Siemens SIMATIC WinCC 8.1 Update 2

Siemens Digital Industries (DI) has released Simatic WinCC 8.1 Update 2 is a scalable process visualization system (SCADA) that is graduated by price and performance, with efficient functions for controlling automated processes.

What is new in Simatic WinCC 8.1

Note: SIMATIC WinCC V8.1 is an independent product and a full version. SIMATIC WinCC V8.0 is still available as well.

In comparison to the direct previous version SIMATIC WinCC V8.0, the new SIMATIC WinCC V8.1 offers the following improvements and enhancements with regard to the range of functions (in addition to the consolidation of all previous WinCC updates):

1. Operating System
WinCC V8.1 supports the following Microsoft operating systems:
– Windows 10 (64-Bit) Professional, Enterprise
– Windows 11 (64-Bit) Professional, Enterprise
– Windows Server 2019 (64-Bit) Standard, Datacenter
– Windows Server 2022 (64-Bit) Standard, Datacenter
Under Windows 10 and Windows 11, the number of client connections within one server-client-system is limited to 3. With WinCC WebUX up to 9 connections to one web server are possible.
2. Upgrade Possibilities
WinCC projects from older WinCC versions can be implemented in V8.1 directly (no intermediate steps) as of WinCC V7.2 and higher.
In order to update existing WinCC licenses to V8.1, there are two upgrade levels available.
– Upgrade from WinCC V8.0 to WinCC V8.1
– Upgrade from WinCC V7.4 / V7.5 to WinCC V8.1
Note: Separate upgrade packages for WinCC-Asia are no longer necessary. The “standard upgrades” for the licenses in ALM (Automation Licenses Manager) are used instead. The license dongle from the previous version remains unchanged and is continuously used in V8.1.

Functional enhancements of the basic system and the operations include amongst others:

2.1. Communication
– Support of methods on OPC UA server
– REST API can be used in multi client scenarios
– REST-Connector becomes IT-Connector and gets additional functionalities for REST and MQTT
– REST API access to alarm data
2.2. WebUX
– Support of Basic Process Control
– Usage of User Archive Controls
– Enhanced functionality of WinCC controls (print, export, …)
2.3. System configuration and engineering
– Support of nested data structures
– Filter functionality in WinCC Explorer
– Intelligent search within the entire WinCC system / project
2.4. Runtime System
– Backups during active runtime
– Runtime start and stop without detaching logging data base segments (maintenance stop)
– Enhancements of 3D control
– New functionalities for dynamic SVGs (animations, events)
– Optimized handling of colors in central color pallet