System setup

In XProtect Corporate and XProtect Expert, you can achieve high availability for the management server and SQL Server by using Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC).

Hardware failures on a standalone server running the management server and SQL Server do not affect recordings or the recording server. However, hardware failures can result in downtime for operators that are not already logged into the clients. A WSFC environment will mitigate this downtime. There are a number of reasons why you would want to use a cluster:

• Server failure – If a server starts to have problems, you can run the management server and SQL Server from another node while you resolve the issue.
• System updates and security patches – Applying security patches on a standalone server can be time consuming, resulting in extended periods of downtime. By using failover clustering, you can apply system updates and security patches with minimal downtime.
• Seamless connection – Because clients and applications connect to a failover cluster by using the cluster IP address and cluster name, the connection to the management server and SQL Server is transparent and failover is seamless.