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There are a lot of features a control-system should have. Some of which are essential, e.g. that minimum set of application-programs and the infrastructure they need to run which at least allow operators to switch on and off the accelerator. Other features are not as obvious as GUIs, intelligent control algorithms or data-acquisition methods, but they require considerable manpower and should not be underestimated, for they have a major impact on the availability of the control system. This paper will describe the efforts made and being made by the control-systems group at DESY to provide a reliable tool for the operators, minimizing the downtime caused by control-system failures. This paper is a partial review of this aspect of computer based accelerator-control dating back to the late 1970s when the accelerator PETRA went into operation, controlled entirely by computers, i.e. mini-computers from NORSK DATA. Notwithstanding the respect we owe to the computer and to the technology which supports it, a good Control-System group behind an Accelerator-Control-System is essential to its success.
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