High availability

High availability services

Uninterrupted operation of IT services

For many enterprises, the uninterrupted operation of IT services is an extremely important element of business risk analysis. The effects of interruptions in access to some systems result in significant financial losses. In addition, downtime is extremely difficult to catch up in companies working around the clock.

The current IT solutions available on the market offer many mechanisms thanks to which we obtain the so-called High Availibility. Exanet provides services to implement HA or improve the availability of IT infrastructure.

Scalability of the solutions used

Exanet engineers most often propose a cluster solution using virtualization and an external disk system based on the Fiber Channel standard and SAN technology. High availability will consist in making the production work of IT systems independent from failure of the server or SAN network element.

The external disk array is highly expandable. The scalability of the cluster is based on the possibility of expansion with new servers. The use of virtualization enables the creation of additional virtual machines on the prepared infrastructure.

Increasing security

In addition, we increase security by configuring the RAID variant selected individually for the company. To increase reliability, we equip the disk array with two controllers.

Choosing the HA mechanism for the client’s IT infrastructure

Server virtualization

This solution enables the introduction of high availability at the level of virtual machines. This means that a system consisting of at least two physical machines running virtual operating systems will be resistant to the failure of one physical machine.

By using Microsoft (Hyper-V) or WMware (vSphere) virtualization software, we obtain a takeover of virtual machines that were running on the damaged server. The described effect is practically imperceptible to users.

Virtualization brings many benefits, including: ease of management, the ability to match updates to the specific requirements of a given virtual server, facilitated troubleshooting, effective use of hardware resources, saving the administrator’s time.

Clusters of high availability of services

A cluster is an integrated operation of at least two servers on which services run. Failure of one of the servers does not interrupt the service. It is worth noting that not all IT services can run in a cluster.

The operation of a high availability cluster is based on the fact that each of the servers working in the cluster provides a working environment and in the event of failure of one of the servers, the functional server takes over the function of the failed one.

Redundancy at the service level

Many IT services can provide high availability without being clustered. An example is installing two domain controllers on two physical servers. Both services will “contact” each other and synchronize their data accordingly, and in the event of failure of one of them, the other will take over the handling of inquiries while maintaining uninterrupted functionality.

Examples of other services that use this principle include Microsoft SQL, DHCP, DFS (Distributed File System) as part of the file resource sharing service, and Microsoft Terminal Services (Microsoft Remote Desktop Services).

Stages of implementing high availability of services

•  Analysis – preparation of a catalog of IT services and evaluation of services in terms of the required HA parameters.
•  Implementation – choosing the right solutions for each service, preparing an implementation plan, configuring HA mechanisms.
•  Post-implementation tests – checking the correctness of operation of High Availability solutions.

Benefits of HA in the server infrastructure

•  Continuity of service operation and the lack of dependence of work on equipment failure (especially important for large production companies and e-commerce).
•  No dependence on the response time of the equipment manufacturer’s service.
•  No downtime costs and no service downtime.
•  Competitive advantage thanks to the guarantee of operational stability.

Benefits of working with Exanet

We approach each order individually, and our goal is to achieve a secure, redundant server system. We build an IT system in which the failure of any element does not result in the loss of its functionality, so we make the functioning of the system independent of the so-called single point of failure.

•  We have gathered many years of experience in building HA solutions for medium and large enterprises.
•  We are a partner of the largest technology companies providing server solutions (Microsoft, Cisco, APC, Lenovo, Dell, HPE). We follow the best practice principles using proven solutions.
•  Exanet engineers develop their competences and knowledge, which is confirmed by the obtained certificates.
•  We approach each order individually, selecting IT solutions tailored to the client’s needs.
•  We offer comprehensive service. We select hardware, software, licenses and service contracts. We deliver equipment, configure and test.
•  In the Exanet team we have a separate server administrators department.
•  We integrate server solutions with network solutions (we have a network department in the team).
•  We offer the possibility of permanent cooperation in the field of server infrastructure maintenance and management.

Our offer also includes