Cluster in cloud computing: a generic solution for Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google GCP and other clouds

Evidian SafeKit

What are the Evidian SafeKit clusters in cloud computing available for Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google GCP and other clouds?

Evidian SafeKit provides high availability clusters with real-time replication and failover in Cloud.

How the Evidian SafeKit mirror cluster implements real-time replication and failover in Cloud?

Evidian SafeKit provides load balancing clusters and failover in Cloud.

How the Evidian SafeKit farm cluster implements load balancing and failover in Cloud?

All cloud solutions with Evidian SafeKit

Click on the blue button to access the Evidian SafeKit solution

Cloud

Real-time replication and failover cluster

Load balancing and failover cluster

Amazon AWS

Microsoft Azure

Google GCP

Generic Architecture

All SafeKit Quick Start Templates for Plug&Play High Availability Solutions in the Cloud

Click on the blue button to access the Evidian SafeKit quick start template

Cloud

Mirror cluster with real-time replication and failover

Farm cluster with load balancing and failover

Amazon AWS Evidian SafeKit in the Amazon AWS Cloud

Microsoft Azure Evidian SafeKit in the Microsoft Azure Cloud

Google GCP Evidian SafeKit in the Google Cloud marketplace


SafeKit Modules for Plug&Play High Availability Solutions

SafeKit Modules for Plug&Play High Availability Solutions

Network load balancing and failover: click on the blue buttons

Farm modules

Windows

Linux
New application
IIS -
Apache
Amazon AWS farm
Microsoft Azure farm
Google GCP farm
Cloud generic farm

Real-time file replication and failover: click on the blue buttons

Mirror modules

Windows

Linux
New application
Microsoft SQL Server -
Oracle
MariaDB
MySQL
PostgreSQL
Firebird
Hyper-V -
KVM -
Docker -
Elasticsearch -
Milestone XProtect -
Genetec SQL Server -
Hanwha Wisenet SSM -
Nedap AEOS -
Amazon AWS mirror
Microsoft Azure mirror
Google GCP mirror
Cloud generic mirror

Customers of SafeKit High Availability Software in all Business Activities

  • Best high availability use cases with SafeKit

    Best use cases [+]

    Like   OEM Software Like   Distributed Enterprise Like   Remote Sites
    A software publisher uses SafeKit as an OEM software for high availability of its application A distributed enterprise deploys SafeKit in many branches without specific IT skills SafeKit is deployed in two remote sites without the need for replicated bays of disks through a SAN

    Testimonials

    Like  The ideal product for a software publisher

    “SafeKit is the ideal application clustering solution for a software publisher. We currently have deployed more than 80 SafeKit clusters worldwide with our critical TV broadcasting application.”

    Like  The product very easy to deploy for a reseller

    “WithNCompany has deployed in South Korea many SafeKit high availability solutions with the Hanwha Video Surveillance Platform. SafeKit is appreciated because the product is easy to install and very quickly deployed.”

    Like  The product to gain time for a system integrator

    “Thanks to a simple and powerful product, we gained time in the integration and validation of our critical projects like the supervision of Paris and Marseille metro lines (the control rooms).”

  • High availability of Video Surveillance Platforms with SafeKit

    Video surveillance and access control [+]

    In video surveillance systems and access control, Evidian SafeKit implements high availability with synchronous replication and failover of

    Sebastien Temoin, Technical and Innovation Director, NOEMIS, value added distributor of Milestone solutions:

    "SafeKit by Evidian is a professional solution making easy the redundancy of Milestone Management Server, Event Server, Log Server. The solution is easy to deploy, easy to maintain and can be added on existing installation. We have assisted integrators to deploy the solution on many projects such as city surveillance, datacenters, stadiums and other critical infrastructures. SafeKit is a great product, and Evidian provides great support. Happy to help if you have any questions."

    Use cases:


  • Harmonic has deployed more than 80 SafeKit clusters for high availability of its TV broadcasting application over satellites, terrestrials, cable, IPTV.

    TV broadcasting [+]

    Harmonic is using SafeKit as a software OEM high availability solution and deploys it with its TV broadcasting solutions over satellites, terrestrials, cable, IPTV.

    Over 80 SafeKit clusters are deployed on Windows for replication of Harmonic database and automatic failover of the critical application.

    Philippe Vidal, Product Manager, Harmonic says:

    “SafeKit is the ideal application clustering solution for a software publisher looking for a simple and economical high availability software. We are deploying SafeKit worldwide and we currently have more than 80 SafeKit clusters on Windows with our critical TV broadcasting application through terrestrial, satellite, cable and IP-TV. SafeKit implements the continuous and real-time replication of our database as well as the automatic failover of our application for software and hardware failures. Without modifying our application, it was possible for us to customize the installation of SafeKit. Since then, the time of preparation and implementation has been significantly reduced.”


