Architecture Overview

What is AVEVA PI System?

AVEVA PI System is the industry-leading operational data infrastructure platform used by over 1,000 industrial organizations worldwide. It captures, stores, contextualizes, and delivers real-time and historical time-series data from industrial operations.

The PI System serves as the operational data backbone for industries including oil & gas, power generation, water utilities, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals.

Core Architecture Components

PI Data Archive (Historian)

The PI Data Archive is the heart of the PI System — a high-performance time-series database optimized for storing and retrieving sensor data at millisecond resolution. Key characteristics:

• Stores billions of data points efficiently using compression algorithms
• Supports both snapshot (current value) and archive (historical) data
• Provides sub-second data retrieval for trending and analysis
• Scales from thousands to millions of PI tags

PI Asset Framework (AF) Server

AF provides the context layer on top of raw time-series data:

• Organizes assets in hierarchical templates (e.g., Plant → Unit → Equipment)
• Defines calculated attributes using PI Analysis Service
• Stores metadata, units of measure, and engineering context
• Enables asset-based navigation in PI Vision

PI Interfaces

Interfaces are the data collection agents that bridge field systems to the PI Data Archive:

• OPC DA/UA Interfaces: Connect to OPC-compliant DCS/SCADA systems
• Modbus Interface: Direct PLC/RTU connectivity
• PI-to-PI Interface: Replicates data between PI Servers
• File Interface: Imports CSV/flat file data
• Custom SDK Interfaces: Built with PI SDK or AF SDK

PI Vision

The web-based visualization platform for creating interactive operational dashboards:

• Browser-based, no client installation required
• Real-time and historical trending
• Asset-based navigation using AF hierarchy
• Multi-state symbols and custom displays

Data Flow Architecture

Field Sensors / PLCs / DCS
         │
         ▼
   PI Interface Node
   (Buffering Agent)
         │
         ▼
   PI Data Archive ◄──── PI AF Server
         │                    │
         ▼                    ▼
   PI Vision / PI DataLink / PI WebAPI
         │
         ▼
   Operations Dashboard / Reports / Analytics

PI System vs Traditional Databases