TCM® test server for Ørsted
Developing and deploying a TCM® test server for Ørsted to allow test out new software updates before roll-out.
As the largest energy company in Denmark, Ørsted uses TCM® to monitor and collect data, providing a clear overview of the wind turbines’ health. A new internal policy required Ørsted to implement a test environment parallel to their existing TCM® solution. A test server was rolled out in close collaboration with KK Group.
Creating a secure & closed environment
At Ørsted, vibration condition monitoring is regarded as a business-critical activity for its operations, especially when a turbine approaches the end of its warranty. In light of a new internal policy aimed at minimizing the risk of errors and failures of business-critical software, Ørsted needed to supplement the existing TCM® solution with a test environment. This would allow Ørsted to pass changes through an acceptance test before deploying the changes in the live production environment.
KK Group’s technical support team helped Ørsted develop a test environment, migrate data and configure the environment, making the process as smooth as possible for Ørsted. The test server was configured with a small subset of wind turbine parks, representing the different wind turbine types in the Ørsted fleet.
Reaping the benefits of a test server
The TCM® test sever is developed to operate in a passive mode and cannot affect the production servers. It enabled Ørsted the possibility to test out new software updates before rolling out and training new users in the TCM® solution without the risk of affecting the live production system.
It also provided a risk-free development environment for business applications integrated with TCM®, e.g. ERP system and document management system, obtained through the RESTful interface.
“A TCM® test server is an essential part of robust IT-infrastructure supporting uninterrupted vibration condition monitoring of our assets” – Jacob Juhl Christensen, Product Owner, Vibration Diagnostics at Ørsted
About the TCM® test server
The TCM® test server is a separate environment parallel to the existing TCM® solution. Where the regular TCM® solution collects data from all site serves, the TCM® test server collects data from several selected sites. Implementing a test environment of the TCM® solution enables real-life testing of software updates in a risk-free environment, making it possible to test the software updates on a selection of sites before rolling out the software.