PI Vision architecture

AVEVA PI Vision is a browser-based application that enables you to easily retrieve, monitor, and analyze process engineering information.

The main components of an AVEVA PI Vision installation are:

1. Clients

   Clients are individual AVEVA PI Vision users accessing PI data. AVEVA PI Vision is supported by most modern browsers on a wide variety of devices, including tablets and phones running iOS or Android operating systems.

2. AVEVA PI Vision application server

   The application server provides the execution environment for AVEVA PI Vision. The application server handles all application operations between users (clients) and Data Archive servers, PI AF servers, and SQL Server. In a domain environment, AVEVA PI Vision can be configured to use Windows authentication, OpenID Connect authentication, or both. In a workgroup environment, AVEVA PI Vision must be configured with OpenID Connect authentication.

3. Data Archive server

   The Data Archive is the heart of the PI System. It provides efficient storage and archiving of time series data, enabling high performance data retrieval by client software. AVEVA PI Vision retrieves PI System data from either the Data Archive server or the PI AF server.

4. PI AF server

   PI Asset Framework (PI AF) is a single repository for asset-centric models, hierarchies, objects, and equipment. It integrates, contextualizes, refines, references, and further analyzes data from multiple sources, including one or more Data Archive servers. Together, the metadata and time series data provide a detailed description of equipment or assets.

5. AVEVA PI Vision SQL database

   AVEVA PI Vision stores user display settings and definitions in a SQL database (on-premises Microsoft SQL Server, Azure SQL Database, or Amazon RDS for SQL Server). Display definitions include such data as a display name and display owner, symbols on the display, user permissions, etc.

   If using an on-premises Microsoft SQL Server for both PI Vision and PI AF, we recommend that PI Vision uses the same Microsoft SQL Server that PI AF uses to leverage the same backup procedures used for PIFD and the AVEVA PI Vision database. Otherwise if you are using an on-premises Microsoft SQL Server, you can either install a SQL Server on the same computer as the AVEVA PI Vision application server or you can use a dedicated SQL Server installation.

   In a domain environment, we strongly recommend that the Data Archive servers and PI AF servers be in the same domain as the AVEVA PI Vision application server and, if using an on-premises Microsoft SQL Server or Amazon RDS for SQL Server, the SQL Server hosting the AVEVA PI Vision database.