Embedded Web Application Redundancy for Process Control Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Industrial automation systems, particularly in large and complex process control systems, face challenges in ensuring high availability, quality of service, and operational safety due to demanding communication infrastructure requirements and access restrictions, which can compromise system stability and reliability.
Innovation Solution
A method and system where a web application is embedded in a surrounding web application using at least two web servers, allowing for redundancy and flexibility in service provision, with a criterion determining which server to use for embedding, reducing data traffic and enabling seamless failover, thus enhancing reliability and operability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single web server provides the embedded web application, then the system structure is simple, but the system availability and reliability are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements redundancy by providing the embedded web application through multiple web servers (at least two servers) instead of a single server. Each server maintains a copy of the web application, ensuring that if one server fails, another can continue providing the service, thereby improving system availability and reliability.
2Reliability
If multiple web servers provide the embedded web application, then the redundancy and reliability are improved, but the complexity of determining which server to use increases
Solution Approach 1:
The surrounding web application autonomously determines which web server to embed based on predefined criteria (such as server load, geographic location, or network conditions) without requiring external intervention. The system includes logic to automatically select and integrate the most appropriate server, simplifying the overall complexity while maintaining high reliability.
3Ease of operation
If web applications are distributed across multiple servers, then the fault tolerance and operability are improved, but the communication traffic and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent distributes web applications across multiple web servers based on local characteristics such as geographic location, network proximity to clients, or server-specific capabilities. This allows the system to optimize communication traffic by serving requests from the nearest or most appropriate server, reducing overall network load while maintaining fault tolerance and operability.
Data Source
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AI summary
In a method and a system (100) for embedding a web application (24) in a surrounding web application (23), wherein the web application (24) to be embedded is intended to run in a separate execution and display region (25) of the surrounding web application (23), the web application (24) to be embedded is provided, according to the invention, by at least two web servers (5', 6'). This can be used, in particular in large industrial automation systems, for example process control systems, to increase redundancy, monitorability and operability and therefore fail safety, to reduce complexity, to reduce communication traffic and to obtain better possibilities for access restrictions for personnel.