Redundancy

In this article

» What is redundancy?
» How does redundancy work?
» How do failover and failback work in redundant systems?
» Who uses redundant systems?
» What are the benefits of redundancy?
» How do you implement redundancy?
» What are the limitations of redundancy?
» Redundancy and Ignition
» Explore Ignition

What is redundancy?

Redundancy is the presence of additional components or systems that are available as backups in case of failures or outages of the primary components or systems. The purpose of redundancy is to improve the availability, reliability, and continuity of critical systems. By having redundant systems, the likelihood of failure of critical systems is reduced, and the availability, reliability, and continuity of these systems are improved. This is particularly important in situations where failures or outages of critical systems have significant financial or operational consequences.

How does redundancy work?

The concept of redundancy works by having additional components or systems available that activate in case of failures or outages of the primary components or systems. If a primary component or system fails, the redundant component or system automatically activates and takes over the task to maintain system performance.

There are various ways to implement redundancy, depending on the type of component or system needing protection:

• Hardware; dual power supplies or dual hard drives.
• Software; backup software or duplication of software at multiple locations.
• Network; switches with multiple ports.
• Data; RAID storage (Redundant Array of Independent Disks).
• Geographic; backup data center at a different location.
• Process; multiple identical processors in a single system.

It is important to ensure that the backup components or systems are ready and available to activate when needed. This is achieved through periodic testing of the redundant systems to ensure they function as intended. Managing and maintaining redundant systems and components is also an important aspect of ensuring their effectiveness.

How do failover and failback work in redundant systems?

These are two important concepts in working with a redundant system. Failover is the process where a backup component or system automatically activates when the primary component or system fails. Failback is the process where control returns to the primary component or system after the issue has been resolved.

The failover process automatically activates once the monitoring systems detect that a failure has occurred in the primary component or system. The backup component or system takes over the tasks of the primary component or system and begins processing the required workload. This process occurs without human intervention and is intended to minimize downtime and ensure service availability.

When the issue with the primary component or system has been resolved, the failback process activates. This is the process where control returns to the primary component or system once it becomes available again. This process is often not automatic and requires human intervention to ensure that all data stored during the failover is transferred correctly to the primary component or system. After all data has been transferred correctly, the backup component or system returns to standby mode.

Who uses redundant systems?

Many organizations and companies that have critical systems and processes, where availability, reliability, and continuity are essential, utilize redundant systems. This includes, for example, banks, hospitals, airports, airlines, telecommunication companies, and military organizations. Additionally, the use of redundant systems is increasing in modern data centers and cloud computing environments, where downtime or data loss can have severe consequences for businesses and customers, such as manufacturing facilities.

What are the benefits of redundancy?

• Improved availability: Redundancy ensures that if a system or component fails, there is always a backup to take over the task. This reduces the likelihood of downtime and ensures higher availability of critical systems and processes.
• Increased reliability: Redundancy enhances the reliability of systems and processes by providing additional protection against failures, outages, or defects.
• Continuity: Redundancy ensures that business-critical systems and processes continue to operate uninterrupted, even in the event of a failure or outage.
• Enhanced performance: Redundancy can also be used to improve system performance, for example, by implementing load balancing and distributing the workload across multiple systems.
• Enhanced data protection: Redundant storage ensures that data is not lost in case of a failure or outage.
• Cost reduction: Redundancy can reduce the costs associated with downtime, repairs, and recovery, as the system automatically switches to a redundant system instead of requiring manual intervention.

How do you implement redundancy?

Implementing redundancy depends on the type of system or process you want to protect. Below are some general steps to follow during implementation:

1. Identify the systems and processes critical to your organization that require high availability, reliability, and continuity.
2. Analyze potential risks and failure scenarios for each system and process, and assess how to avoid or minimize them.
3. Choose the appropriate redundancy measures that align with the risk analysis and critical systems and processes. This may include adding a backup server or using redundant power supplies and network connections.
4. Test the redundancy solutions and implement them in your system or process. Ensure regular testing and maintenance to optimize and keep the solutions up to date.
5. Monitor the system or process to ensure that the redundant solutions are functioning as intended. Regularly maintain the system to ensure proper operation and prevent issues or failures.

What are the limitations of redundancy?

Despite the advantages, there are also some limitations to consider:

• The costs associated with acquiring, installing, and maintaining redundant systems are often high due to the need for additional systems, equipment, and infrastructure.
• It increases the complexity of a system by requiring additional software and hardware to be installed and configured. This leads to more complex systems that are more difficult to manage and maintain.
• Redundant systems are more susceptible to human errors, such as misconfigured systems or poorly maintained equipment.
• The implementation may potentially reduce the efficiency of a system because it introduces additional overhead, such as data synchronization between systems.
• While redundancy helps minimize downtime, it does not guarantee 100% uptime. Failures or defects that affect both systems simultaneously can still occur.

Therefore, it is important to carefully consider the costs and limitations before deciding to implement redundancy. It is also crucial to regularly test and maintain redundant systems to ensure they are functioning correctly and effectively.

Redundancy and Ignition

Ignition is a software platform for designing and implementing industrial automation systems to monitor and manage processes across various sectors. In Ignition, it’s possible to implement various forms of redundancy to increase the system’s reliability and availability.

The platform also supports redundant network connections, so if one network connection fails, the redundancy automatically switches to another connection without interrupting service.

It’s important to emphasize that the implementation of redundancy in Ignition depends on the specific configuration and requirements of the system, and that thorough testing and maintenance of the redundant system are essential to ensure it effectively operates in case of failures or outages.

Why choose redundancy in Ignition over other packages?

• It’s easy to configure redundant systems through an intuitive web interface and built-in tools. Users can quickly configure redundancy settings without needing to undergo complex and time-consuming procedures.
• There is a high degree of flexibility in configuring redundant systems. Users can choose from different types of redundancy based on their system requirements. Moreover, users can modify redundancy settings at any time, providing them with the flexibility to adapt their system to changing requirements.
• The redundant systems ensure a high level of reliability. Users rely on their automated processes to continue functioning even in the event of a component failure or outage in the system. This minimizes the risk of downtime and increases productivity and profitability.
• It’s possible to scale redundant systems to multiple sites or locations, further enhancing the availability and reliability of automated processes.