XP, Server 2003, or Windows XPe

This procedure will restore an archive using Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service on Windows XP Professional SP3, Windows Server 2003, or Windows XPe.
  1. Start the Backup or Restore Wizard .
    • Click Start, point to All Programs > Accessories, System Tools, and then click Backup.
    • On the Start menu, click Run, type ntbackup, and then click OK.
    The Backup or Restore Wizard appears.
  2. Click Next. The Backup or Restore screen appears as shown below.
  3. Select Restore files and settings, and then click Next.
    The What to Restore screen appears.
  4. Click Browse.
    The Open Backup File screen appears.
  5. Specify the location of the backup file.
    • Enter the physical path where the backup file is stored, and then click OK.
    • Click Browse to navigate to the file location.
  6. Select the backup (.bkf) file from the Backup Identification Label list, and then click Next.
  7. Click Advanced.
    The Where to Restore screen appears.
  8. From the Restore files to drop-down list, select Alternate location
  9. Click Browse to navigate to the location you want to restore the files to, and then click OK.
  10. Click Next.
    The How to Restore screen appears.
  11. In the How to Restore area, select the appropriate restore option, and then click Next.
    The Advanced Restore Options screen appears.
  12. Select the appropriate restore option and then click Next.
  13. Click Finish.

Remote Storage of Archives

Historian can store current and backup archive files on remote storage devices. These remote storage devices can consist of network shares, Storage Area Networks (SAN), or Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices. You can also employ a hybrid approach, by storing your current archive on the local disk and writ- ing a script using the Historian SDK to migrate older archives to a remote storage device.

A SAN is a dedicated network apart from a LAN, specifically configured to allow servers to communicate with large storage arrays, usually over fibre-optic cables. The SAN is directly accessible as a disk device to Windows and does not operate through the slower network layer. NAS devices are similar to a SAN, but are directly attached to the LAN, appearing as a server.

Note: Though NAS devices mapped to drives in Windows appear in Historian's Browse dialog boxes, they are not supported by the Data Archiver service. In order to access NAS devices in Historian, you must enter their UNC path (\\iHbackup\archive, for example).

If the Data Archiver service is not working, view the Messages page. Messages like these indicate that Historian is trying to use mapped drives: "Path N:\ not found." "Mapped drives unsupported as archive or backup file location" "UNC paths inaccessible when running as LocalSystem, configure other logon account for DataArchiver service". If these messages appear, find and change mapped drives to UNC paths.

Example: Migrating Non-Current Archives to a Remote Location

The following sample VBScript code will migrate non-current archive to a remote location by accessing the Historian SDK. This script could be run at specific intervals to migrate data from a local disk to a network share.

The Historian Data Archiver service must have permission to write to the remote storage device. If you have configured Historian Alarms and Events to use a SQL Server, the SQL Server must also have permissions to write to the remote storage device. 
Dim FileSystem
set FileSystem = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject") Dim remoteLocation
remoteLocation = "\\StorageServer\Historian\Archives"
If InStrRev(remoteLocation, "\") Len(remoteLocation) Then remoteLocation = remoteLocation & "\"
' make sure we can access the remote storage before proceeding
Dim TestFile
set TestFile = FileSystem.OpenTextFile(remoteLocation & "Test.txt", 2, True, 0) If TestFile is Nothing Then
err.Raise 1, , "Unable to access remote storage location" End If
TestFile.Close
FileSystem.DeleteFile remoteLocation & "Test.txt" Dim Server
set Server = CreateObject("iHistorian_SDK.Server") If Server is Nothing Then
err.Raise 1, , "Unable to create iHistorian_SDK.Server object" End If
Dim archivesToMigrate(), i
If Server.Connect() Then
With Server.Archives
Dim backupPath
backupPath = .ArchivingOptions("ArchiveBackupPath")
If InStrRev(backupPath, "\") Len(backupPath) Then backupPath = backupPath & "\" ReDim archivesToMigrate(.Item.Count, 2)
For Each archive in .Item
If Not archive.IsCurrent Then
If UCase(Left(archive.FileName, InStrRev(archive.Filename, "\"))) UCase(remoteLocation) Then i = i + 1
archivesToMigrate(i, 0) = archive.Name 
archivesToMigrate(i, 1) = backupPath & "Offline\" & cstr(archive.Name) & ".zip" archivesToMigrate(i, 2) = archive.FileSizeTarget
End If
End If
Next
Dim j
For j = 1 To i
If .Delete(cstr(archivesToMigrate(j, 0))) Then FileSystem.MoveFile archivesToMigrate(j, 1), remoteLocation Dim archive
set archive = .Add(cstr(archivesToMigrate(j, 0)), cstr("%%inplace%%" & remoteLocation & archivesToMigrat
If Not (archive Is Nothing) Then
FileSystem.DeleteFile remoteLocation & archivesToMigrate(j, 0) & ".zip" End If
End If
Next End With Server.Disconnect
Else
err.Raise 1, , "Failed connecting to server" 
End If

Configuring the Data Archiver Account for Remote Storage

By default, the Data Archiver service is installed under the LocalSystem account, which has no credentials to access network resources. In order to use Remote Storage, you must first configure the DataArchiver service to run under a user account that has read/write access to the network location.

  1. Stop the Historian Data Archiver service.
  2. Open the Services Control Panel.
  3. Right-click on the Historian Data Archiver service and choose Properties
  4. Click the Log On tab.
  5. In the Log on as field, select This Account .
  6. Enter the user account you want the Historian Data Archiver service to run under. This account must have write privileges to your Storage Area Network.
  7. Enter the password for the user account.
  8. Restart the Historian Data Archiver service.

Reusing Archive Configuration Files

You may want to reuse an existing archive configuration file (*.ihc) when a Historian installation uses the same archive configuration as another Historian installation or when renaming a machine and reusing the original .ihc file.
  1. Retrieve a copy of the <oldmachinename>_CentralConfig.ihc file from the old machine. By default, this is located at C:\Proficy Historian Data\Archives
  2. On the new machine, select and stop the following services: Historian Client Manager, Historian Configuration Manager, Historian Data Archiver, and Historian Diagnostics Manager.
    Stop services using the Services application, which is part of the Windows Administrative Tools.
  3. Copy the <oldmachinename>_CentralConfig.ihc file into the local folder on the new machine where the .ihc files reside.
  4. Look for a file in that folder on the new machine named <newmachinename>_CentralConfig.ihc If there is a file with that name, delete it.
  5. Rename the copied .ihc file on the new machine to <newmachinename>_CentralConfig.ihc.
  6. Run a command prompt with "Run as Administrator".
  7. Go to C:\Program Files\Proficy\Proficy Historian\x64\Server and run the following command: ihConfigManager_x64.exe RenameDHSNode <oldmachinename><newmachinename>

Example: Reusing Archive Configuration Files

In this example, you have a production Historian with a machine name "WaterSite" and want to load that configuration on a testbed Historian called "LabSite1". The testbed Historian is already running and already has a config file called "LabSite1_CentralConfig.ihc."

Do the following:
  1. Stop the services and delete LabSite1_CentralConfig.ihc.
  2. Rename WaterSite_CentralConfig.ihc to LabSite1_CentralConfig.ihc.
  3. At the command line, run the following:
    ihConfigManager_x64.exe RenameDHSNode WaterSite LabSite1