Event data merge system in an event historian

1. An event historian system comprising:

a processor; and

a random access memory storage device coupled to the processor, said random access memory storage device storing event storage blocks containing snapshots and processor-executable instructions for merging snapshots in the event storage blocks, said processor-executable instructions comprising instructions for:

determining that a storage block contains a plurality of snapshots to be merged, wherein the storage block stores event data gathered from a process control system over a period of time as an event data set, and wherein each snapshot independently covers a part of the event data set;

combining event data of each of the plurality of snapshots by merging property data from each snapshot;

combining index files of each of the plurality of snapshots into an index file set by sorting data index files thereof for each property;

recording the combined event data in a sorted order as new event data in a new snapshot;

assigning each index file to the combined event data in the sorted order;

recording the assigned index files in the new snapshot;

deleting the plurality of snapshots after merging into the new snapshot; and

writing the combined event data comprising the new snapshot to a permanent memory storage device at one time.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the system initiates a merge process at the beginning of a first time interval.

3. The system of claim 1 , said determining that a storage block contains a plurality of snapshots to be merged further comprises determining that the plurality of snapshots to be merged are of similar sizes.

4. The system of claim 3 , the processor executable instructions further comprising instructions for sorting the snapshots into snapshot groups, each snapshot group comprising snapshots which are of similar sizes.

5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the snapshot groups comprise a first and a second snapshot group, said first snapshot group containing snapshots between zero events and a first number of events and said second snapshot group containing snapshots between the first number of events and a second number of events, wherein the second number of events is ten times the first number of events.

6. The system of claim 1 , said determining that a storage block contains a plurality of snapshots to be merged further comprises determining that the storage block has not received event data for a first time interval.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein a final merge process is executed on the storage block in response to the storage block not receiving event data for a first time interval, the final merge process comprising the repeated merging of snapshots in the storage block until only one snapshot remains.

8. The system of claim 1 , said determining that a storage block contains a plurality of snapshots to be merged further comprises determining that the plurality of snapshots to be merged are frozen.

9. The system of claim 1 , said determining that a storage block contains a plurality of snapshots to be merged further comprises evaluating the most recent snapshots for merging before older snapshots.

10. The system of claim 1 , the processor executable instructions further comprising instructions for eliminating duplicate event data from the combined event data in the new snapshot.

11. A method of merging snapshots of event data in an event historian system comprising:

determining, by the event historian system, that a storage block stored on a random access memory storage device contains a plurality of snapshots to be merged, the storage block storing event data gathered from a process control system over a period of time as an event data set, each snapshot independently covering a part of the event data set of the storage block;

combining, by the event historian system, event data of each of the plurality of snapshots into an index file set, the index file set including merged property data from each snapshot;

combining, by the event historian system, index files of each of the plurality of snapshots, the combined index files of the snapshots including sorted data index files for each property;

recording, by the event historian system, the combined event data in a sorted order as new event data in a new snapshot on the memory storage device;

assigning, by the event historian system, the index files to the combined event data in the sorted order;

recording, by the event historian system, the assigned index files in the new snapshot;

deleting, by the event historian system, the plurality of snapshots after merging into the new snapshot; and

writing, by the event historian system, the combined event data comprising the new snapshot to a permanent memory storage device at one time.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the event historian system initiates a merge process at the beginning of a first time interval.

13. The method of claim 11 , said determining that a storage block contains a plurality of snapshots to be merged further comprises determining that the plurality of snapshots to be merged are of similar sizes.

14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising sorting the snapshots into snapshot groups, each snapshot group comprising snapshots which are of similar sizes.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the snapshot groups comprise a first and a second snapshot group, said first snapshot group containing snapshots between zero events and a first number of events and said second snapshot group containing snapshots between the first number of events and a second number of events, wherein the second number of events is ten times the first number of events.

16. The method of claim 11 , said determining that a storage block contains a plurality of snapshots to be merged further comprises determining that the storage block has not received event data for a first time interval.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein a final merge process is executed on the storage block in response to the storage block not receiving event data for a first time interval, the final merge process comprising the repeated merging of snapshots in the storage block until only one snapshot remains.

18. The method of claim 11 , said determining that a storage block contains a plurality of snapshots to be merged further comprises determining that the plurality of snapshots to be merged are frozen.

19. The method of claim 11 , said determining that a storage block contains a plurality of snapshots to be merged further comprises evaluating the most recent snapshots for merging before older snapshots.

20. The method of claim 11 , further comprising eliminating duplicate event data from the combined event data in the new snapshot.