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High Availability Architectures Overview

Evidian SafeKit

What are the different high availability architectures and the different software clusters with SafeKit?

Mirror cluster

SafeKit mirror cluster

More information

Farm cluster

SafeKit farm cluster

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Farm+mirror cluster

SafeKit farm + mirror cluster

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Active/active cluster

SafeKit active active cluster with real-time replication

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N-1 cluster

SafeKit N-1 redundancy cluster

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How to build high availability clusters with SafeKit?

Use high availability modules

A high availability module is a customization of SafeKit for an application. There are two types of modules: the mirror module with real-time data replication and failover and the farm module with load balancing and failover.

If you deploy a mirror module on 2 servers, then you create a mirror cluster and if you deploy a farm module on N servers, then you create a farm cluster.

Several application modules can be deployed on the same servers. Thus, advanced clustering architectures can be implemented like those presented previously (farm+mirror, active/active, N-1).

What is a module?

In practice, an application module is a “.Safe” file (zip type) including:

1 - the configuration file userconfig.xml which contains:

  • names or physical IP addresses of the servers,
  • name or virtual IP address of the cluster,
  • file directories to replicate in real time (for a mirror module),
  • network load balancing criteria (for a farm module),
  • configuration of software and hardware failures detectors

2 - the scripts to start and stop the application.

Plug and play deployment of high availability modules

Once an application module is configured and tested with an application, deployment requires no specific IT skills:

  1. install application on 2 standard servers (physical or virtual),
  2. install the SafeKit software on both servers,
  3. install the application module on both servers.

SafeKit: High Availability (HA) and Redundancy Choices

What are the two primary choices for ensuring high availability and redundancy?

You can choose between setting up redundancy:

  • At the application level
  • At the virtual machine (VM) level

What is "Redundancy at the application level"?

In this solution, only the application data are replicated. In the event of a failure, only the application is restarted, not the entire operating system or VM.

SafeKit diagram for Application Level High Availability (HA): Illustrates synchronous replication of critical application data between active and passive servers, enabling fast application failover without needing a full VM restart.

Technical Requirements:

  • It requires a technical understanding of the application itself.
  • You must manually define:
    • Which services need to be restarted.
    • The specific application folders that need real-time replication.
    • The configuration of a virtual IP address for failover.

Platform Compatibility:

  • This solution is platform-agnostic.
  • It works inside physical machines, virtual machines, or in the Cloud.
  • Any hypervisor is supported (e.g., VMware, Hyper-V, etc.).
  • More information: Windows, Linux

What is "Redundancy at the virtual machine (VM) level"?

In this solution, the full Virtual Machine (VM) is replicated, including both the Application and the Operating System (OS). In the event of a failure, the full VM is restarted.

SafeKit diagram for Virtual Machine (VM) Level High Availability (HA): Illustrates the full replication of the VM, including the OS and application, between two physical servers to ensure service continuity upon hardware failure.

Key Advantages:

  • It does not require a technical understanding of the application installed within the VM.
  • It is the best solution if you do not know how the application works.
  • You only need to define the location of the VM files.

Platform Compatibility:

  • This solution works with Windows/Hyper-V and Linux/KVM.
  • It does not support VMware for this type of redundancy.
  • This is typically an active/active solution where several virtual machines can be replicated and restarted between two nodes.
  • More information: Windows/Hyper-V, Linux/KVM

SafeKit High Availability (HA) Solutions: Quick Installation Guides for Windows and Linux Clusters

This table presents the SafeKit High Availability (HA) solutions, categorized by application and operating environment (Databases, Web Servers, VMs, Cloud). Identify the specific pre‑configured .safe module (e.g., mirror.safe, farm.safe, and others) required for real‑time replication, load balancing, and automatic failover of critical business applications on Windows or Linux. Simplify your HA cluster setup with direct links to quick installation guides, each including a download link for the corresponding .safe module.

A SafeKit .safe module is essentially a pre‑configured High Availability (HA) template that defines how a specific application will be clustered and protected by the SafeKit software. In practice, it contains a configuration file (userconfig.xml) and restart scripts.

