CSM transitions to multi-redundant system The move to blade servers coming this year
By Spencer Ives
Updated Wed February 4, 2015
ESTACADA, Ore.—Central Station Monitoring, a third-party central station based here, decided to switch from traditional servers to blade servers, which can do the work of 800 servers across two units. This will increase the company's redundancy and back-up capabilities, according to Dimitri Begeor, CSM's manager of dealer development.
If a physical server goes down, it would take about a full day to replace it, Justin Gates, business development manager for CSM, told Security Systems News, “Whereas [on] a virtual server, if one of my servers goes down, it probably takes about two to five minutes to get that same server back up and running.”
To establish a system of virtual servers CSM is replacing its 12 traditional servers with two blade servers, each housing eight blades—electrical components that can slide in and out of a chassis. “One blade can house [anywhere from] one to 50 servers,” Gates said.
Each of these blade servers will be equipped with six independent power supplies “for redundancy purposes,” according to Gates.
Begeor told SSN that the company has been working with UL for about a year to make this system UL-certified. Gates estimated that the system will be operational in July or August.
CSM, operating since 1982, now has about 20,000 accounts, split evenly between residential and commercial. The company draws strength from being part of the local telephone company, and having access to its resources, Gates said.
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