AlarmCloud Server Architecture
Our AlarmCloud alarm forwarding platform has been built on the understanding that your Monitoring Centre place their trust in us to deliver signals to your operators even when things go wrong. We constantly ask questions like "what if this server fails"? or "what if that server is attacked"? In seeking answers to those questions, we have developed the most redundant IP Alarm Monitoring Solution on the market. Most Alarm Monitoring Centres stop their "what if" questions after asking themselves what if the primary IP address fails? The answer to that question is simple and most monitoring companies have a second IP address provided by a different ISP. Only a small number of monitoring companies dare to ask themselves what happens if the backup server fails?
Fixed, Dynamic and Emergency Servers
Our Virtual Receiver network consists of a combination of fixed, dynamic and emergency servers. Our primary and secondary servers use fixed IPs and are located in different Cloud based data centers in the USA. Other servers use dynamic IP addresses and are located on different continets. We also have portable servers that we can activate at a moments notice when our main servers are experiencing technical difficulties or are under denail of service attack.
If your company uses two fixed IP addresses to monitor your IP accounts then you are a "sitting duck" for Distributed Denial of Service attacks (DDoS). The only affordable way to mitigate DDoS attacks is to use dynamic IP addresses that cannot be followed by the attackers. The AlarmCloud platform uses a combination of fixed, dynamic and emergency "soft" servers in preparation for attacks on our network. We encourage you to do the same.
Our primary servers are housed in true Cloud based data centers in the USA. They are multi-homed with numerous carriers including Internap, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Business, Savvis, Global Crossings, Level 3, XO, Cogent, and Tiscali.
The Most Redundant IP Signaling Solution Available
Redundancy was an afterthought for the few panel manufacturers and solution providers that bothered to consider it in the design of their IP communicators. It's hard to believe that some IP alarm communicators only have a facility for entry of a single IP address.
The AlarmCloud platform was built from the ground up with achieving the maximum level of redundancy as the main goal. Getting an alarm signal from A to B when "all systems are go" is easy. Delivering them to the right place when there are multiple technical failures or malicious attacks is a different story - one that we understand well. The Cisco client devices have the intelligence to follow our dynamic servers wherever they go and our AlarmCloud Platform has the ability to deliver signals to your operators, wherever they may be.
AlarmCloud Client
In instances where we do not forward signals to you via PSTN and your analog receivers, you have the option of using a Windows application (AlarmCloud Client) that listens for signals from the AlarmCloud platform. You can connect it to your alarm monitoring software via, serial, TCPIP or both. The AlarmCloud Client emulates a Surgard receiver and will send a heartbeat to your monitoring software every minute (adjustable).
The AlarmCloud Client Software does not require a dedicated computer and will run on any Windows XP or later PC with the Microsoft.Net Framework v4 installed. It can run on more than one computer either inside or outside your network as long as it can get a connection to your monitoring software. The more AlarmCloud Clients you run from different locations, the better your redundancy. You can build in DDoS protection by running one or more AlarmCloud Clients from dynamic IP addresses.
Each dynamic AlarmCloud Client keeps our web servers up to date with its current IP address, so whether your AlarmCloud Client is running on a computer within your company network, from a staff members home or from the Starbucks down the street from your monitoring facility, our Virtual Receivers will know where it is and be able to forward signals to it.
If your monitoring facility suffers a disaster and your operators need to leave the building, then they can easily access and action events from a web based alarm queue on our servers.
Just when you thought that was enough redundancy...
We asked ourselves, what if the whole monitoring center network is down at the same time our whole network is down. Well, as unlikely as that may sound, we just had to cover for that eventuality. Our local PSTN termination partner will take alarm signals from your Cisco devices over IP and put them back onto the PSTN network and into your analog alarm receivers.
Anyone who has tried to setup 2-way voice between their receivers and alarm monitoring software will understand how complex it can be. Not any more. With the use of custom provisioned Cisco devices at the client premises, the AlarmCloud platform can reliably deliver 2-way audio to your operators over IP without ever touching your alarm receivers.
Remote Programming of any Alarm Panel
By using custom provisioned Cisco devices, the AlarmCloud platform can get you connected to any make or model of alarm panel over IP that you can currently connect to over PSTN. The Alarm Company can use the same modem and software they use today without any requirement to change phone numbers in the download software or alarm panel.
