Industrial control system hyperconverged architecture

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions for controlling an industrial process within a physical process environment that, when executed by processors of a plurality of server devices in a server group, cause the server group to implement a software-defined distributed control system (DCS) environment, the software-defined DCS environment comprising:

• one or more software-defined virtual process controllers executing in respective virtual machines on the server group, the software-defined virtual process controllers configured to control at least a portion of the industrial process in real time by communication with a plurality of virtual nodes within the software-defined DCS environment representing a plurality of physical field devices within the physical process environment;
• an input/output (I/O) server configured to communicatively couple the plurality of virtual nodes with respective ones of the plurality of physical field devices within the physical process environment by mapping each virtual node of the plurality of virtual nodes to a physical I/O connection of a physical I/O server connecting the I/O server to a corresponding physical field device of the plurality of physical field devices and by routing real-time communication signals between the plurality of virtual nodes and the plurality of physical field devices via the respective physical I/O connections, wherein the I/O server is configured to communicate with the plurality of field devices via one or more connection components comprising one or more ports, switches, or routers configured to (i) connect to at least one of the physical I/O connections of the I/O server to send and receive the real-time communication signals using a general purpose computer communication protocol used for communication between the server devices of the server group, (ii) convert the real-time communication signals between the general purpose computer communication protocol and an industrial process control communication protocol used for communication via a process control network within the physical process environment by the plurality of physical field devices, and (iii) connect to at least one corresponding physical field device over the process control network to send and receive the real-time communication signals using the industrial process control communication protocol;
• and
• one or more DCS applications configured to interact with the software-defined virtual process controllers, wherein at least one of the DCS applications is configured to adjust operation of the software-defined virtual process controllers.

A method for controlling an industrial process within a physical process environment, the method comprising:

• connecting, via one or more input/output (I/O) connections of a physical I/O server, a plurality of physical field devices within the physical process environment to a server group comprising a plurality of server devices configured to implement a software-defined distributed control system (DCS) environment, wherein the field devices are connected to the physical I/O server via one or more connection components comprising one or more ports, switches, or routers configured to (i) connect to at least one of the physical I/O connections of the I/O server to send and receive real-time communication signals using a general purpose computer communication protocol used for communication between the server devices of the server group, (ii) convert the real-time communication signals between the general purpose computer communication protocol and an industrial process control communication protocol used for communication via a process control network within the physical process environment by the plurality of physical field devices, and (iii) connect to at least one corresponding physical field device over the process control network to send and receive the real-time communication signals using the industrial process control communication protocol;
• communicatively coupling, with an I/O server running on the server group, the plurality of physical field devices to virtual nodes within the software-defined DCS environment by mapping each virtual node of the plurality of virtual nodes to a corresponding I/O connection of the one or more I/O connections that connects the I/O server to a corresponding physical field device of the plurality of physical field devices and by routing the real-time communication signals between the plurality of virtual nodes and the plurality of physical field devices via the one or more I/O connections;
• controlling, by one or more software-defined virtual process controllers running in respective virtual machines in the software-defined DCS environment on the server group, at least a portion of the industrial process in real time by communication with the plurality virtual nodes within the software-defined DCS environment;
• and
• adjusting, by one or more DCS applications running in the software-defined DCS environment on the server group and configured to interact with the software-defined virtual process controllers, operation of the one or more software-defined virtual process controllers.