  • The European Society of Warranties and Guarantees in Natixis uses SafeKit as a high availability solution for its applications.

    Finance [+]

    The European Society of Warranties and Guarantees in Natixis uses SafeKit as a high availability solution for its applications.

    Over 30 SafeKit clusters are deployed on Unix and Windows in Natixis.


  • Fives Syleps implements high availability of its ERP with SafeKit and deploys the solution in the food industry.

    Industry [+]

    Fives Syleps implements high availability of its ERP with SafeKit and deploys the solution in the food industry.

    Over 20 SafeKit clusters are deployed on Linux and Windows with Oracle.

    Testimonial of Fives Syleps:

    "The automated factories that we equip rely on our ERP. It is not possible that our ERP is out of service due to a computer failure. Otherwise, the whole activity of the factory stops.

    We chose the Evidian SafeKit high availability product because it is an easy to use solution. It is implemented on standard servers and does not require the use of shared disks on a SAN and load balancing network boxes.

    It allows servers to be put in remote computer rooms. In addition, the solution is homogeneous for Linux and Windows platforms. And it provides 3 functionalities: load balancing between servers, automatic failover and real-time data replication.”


  • Air traffic control systems supplier, Copperchase, deploys SafeKit high availability in airports.

    Air traffic control [+]

    Air traffic control systems supplier, Copperchase, deploys SafeKit high availability in airports.

    Over 20 SafeKit clusters are deployed on Windows.

    Tony Myers, Director of Business Development says:

    "By developing applications for air traffic control, Copperchase is in one of the most critical business activities. We absolutely need our applications to be available all the time. We have found with SafeKit a simple and complete clustering solution for our needs. This software combines in a single product load balancing, real time data replication with no data loss and automatic failover. This is why, Copperchase deploys SafeKit for air traffic control in airports in the UK and the 30 countries where we are present."


  • Software vendor Wellington IT deploys SafeKit high availability with its banking application for Credit Unions in Ireland and UK.

    Bank [+]

    Software vendor Wellington IT deploys SafeKit high availability with its banking application for Credit Unions in Ireland and UK.

    Over 25 SafeKit clusters are deployed on Linux with Oracle.

    Peter Knight, Sales Manager says:

    "Business continuity and disaster recovery are a major concern for our Locus banking application deployed in numerous Credit Unions around Ireland and the UK. We have found with SafeKit a simple and robust solution for high availability and synchronous replication between two servers with no data loss. With this software solution, we are not dependent on a specific and costly hardware clustering solution. It is a perfect tool to provide a software high availability option to an application of a software vendor."


  • Paris transport company (RATP) chose the SafeKit high availability and load balancing solution for the centralized control room of line 1 of the Paris subway.

    Transport [+]

    Paris transport company (RATP) chose the SafeKit high availability and load balancing solution for the centralized control room of line 1 of the Paris subway.

    20 SafeKit clusters are deployed on Windows and Linux.

    Stéphane Guilmin, RATP, Project manager says:

    "Automation of line 1 of the Paris subway is a major project for RATP, requiring a centralized command room (CCR) designed to resist IT failures. With SafeKit, we have three distinct advantages to meet this need. Firstly, SafeKit is a purely software solution that does not demand the use of shared disks on a SAN and network boxes for load balancing. It is very simple to separate our servers into separate machine rooms. Moreover, this clustering solution is homogeneous for our Windows and Linuxplatforms. SafeKit provides the three functions that we needed: load balancing between servers, automatic failover after an incident and real time data replication."

    And also, Philippe Marsol,  Atos BU Transport, Integration Manager says:

    “SafeKit is a simple and powerful product for application high availability. We have integrated SafeKit in our critical projects like the supervision of Paris metro Line 4 (the control room) or Marseille Line 1 and Line 2 (the operations center). Thanks to the simplicity of the product, we gained time for the integration and validation of the solution and we had also quick answers to our questions with a responsive Evidian team.”


  • The software integrator Systel deploys SafeKit high-availability solution in firefighter and emergency medical call centers.

    Healthcare [+]

    The software integrator Systel deploys SafeKit high-availability solution in firefighter and emergency medical call centers.

    Over 30 SafeKit clusters are deployed on Windows with SQL Server.

    Marc Pellas, CEO says:

    "SafeKit perfectly meets the needs of a software vendor. Its main advantage is that it brings in high availability through a software option that is added to our own multi-platform software suite. This way, we are not dependent on a specific and costly hardware clustering solution that is not only difficult to install and maintain, but also differs according to client environments. With SafeKit, our firefighter call centers are run with an integrated software clustering solution, which is the same for all our customers, is user friendly and for which we master the installation up to after-sales support."


  • ERP high availability and load balancing of the French army (DGA) are made with SafeKit.

