Active-Active Data Centers What You Need To Know? – With the New DICE Corporation’s and IPtelX’s recent announcement that our second UL 827A data center has transitioned to an active-active state for signal processing in the alarm industry, now is a great time to reexamine the importance of redundancy in data center infrastructure. Downtime is not an option for high-profile organizations such as governments, security operations centers, and large businesses who rely on 24/7 access to everything from computers and software to phone systems. Yet most cloud IT infrastructure is not built with the redundancy and capacity necessary to maintain uninterrupted service in the event of an outage. To offer a better understanding of the advantages of an active-active (also known as dual active) configuration, we’ve compiled a brief guide to explain what this solution means for you.
Active-Active Data Centers What You Need To Know?
Active-Active vs. Active-Passive
Unlike an active-active setup which typically consists of two data centers both actively running the same services concurrently, in an active-passive configuration both data centers are not operating simultaneously. Instead, the passive data center acts only as a backup that can take over if the primary data center experiences a failure or discontinuation of services. Load balancing also occurs in an active-active setup. This allows for significant improvement in performance as the system evenly distributes workloads in the data center so no single piece of equipment experiences overloading.
Benefits of Active-Active Configuration
There are many benefits of an active-active configuration depending on your organization’s size and objectives. However, many of the benefits are universal, including high availability of your cloud applications across multiple locations, load balancing evenly distributed across a cluster of servers, and data redundancy and resiliency that allows you to maintain uninterrupted services – even when one data center fails.
DICE’s Active-Active Data Centers
Both DICE active-active data centers are in the United States and are separated geographically to meet life safety UL standards. For additional redundancy, the data centers are powered by two separate electrical power sources, as well as generators and battery backup. Multiple ISP feeds from various carrier groups, including our sister company IPtelX, are also connected to the sites, allowing us to actively control the flow of signals to each center.
“One of the biggest advantages of this achievement is that it allows us to actively run our backup equipment rather than in reaction to a possible center failure,” said DICE Corporation president and CEO Cliff Dice. “Load balancing alarm signals across multiple centers is very difficult for any provider in the alarm industry. In fact, most alarm companies have issues moving signals from center to center. However, because our sister company is a carrier, we have made changes in the telecom infrastructure to accomplish this between our UL data centers.”
Related Reading: Security Operation Center Tips Before You Build
Designing an effective security control and command center is an enormous task for even the most experienced professional. Not only is a unified location for your monitoring infrastructure and technology required, but a space that provides comfort and flexibility for your team to operate 24/7 every day of the year is also a must. With proper planning and realistic expectations, building a functional and effective security operation center can be accomplished no matter your size or expertise. If you’re thinking about designing a new security control and command center, here are a few tips you should consider. Read more.
There are many factors to consider when choosing a data center configuration, but nothing gives you the redundancy and reliability of an active-active configuration. If you have questions about data centers or would like to learn more about DICE Corporation’s commitment to maximizing reliability in the security industry, contact us to schedule a virtual consultation with one of our representatives.
Author: Avi Lupo, Co-President DICE Corporation
Copyright 2021