Automatic BackupDesigned to run as primary and backup pairs, all of the iTX services are fully redundant. In the event of a failure of the primary service, the system automatically reverts to the backup service. Deploying primary and backup services on different physical machines results in a highly resilient system, which can continue operating in the event of either a hardware or software failure.
Database The Database can be configured to operate in a high availability mode by using Microsoft SQL Server database mirroring. This uses two instances of Microsoft SQL Server on two separate servers to mirror the content in the database. The addition of a third "witness" instance of the database on a third server completes the Microsoft high availability model, and provides automated failover of the database in the event of a hardware or software failure.
Content Store iTX caches content from the central Content Store to the Output Servers to provide content redundancy. In the event of a failure in the Content Store, the Output Servers will continue to play back from their local content cache. The use of a high availability NAS is recommended for the central Content Store, as this allows iTX to continue the intake and caching of new content, even in the event of a failure of some components in the storage solution.
Output Servers Each Output Server contains a local media cache plus an automation engine that holds the playlist for that Output Server. This architecture allows the Output Server to run stand alone in the event of the iTX Framework becoming unavailable, until the local schedule and content cache have been exhausted.
1:1 RedundancyWhen using 1:1 Redundancy, each Output Server is paired with another identical Output Server running the same schedule. The Output Servers are configured in a master/slave relationship. Both Output Servers render content identically and, in the event of the failure of the master Output Server, iTX can automatically invoke a downstream router switch to the backup Output Server.
N+1 RedundancyBy using N+1 Redundancy, one or more Output Servers are available to back up multiple channels. When a primary Output Server fails, one of the backup Output Servers loads the channel's schedule from the database, synchronizes the schedule to the current time and begins playout for the failed channel from the correct point in time, even if this is in the middle of a video clip.
