Stratus Technologies - Experts & Thought Leaders

Award-winning, global security manufacturer, Gallagher Security teamed up with nine of their technology partners to showcase the latest in integrated security capabilities at the Integrate Roadshow in Durban last week. Held at Durban’s Premier Hotel Umhlanga on the 15th of February, the event hosted by Gallagher and supported by their partners, Axis Communications, IDEMIA, Runrite Electronics (Pty) LTD, Kenai, Stratus Technologies, Turnstar Systems (Pty) Ltd, Cathexis, Suprema Inc. Africa and Traka ASSA ABLOY Group brought together about 60 attendees including End Users, Channel Partners, consultants, and other industry professionals. Gallagher’s seamless integrations An exclusive opportunity to network, share knowledge, trends and insight into the security industry, the Integrate Roadshow is an annual event that offers engaging knowledge sessions, presentations, live demonstrations, and valuable networking opportunities for attendees.  The Integrate Roadshow is an annual event that offers engaging knowledge sessions, presentations On hosting the Integrate Roadshow, Gallagher Security, Technical Account Manager Africa, Brett Black said: “The Gallagher Security team together with our Integrate partners hosted a well-supported event, attended by Channel Partners, End Users, consultants, and system designers. We showcased Gallagher’s seamless integrations with multiple third-party systems that cater to businesses in all vertical markets. The crucial requirements faced by many businesses today make Gallagher the system of choice, and with cybersecurity baked into every step of our manufacturing process, we continually evolve our solutions to proactively identify and fortify vulnerabilities. We are already looking forward to the next session with all our Partners.” Features and greater integrations The theme of this year’s event was the importance of deploying integrated, robust solutions in response to challenges and risk in the marketplace. Attendees learned about Gallagher’s award-winning site management platform, Command Centre, and the recent software release, v9 which offers richer features and greater integrations. Command Centre is a centralised platform that allows organisations unparalleled control of every aspect of their site. Whether increasing business efficiencies, meeting standards and compliances, or saving time and money, Command Centre unlocks endless capabilities for organisations of all sizes and across all industries and features two software updates each year.

Global security manufacturer, Gallagher and nine of their technology partners hosted Integrate 2023 at their UK headquarters on the 1st of February 2023. Expected to become an annual event, Integrate 2023 was a day of technical demonstrations, presentations, keynote speeches, and networking for over 150 guests from the UK security industry. The event was designed for consultants and end-users to learn more about how Gallagher and their technology partners integrate with one another to deliver innovative access control security solutions. Integrate 2023 Integrate 2023 was co-sponsored by Gallagher technology partners including Aperio; Idemia; Axis Communications; Zenitel; Stratus; Milestone; Smartspaces; Nedap Identification Systems, and Traka Assa Abloy. Presentations from four industry-leading guest speakers were delivered on the day from Professor Fraser Sampson from Biometrics & Surveillance Camera Commissioner; Stuart Williams from Blackford Security Consultants Ltd; Ben Browne, Security Advisor at The National Gallery in London, and Derek Scott, Managing Director of Consultive Solutions Ltd. First Integrate industry event Integration with other systems and hardware delivers cost and time efficiencies, and improves data integrity" On hosting Integrate 2023, Gallagher UK's Strategic Business Development Manager for the South East and London, Gordon Swallow said, “We were honoured to host the first Integrate industry event at our headquarters. Our integration capabilities are a huge contributing factor to our success and will continue to shape the evolution of our offering now and in the future." "For our customers, integration with other systems and hardware delivers cost and time efficiencies, improves data integrity, and helps them meet their health and safety obligations." Unified platform “The Gallagher solution offers a truly unified platform in which we integrate best-of-breed manufacturers into a holistic and synergistic solution. Integrate 2023 was the ideal opportunity to showcase how our capabilities combine with our technology partners to deliver outstanding value to our customers." "We are proud to partner with some of the best technology companies in the world to deliver a connected, layered security solution that meets each business’s unique needs." Mobile credentials, Experience Space Gallagher employed their mobile credentials technology to communicate with guests throughout the day. Plus, Gallagher’s integration capability was brought to life in the Experience Space at Integrate 2023 with the addition of the new technology corners. This enabled Gallagher to showcase its integrations by taking a client through the whole visitor experience with technologies such as ANPR and long-range readers, intercom, QR code, biometric and mobile registration, key management, wireless door options, and CCTV. These integrations are backed up using secure server technology and Gallagher’s accredited high-security system.

