OPC Server clone

Has anyone run an OPC server / client as a virtual machine. I have a recipe manager and operational historian running on a desktop at the Main Operators station on an automation line. My fear is hardware failure, and to reduce downtime in this event, I thought I would make a virtual machine of this desktop and run it on another computer that may or may not have the same OS. Any foreseeable drawbacks or tips? Getting all the recipe values into all the various PLC's and drives manually would be a tedious chore for sure. Thanks in advance.

Yes, we run OPC servers on VMs.

Especially if the connection from the OPC Server to the field device is by ethernet, there is usually no problems.

We also do this.
we also have backups of those systems in case the server itself dies.
james

As others have said, should be fine, especially if it's over Ethernet.



However, something to consider: Normally VMs can share the Ethernet interfaces, but depending how much bandwidth you're currently using, you might need to take that into account. If you put 5 VMs on the same HW that each were expecting to use 25mbps on the 100mbps card, it won't work as expected.