SIOS Technology Partnering With Emerging Digital Concepts

SIOS Technology Corp. partnered with Emerging Digital Concepts (EDC) to provide HA data protection for their mission-critical NG-CAD-X CAD-to-CAD (C2C) Exchange in the Azure cloud.

More than 10 years ago, EDC pioneered and built the US National Capital Region (NCR) C2C Exchange, which enables hundreds of emergency dispatchers in all participating jurisdictions to exchange computer aided dispatch (CAD) information, coordinate multi-agency responses, share real time incident information, and understand locations and availability of thousands of front-line units, including fire rescue, EMS, EMT and other resources. Failover clustering enabled by SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition was added to the system as part of a recent cloud migration.

The NCR Data Exchange Hub (DEH) C2C Exchange software leverages a clustered SQL Server database operating in Azure Cloud. SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition software provides HA protection for the C2C Exchange and facilitates ongoing maintenance without the need for scheduled downtime.

Challenge
The service levels guaranteed by cloud vendors were not sufficient. While they ensure hardware operability they do not include software and networking-related causes of application downtime.

Solution
The solution was DataKeeper Cluster Edition software, which enabled the NCR to deploy the C2C Exchange in the Azure cloud using clustering for HA. The software protects critical databases from downtime and data loss while eliminating the need for the more costly SQL Server Enterprise Edition licensing.

Failover SANless Clustering in Cloud
The C2C application runs on SQL Server Standard Edition in a 2-node Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC) configuration with Always On Failover Clustering for failover orchestration. DataKeeper software creates a SAN-less clustering environment by providing host-based, block-level replication to synchronize local storage on all cluster nodes. If a threat to application/database availability is detected, operation is automatically moved to the secondary node, which continues using synchronized copy of primary storage.

Results
Creating the HA database cluster in Azure was fast.

“We simply installed SIOS DataKeeper in our WSFC nodes, configured the local node storage, and it operated seamlessly,” said Greg Crider, EDC CTO and co-founder. “In addition to HA, SIOS DataKeeper enables us to perform rolling maintenance on the database without planned downtime or service interruption.“

Since implementing DataKeeper in the NCR C2C Exchange, there have been no downtime issues involving the database or data loss between nodes.

Chris Wiseman, EDC president, CEO and co-founder, added: “There have been a few unexpected, uncontrollable networking issues and the database failed over quickly, allowing the C2C Exchange to operate without prolonged reduction in service to end users. The SIOS software enables us to ensure data availability and to use lower-cost SQL Server Standard Edition. That adds up to better service and significant, continuing annual savings for our stakeholders.“

On Horizon
EDC is broadening C2C Exchange adoption nationwide with its commercially-available  NG-CAD-X C2C Exchange product. NG-CAD-X is message compatible with the NCR C2C Exchange, deployed in the Azure Government Cloud for CJIS-compliance and law enforcement adoption in addition to fire and EMS ESF, and DataKeeper Cluster Edition in its database architecture.

“We are proud of the role that SIOS DataKeeper has played in EDC’s pioneering work in the development of the DEH,” said Masahiro Arai, COO, SIOS. “We look further to continuing our partnership to protect the availability of the mission-critical systems first responders rely on.“