    Government [+]

    ERP high availability and load balancing of the French army (DGA) are made with SafeKit.

    14 SafeKit clusters are deployed on Windows and Linux.

    Alexandre Barth, Systems administrator says:

    "Our production team implemented the SafeKit solution without any difficulty on 14 Windows and Linux clusters. Our critical activity is thus secure, with high-availability and load balancing functions. The advantages of this product are easy deployment and administration of clusters, on the one hand, and uniformity of the solution in the face of heterogeneous operating systems, on the other hand."

     


SafeKit High Availability Differentiators against Competition

Key differentiators of a mirror cluster with replication and failover

Evidian SafeKit mirror cluster with real-time file replication and failover
All clustering features > All clustering features

Like  A SafeKit cluster runs on Windows and Linux without the need for expensive shared or replicated disk bays

Like  SafeKit includes all clustering features: synchronous real-time file replication, monitoring of server/network/software failures, automatic application restart, virtual IP address switched in case of failure to reroute clients

Dislike  This is not the case with replication-only solutions like replication at the database level which implements only replication

Like   The cluster configuration is very simple and made by means of application modules. There is no domain controller or active directory to configure as with Microsoft cluster

Like  SafeKit implements quick application restart in case of failure: around 1 mn or less (see RTO/RPO here)

Dislike  Quick application restart is not ensured with full virtual machines replication. In case of hypervisor failure, a full VM must be rebooted on a new hypervisor with a recovery time depending on the OS reboot as with VMware HA or Hyper-V cluster
Synchronous replication > Synchronous replication

Like  The real-time replication is synchronous with no data loss on failure

Dislike  This is not the case with asynchronous replication

Fully automated failback procedure > Automatic failback

Like  After a failure when a server reboots, the replication failback procedure is fully automatic and the failed server reintegrates the cluster without stopping the application on the only remaining server

Dislike  This is not the case with most replication solutions particularly with replication at the database level. Manual operations are required for resynchronizing a failed server. The application may even be stopped on the only remaining server during the resynchonization of the failed server
Replication of any type of data >

Like  The replication is working for databases but also for any files which shall be replicated

Dislike  This not the case for replication at the database level
File replication vs disk replication > File replication vs disk replication

Like  The replication is based on file directories that can be located anywhere (even in the system disk)

Disike  This is not the case with disk replication where special application configuration must be made to put the application data in a special disk
File replication vs shared disk > File replication vs shared disk

Like  The servers can be put in two remote sites

Dislike  This is not the case with shared disk solutions
Remote sites and virtual IP address > Remote sites

Like  All SafeKit clustering features are working for 2 servers in remote sites. Performances of replication depends on the interconnect latency for real-time synchronous replication and on the bandwidth for resynchronizing data on a failed server

Like  If both servers are connected to the same IP network through an extended LAN between two remote sites, the virtual IP address of SafeKit is working with rerouting at level 2

Like  If both servers are connected to two different IP networks between two remote sites, the virtual IP address can be configured at the level of a load balancer. SafeKit offers a health check: the load balancer is configured with a URL managed by SafeKit which returns OK on the primary server and NOT FOUND else. This solution is implemented for SafeKit in the Cloud but it can be also implemented with a load balancer on premise

Quorum > Quorum

Like  With remote sites, the solution works with only 2 servers and for the quorum (network isolation), a simple split brain checker to a router is offered to support a single execution

Like  This is not the case for most clustering solutions where a 3rd server is required for the quorum
Active/active cluster > Active active mirror cluster

Like  The secondary server is not dedicated to the restart of the primary server. The cluster can be active-active by running 2 different mirror modules

Dislike  This is not the case with a fault-tolerant system where the secondary is dedicated to the execution of the same application synchronized at the instruction level
Uniform high availability solution > Uniform high availability solution

Like  SafeKit implements a mirror cluster with replication and failover. But it imlements also a farm cluster with load balancing and failover. Thus a N-tiers architecture can be made highly available and load balanced with the same solution on Windows and Linux (same installation, configuration, administration with the SafeKit console or with the command line interface). This is unique on the market

Dislike  This is not the case with an architecture mixing different technologies for load balancing, replication and failover

Evidian SafeKit farm cluster with load balancing and failover
All clustering features > All clustering features

Like  The solution includes all clustering features: virtual IP address, load balancing on client IP address or on sessions, monitoring of server/network/software failures, automatic application restart with a quick revovery time and a replication option with a mirror module

Dislike  This is not the case with other load balancing solutions. They are able to make load balancing but they do not include a full clustering solution with restart scripts and automatic application restart in case of failure. They do not offer a replication option

Like   The cluster configuration is very simple and made by means of application modules. There is no domain controller or active directory to configure on Windows. The solution works on Windows and Linux
Remote sites and virtual IP address > Remote sites

