What are the main components of PI System architecture?
What are the main components of PI System architecture?
The PI System is a suite of integrated components for collecting, storing, and visualizing operational data. Here's how they fit together.
PI Data Archive
The core historian — stores time-series data from all your data sources.
- Handles millions of tags with sub-second resolution
- Uses swinging door compression to efficiently store data
- Manages point security, archive files, and data replication
PI Asset Framework (AF)
The contextualization layer — organizes raw tags into a meaningful asset hierarchy.
- Elements represent physical assets (pumps, tanks, reactors)
- Templates define reusable structures
- Attributes map to PI tags, formulas, or static values
- Analytics perform calculations on the server
- Event Frames capture time-bounded events
PI Interfaces / Connectors
Data collectors that feed data into PI Data Archive:
- OPC DA / OPC UA interfaces for PLCs and DCS systems
- PI Connector for UFL (Universal File Loader) for files and REST
- PI Connector for Relay (OMF) for modern IoT devices
- Hundreds of vendor-specific interfaces
Visualization
- PI Vision — web-based dashboards and real-time displays
- PI DataLink — Excel add-in for ad-hoc analysis and reports
- PI ProcessBook — legacy desktop visualization (deprecated)
PI Web API
The REST gateway — exposes PI System data over HTTP for web apps, mobile clients, and third-party integrations.
High Availability
- PI Collectives — replicated PI Data Archive servers for failover
- AF Server clustering — SQL Server Always On for AF database
- Buffering — PI Buffer Subsystem queues data during outages
Typical Data Flow
PLC/DCS → PI Interface → PI Data Archive → PI AF → PI Vision
↑ ↓
PI Web API ← Web/Mobile Apps
Want to ask a follow-up?
PiChat can help with your specific PI System use case. Ask follow-up questions, get code examples, and troubleshoot issues.
Related Questions
Dive Deeper
More Questions
How do I configure PI AF templates?How do I authenticate with PI Web API from Python?What's the difference between snapshot and archive values in PI?What's the difference between PI Vision and PI ProcessBook?How do I build effective PI Vision displays?What are PI Event Frames and how do I use them?How do I write PI AF Analytics expressions?How do I use PI DataLink in Excel?Should I use PI Web API or AF SDK for my application?How do I write data to PI Data Archive?How do I optimize PI Data Archive performance?How do I set up the PI Interface for OPC DA?How do I use PI Connector for UFL to import file data?How do I set up PI Data Archive high availability with collectives?What are the security best practices for PI System?How do I migrate PI Data Archive to a new server?How do I connect Power BI to PI System?How do I manage units of measure in PI System?What's the best way to learn PI System?How does PI time syntax work?What are good PI tag naming conventions?How do I access PI System data from Java or Linux?How do I set up PI AF notification rules?How do I use batch requests in PI Web API?How do I connect to PI AF Server using AF SDK in C#?How do I write VBA macros in PI ProcessBook?How does PI data compression work?How do I get real-time streaming updates from PI Web API?How do I troubleshoot PI AF Analysis errors?How do I write SQL queries against PI using PI OLEDB?What is PI interface buffering and how do I configure it?How do I search and query PI Event Frames?What is PI Integrator for Business Analytics?How do I fix the 'Point does not exist' error in PI System?What is the difference between PI ACE and AF Analytics?How do I manually enter data into PI Data Archive?What are AF hierarchy design best practices?What is a WebID in PI Web API and how does it work?How do I configure Kerberos authentication for PI System?Can I deploy PI System in the cloud?How do I calculate summaries (average, total, min, max) in PI?What are PI digital states and how do I use them?How do I connect PI System data to Grafana?How do I backup and restore PI Data Archive?How do I create custom symbols in PI Vision?How do I automate PI System tasks with PowerShell?What is AVEVA Connect and how does it relate to PI System?How do I check and handle data quality in PI System?How do I handle pagination in PI Web API responses?How does AVEVA PI System licensing work?How do I plan a PI System upgrade?