There is no shortage of solutions available to ensure minimal disruption if a server fails or you have to recover from a cyber attack. Servers do not prevent data loss A standard x86-based server typically stores data on RAID (Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks) storage devices. The capabilities of x86 servers range from vendor to vendor and support a variety of operating systems and processors. However, a standard x86 server may have only basic backup, data-replication, and failover procedures in place, which means it would be susceptible to catastrophic server failures.
 A standard server is not designed to prevent downtime or data loss. In the event of a crash, the server stops all processing and users lose access to their applications and information, so data loss is likely. Standard servers do not provide protection for data in transit, which means if the server goes down, this data is also lost. Though a standard x86 server does not come from its vendor as highly available, there is always the option to add availability software following initial deployment and installation. Automatic take-overs with server clusters Traditional high-availability solutions which can bring a system back up quickly are typically based on server clustering: Two or more servers that are running with the same configuration and are connected with cluster software to keep the application data updated on both/all servers.Standard servers do not provide protection for data in transit, which means if the server goes down, this data is also lost Servers (nodes) in a high-availability cluster communicate with each other by continually checking for a heartbeat which confirms other servers in the cluster are up and running. If a server fails, another server in the cluster, designated as the failover server, will automatically take over, ideally with minimal disruption to users. Computers in a cluster are connected by a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN) and are managed by cluster software. Failover clusters require a storage area network (SAN) to provide the shared access to data required to enable failover capabilities. This means that dedicated shared storage or redundant connections to the corporate SAN, are also necessary. Continuous administrative oversight While high-availability clusters improve availability, their effectiveness is highly dependent on the skills of specialised IT personnel. Clusters can be complex and time-consuming to deploy and they require programming, testing, and continuous administrative oversight. As a result, the total cost of ownership is often high. It is also important to note that downtime is not eliminated with high-availability clusters. In the event of a server failure, all users who are currently connected to that server lose their connections. Therefore, data not yet written to the database is lost. Fault-tolerant solutions are also referred to as continuous availability solutions. A fault-tolerant server provides the highest availability because it has system component redundancy with no single point of failure. This means that end users never experience an interruption in server availability because downtime is pre-empted. 67% of best-in-class organisations use fault-tolerant servers to provide high availability to at least some of their most critical applications. Fault tolerance is achieved in a server by having a second set of completely redundant hardware components in the system architecture. The server’s software automatically synchronises the replicated components, executing all processing in lockstep so that “in flight” data is always protected.The two sets of CPUs, RAM, motherboards, and power supplies are all processing the same information at the same time The two sets of CPUs, RAM, motherboards, and power supplies are all processing the same information at the same time. Therefore if one component fails, its companion component is already there and running, and the system keeps functioning. Built-In Software Technology Fault-tolerant servers also have built-in, fail-safe software technology that detects, isolates, and corrects system problems before they cause downtime. This means that the operating system, middleware, and application software are protected from errors. In-memory data is also constantly protected and maintained. A fault-tolerant server is managed exactly like a standard server, making the system easy to install, use, and maintain. No software modifications or special configurations are necessary and the sophisticated back-end technology runs in the background, invisible to anyone administering the system. In business environments where downtime needs to be minimised to the absolute minimum, ensuring you have fault tolerant systems will provide you with peace of mind that crucial data is not lost. This information was provided by Duncan Cooke.

Stratus Technologies is a provider of “always-on” technology, which helps to ensurethe running of mission-critical access control and video surveillance applications Building security – especially high-security installations – requires technology that is reliable and minimises downtime. In some physical security installations, access control and video surveillance solutions are required to function uninterruptedly to ensure business continuity and maintain data integrity. While it may not be a household name in the security industry, Stratus Technologies, a provider of “always-on” technology, helps to ensure the running of mission-critical applications.  Chief Executive Officer of Stratus Technologies, David C. Laurello, sees the company’s mission as “helping customers achieve the highest level of uptime for mission-critical applications” where a few seconds of downtime per year count. “The average downtime for our customers is less than 5 minutes a year, with the majority of customers experiencing no downtime at all. Our solution is a fully redundant server that runs in lockstep – we’re about failure prevention rather than failure recovery.” Stratus security applications for financial services and other markets The markets that Stratus operates in are financial services – including ATMs and point of sale – building security, manufacturing process control and telecommunications. In security applications, the company partners with companies such as Tyco Security Products on installations that require their applications, such as video monitoring systems and access control, to be “always on.” Stratus works with both manufacturing partners and system integrators and has a variety of offerings – both hardware and software – including the everRun enterprise solution that runs on standard servers.  An application is installed on a pair of standard Intel servers that everRun keeps in sync to ensure no data loss or interruption takes place. It proactively monitors the servers and keeps the application online, even when there is a hardware failure, explains Laurello.  Many security systems need to be up and running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including access control solutions where you need to monitor data and add orremove users of the system “Always on” video surveillance and access control systems Many security systems need to be up and running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. With access control solutions, for example, you need to have the system “always on” to monitor data and also to add or remove users of the system. “Of all of the open system fault-tolerant platforms in the marketplace, Stratus is present in around 40 percent,” says Laurello, “and that is across a variety of industries around the world.” For example, in financial services it is imperative that no data is lost, especially while a transaction is being processed (data “in flight”). Similarly, always-on can be vital in manufacturing applications, where even a moment of downtime can result in the costly loss of a whole batch of a drug, for example. And in the UK, Stratus works alongside threat detection equipment supplier Rapiscan as part of the baggage screening process at airports.  Laurello sets out the key benefits as: Protecting physical security and building automation applications with an always-on operating environment. Detecting potential problems and taking action before downtime becomes an issue. The ability to scale easily to accommodate changing business requirements. Meeting the requirements for data integrity and reliability in regulated industries. Providing support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Stratus has a variety of offerings for security applications – both hardware and software – including the everRun enterprise solution that runs on standard servers Uninterrupted security at Gerald R. Ford International Airport An example of a Stratus security installation is at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Over two million passengers pass through the airport each year, making it the second busiest airport in Michigan. More than 2,000 people work at the airport, the majority being employed by airport tenants. When the airport needed an access control system, they selected a Johnson Controls P2000-based solution, using a Microsoft Windows server 2003 operating system. The system operator has real-time access to an interactive facility map using dynamic icons, to monitor and control access points.  Because of the critical nature of this application, the airport had to ensure that the system would be guaranteed to run with very high availability. Stratus everRun FT software synchronises two standard Windows servers to deliver a virtual application environment that runs a single license of P2000 on both servers simultaneously. If a device or a server fails, the system continues to operate uninterrupted. With such applications, says Laurello, “we are the heartbeat of business-critical computing”.