Like   If servers are connected to the same IP network through an extended LAN between remote sites, the virtual IP address of SafeKit is working with load balancing at level 2

Like   If servers are connected to different IP networks between remote sites, the virtual IP address can be configured at the level of a load balancer. SafeKit offers a health check: the load balancer is configured with a URL managed by SafeKit which returns OK on the UP servers and NOT FOUND else. This solution is implemented for SafeKit in the Cloud but it can be also implemented with a load balancer on premise. Thus you can implement load balancing but also all the clustering features of SafeKit including an easy administration of the cluster through the SafeKit web console

Uniform high availability solution > Uniform high availability solution

Like  SafeKit imlements a farm cluster with load balancing and failover. But it implements also a mirror cluster with replication and failover. Thus a N-tiers architecture can be made highly available and load balanced with the same solution on Windows and Linux (same installation, configuration, administration with the SafeKit console or with the command line interface). This is unique on the market

Dislike  This is not the case with an architecture mixing different technologies for load balancing, replication and failover

High availability architectures comparison

Feature

SafeKit cluster

Other clusters
Software clustering vs hardware clustering > A software cluster with SafeKit installed on two servers

Like  A simple software cluster with the SafeKit package just installed on two servers 		Hardware clustering with external shared storage Network load balancers or dedicated proxy servers



Dislike  Complex hardware clustering with external storage or network load balancers
Shared nothing vs a shared disk cluster > SafeKit shared-nothing cluster: easy to deploy even in remote sites

Like  SafeKit is a shared-nothing cluster: easy to deploy even in remote sites 		Shared disk cluster: complex to deploy

Dislike  A shared disk cluster is complex to deploy
Application High Availability vs Full Virtual Machine High Availability >

Like  Application HA supports hardware failure and software failure with a quick recovery time (RTO around 1 mn or less).
Smooth upgrade of application and OS possible server by server (version N and N+1 can coexist) 		Virtual machines high availability supports only hardware failure with an recovery time depending on the OS reboot

Dislike  Full virtual machines HA supports only hardware failure with a VM reboot and a recovery time depending on the OS reboot.
Smooth upgrade not possible
High availability vs fault tolerance> SafeKit high availability vs fault-tolerance

Like  No dedicated server with SafeKit. Each server can be the failover server of the other one.
Software failure with restart in another OS environment.
Smooth upgrade of application and OS possible server by server (version N and N+1 can coexist) 		Fault tolerance system

Dislike  Secondary server dedicated to the execution of the same application synchronized at the instruction level.
Software exception on both servers at the same time.
Smooth upgrade not possible
Synchronous replication vs asynchronous replication >

Like  SafeKit implements real-time synchronous replication with no data loss in case of failure 		Asynchronous replication with data loss on failure

Dislike  With asynchronous replication, there is data loss on failure
Byte-level file replication vs block-level disk replication > SafeKit cluster with byte-level file replication: simply replicates directories even in the system disk

Like  SafeKit implements real-time byte-level file replication and is simply configured with application directories to replicate even in the system disk 		Cluster with block-level disk replication: complex and require to put application data in a special disk

Dislike  Block-level disk replication is complex to configure and requires to put application data in a special disk
Heartbeat, failover and quorum to avoid 2 master nodes > Simple quorum in a SafeKit cluster with a split brain checker configured on a router

Like  To avoid 2 masters, SafeKit proposes a simple split brain checker configured on a router 		Complex quorum in other clusters: third machine, special quorum disk, remote hardware reset

Dislike  To avoid 2 masters, other clusters require a complex configuration with a third machine, a special quorum disk, a special interconnect
Virtual IP address
primary/secondary, network load balancing, failover > 		No special network configuration in a SafeKit cluster

Like  No dedicated proxy servers and no special network configuration are required in a SafeKit cluster for virtual IP addresses 		Special network configuration in other clusters

Dislike  Special network configuration is required in other clusters for virtual IP addresses. Note that SafeKit offers a health check adapted to load balancers

Demonstrations of SafeKit High Availability Software

SafeKit Webinar

This webinar presents in 10 minutes Evidian SafeKit.

In this webinar, you will understand:

  • mirror and farm clusters
  • cost savings against hardware clustering solutions
  • best use cases
  • the integration process for a new application

Microsoft SQL Server Cluster

This video shows a mirror module configuration with synchronous real-time replication and failover.

The file replication and the failover are configured for Microsoft SQL Server but it works in the same manner for other databases.

Free trial here

Apache Cluster

This video shows a farm module configuration with load balancing and failover.

The load balancing and the failover are configured for Apache but it works in the same manner for other web services.

Free trial here

Hyper-V Cluster

This video shows a Hyper-V cluster with full replications of virtual machines.

Virtual machines can run on both Hyper-V servers and they are restarted in case of failure.

Free trial here