ABB 88xA system employs at least 3 sets of redundant servers, namely Aspect server, Connectivity Server, etc..

Is it mandatory to have license dongle for each of the redundant servers or only for the primary server? What happens when the primary server fails? What are the limitations of having only one licensed dongle in one of the systems?

 

We have 3 Aspect servers and 3 pairs of Connectivity servers and don't have a dongle in any of them. Licensing is handled by loading the license file in via the primary Aspect server.

 

Licensing can be applied to either a single dongle or a single Ethernet card, redundancy in licensing is not supported. If the license is unattainable for any reason (expired temporary license, missing dongle, stopped license service, failed server that runs the license application) the system continues to run. However, you will get nuisance license error messages on all workplaces every 15 minutes or so. Also you probably won't be able to get a control builder engineering license until the license application is functional. Operations continues, engineering stops. We have restarted the license server in a production environment many times with no problem. John