SafeKit High Availability (HA) Solutions: Quick Installation Guides (with downloadable .safe modules)
Application Category HA Scenario (High Availability) Technology / Product .safe Module Installation Guide
New Applications Real-Time Replication and Failover Windows mirror.safe View Guide: Windows Replication
New Applications Real-Time Replication and Failover Linux mirror.safe View Guide: Linux Replication
New Applications Network Load Balancing and Failover Windows farm.safe View Guide: Windows Load Balancing
New Applications Network Load Balancing and Failover Linux farm.safe View Guide: Linux Load Balancing
Databases Replication and Failover Microsoft SQL Server sqlserver.safe View Guide: SQL Server Cluster
Databases Replication and Failover PostgreSQL postgresql.safe View Guide: PostgreSQL Replication
Databases Replication and Failover MySQL mysql.safe View Guide: MySQL Cluster
Databases Replication and Failover Oracle oracle.safe View Guide: Oracle Failover Cluster
Databases Replication and Failover Firebird firebird.safe View Guide: Firebird HA
Web Servers Load Balancing and Failover Apache apache_farm.safe View Guide: Apache Load Balancing
Web Servers Load Balancing and Failover IIS iis_farm.safe View Guide: IIS Load Balancing
Web Servers Load Balancing and Failover NGINX farm.safe View Guide: NGINX Load Balancing
VMs and Containers Replication and Failover Hyper-V hyperv.safe View Guide: Hyper-V VM Replication
VMs and Containers Replication and Failover KVM kvm.safe View Guide: KVM VM Replication
VMs and Containers Replication and Failover Docker mirror.safe View Guide: Docker Container Failover
VMs and Containers Replication and Failover Podman mirror.safe View Guide: Podman Container Failover
VMs and Containers Replication and Failover Kubernetes K3S k3s.safe View Guide: Kubernetes K3S Replication
AWS Cloud Real-Time Replication and Failover AWS mirror.safe View Guide: AWS Replication Cluster
AWS Cloud Network Load Balancing and Failover AWS farm.safe View Guide: AWS Load Balancing Cluster
GCP Cloud Real-Time Replication and Failover GCP mirror.safe View Guide: GCP Replication Cluster
GCP Cloud Network Load Balancing and Failover GCP farm.safe View Guide: GCP Load Balancing Cluster
Azure Cloud Real-Time Replication and Failover Azure mirror.safe View Guide: Azure Replication Cluster
Azure Cloud Network Load Balancing and Failover Azure farm.safe View Guide: Azure Load Balancing Cluster
Physical Security / VMS Real-Time Replication and Failover Milestone XProtect milestone.safe View Guide: Milestone XProtect Failover
Physical Security / VMS Real-Time Replication and Failover Nedap AEOS nedap.safe View Guide: Nedap AEOS Failover
Physical Security / VMS Real-Time Replication and Failover Genetec (SQL Server) sqlserver.safe View Guide: Genetec SQL Failover
Physical Security / VMS Real-Time Replication and Failover Bosch AMS (Hyper-V) hyperv.safe View Guide: Bosch AMS Hyper-V Failover
Physical Security / VMS Real-Time Replication and Failover Bosch BIS (Hyper-V) hyperv.safe View Guide: Bosch BIS Hyper-V Failover
Physical Security / VMS Real-Time Replication and Failover Bosch BVMS (Hyper-V) hyperv.safe View Guide: Bosch BVMS Hyper-V Failover
Physical Security / VMS Real-Time Replication and Failover Hanwha Vision (Hyper-V) hyperv.safe View Guide: Hanwha Vision Hyper-V Failover
Physical Security / VMS Real-Time Replication and Failover Hanwha Wisenet (Hyper-V) hyperv.safe View Guide: Hanwha Wisenet Hyper-V Failover
Siemens Products Real-Time Replication and Failover Siemens Siveillance suite (Hyper-V) hyperv.safe View Guide: Siemens Siveillance HA
Siemens Products Real-Time Replication and Failover Siemens Desigo CC (Hyper-V) hyperv.safe View Guide: Siemens Desigo CC HA
Siemens Products Real-Time Replication and Failover Siemens Siveillance VMS SiveillanceVMS.safe View Guide: Siemens Siveillance VMS HA
Siemens Products Real-Time Replication and Failover Siemens SiPass (Hyper-V) hyperv.safe View Guide: Siemens SiPass HA
Siemens Products Real-Time Replication and Failover Siemens SIPORT (Hyper-V) hyperv.safe View Guide: Siemens SIPORT HA
Siemens Products Real-Time Replication and Failover Siemens SIMATIC PCS 7 (Hyper-V) hyperv.safe View Guide: SIMATIC PCS 7 HA
Siemens Products Real-Time Replication and Failover Siemens SIMATIC WinCC (Hyper-V) hyperv.safe View Guide: SIMATIC WinCC HA

Comparison of SafeKit with Traditional High Availability (HA) Clusters

How does SafeKit compare to traditional High Availability (HA) cluster solutions?

This comparison highlights the fundamental differences between SafeKit and traditional High Availability (HA) cluster solutions like Failover Clusters, Virtualization HA, and SQL Always-On. SafeKit is designed as a low-complexity, software-only solution for generic application redundancy, contrasting with the high complexity and specific storage requirements (shared storage, SAN) typical of traditional HA mechanisms.
Comparison of SafeKit with traditional High Availability (HA) clusters
Solutions Complexity Comments
Failover Cluster (Microsoft) High Specific Storage (shared storage, SAN)
Virtualization (VMware HA) High Specific Storage (shared storage, SAN, vSAN)
SQL Always-On (Microsoft) High Only SQL is redundant, requires SQL Enterprise Edition
Evidian SafeKit Low Simplest, generic and software-only. Unsuitable for large data replication.

SafeKit's Advantage in Application Redundancy

SafeKit achieves its low-complexity High Availability through a simple, software-based mirroring mechanism that eliminates the need for expensive, dedicated hardware like a SAN (Storage Area Network). This makes it a highly accessible solution for quickly implementing application redundancy without complex infrastructure changes.