Number of connectable devices per One S7 driver manager.

[BongBongV]

* WinCC OA Version : WinCC OA 3.14 Patch15


Currently, ONE S7 Driver manager manages 20 devices(S7 Driver Dp).

As a result of checking the DPs that inherited the _Statistics_DriverConfigs DPT, the _address averaged between 26,000 and 30,000.
In a special case, an S7 Driver manager manages 56,000 _addresses.

Question 1. Should one S7 driver manager be connected to one device? Or can I connect multiple devices to one S7 driver manager as I do now?

Question 2. Can there be a serious problem with the S7 driver manager when connecting an uncommunicated device to the S7 driver manager and turning on "_address.._active" in Dpe.

Question 3. Can there be a serious problem with the S7 driver manager when multiple communicable devices and some non-communication devices are connected to the same S7 driver manager and turned on dpe's "_address.._active"?

Thank you in advance for your answer

[leoknipp]

With one WinCC OA S7 driver you can connect up to 256 PLCs.
You can use 1 driver to connect to several PLCs. It is recommended to use 1 driver to connect several PLCs instead of starting an own driver for every PLC.

What is an uncommunicated and a non-communication device?

If a PLC is configured, which cannot be connected, you possibly get log message everytime the driver tries to connect to the PLC.
A PLC which cannot be reached can be set to "inactive" to avoid connection attempts by the driver.

Best Regards
Leopold Knipp
Senior Support Specialist

[BongBongV]

Thank you for your answer.

As you said, I will modify to use only one S7 Driver manager in the console.

Let me ask you an additional question.

Q1. Can there be a serious problem with the S7 driver manager when connecting an uncommunicated device to the S7 driver manager. "_address.._active" is TRUE status.

- Uncommunicated device means equipment that ICMP messages cannot reach. For example, Uncommunicated device is the equipment that can no longer communicate with WINCC OA Server's S7 Driver manager because LAN CABLE has been removed or IP has been changed due to equipment problems.

- "_address.._active" of the DPE of the PLC (equipment) that can not communicated is TRUE.

if the S7 Driver manager continues to try to communicate with a number of equipment that is not communicated, will the S7 Driver manager get damage?

Q2. Will the S7 Driver manager be able to communicate with the PLC again when the failure of the PLC, which has not been communicated for a long time (about a week), has been recovered and can be communicated again? If communication is not possible more than a set number of times, does the S7 driver manager no longer try to communicate?

[leoknipp]

If a WinCC OA driver cannot connect to a configured (and activated) PLC it tries to reconnect all the time in a defined interval.
Even if the PLC cannot be reached for a long period of time the driver will still work.

Best Regards
Leopold Knipp
Senior Support Specialist

[BongBongV]

Thank you for your answer.

This is the last question.

If communication between the S7 Driver manager and the PLC is lost for a long time, I wonder if it adversely affects the S7 Driver manager?

The S7 driver manager was interrupted by one equipment that was not connected for a long time at the actual site. (Manager Status 3)

In order not to adversely affect the S7 Driver Manager, I wonder if we should turn off the DPE '_address.._active' of the equipment that is not expected to be communicated for a long time or turn off the S7 Driver 's active'.

[leoknipp]

If a PLC cannot be reached, e.g. due to a planned maintenance, you can simply set this PLC connection to "inactive".
Setting all addresses for this PLC takes more effort.

Best Regards
Leopold Knipp
Senior Support Specialist