Learn about server connection management

Each instance of the PI Interface for OPC DA connects to a single OPC server. To handle multiple OPC servers, run multiple instances of the PI OPC interface. Multiple instances of the interface can be configured to connect to the same OPC server. To enable the interface to collect data without a connection to Data Archive, configure disconnected startup for the interface.

If the interface cannot connect to the OPC server during startup, it logs the problem and retries the connection every five seconds until it reconnects. When the OPC server reports that it is running, the interface connects to it and starts creating groups and adding items. If the PI OPC interface loses the connection to the OPC server after the initial connection, it tries to re-establish the connection. To ensure that no data from the OPC server is lost if Data Archive is disconnected, configure buffering on the interface node.

For more information about buffering, see the PI Buffering Manager Help Files.