Stratus Technologies, Inc today announced first-of-its-kind technology for fault-tolerant Microsoft Windows operating system environments that will enable customers to perform online software upgrades and critical operating system hot fixes without having to take the server or application offline.
The new Stratus ftServer W Series Active Upgrade technology adds a new 'availability' dimension beyond the field-proven 99.999% uptime protection for which Stratus servers are known.
The Active Upgrade process addresses major sources of planned server downtime necessary to install upgrades and enhancements to operating systems, Service Packs, applications and system software. IT departments today are particularly concerned about how to deal with the frequent hot-fix patches issued by Microsoft to protect users and ensure the security of its Windows operating system. Active Upgrade software will make the updating process much less disruptive to business continuity.
"Rarely, if ever, is unplanned downtime a concern with Stratus servers, but scheduling planned downtime to handle one, two or more OS patches a week can be a real headache for IT managers," said Bill Drury, Stratus vice-president, Windows Software Development. "This new online software upgrade capability, the ease with which it can be managed, and the time it can save are incredibly valuable benefits to this marketplace."
Made possible by the next-generation Stratus-designed chipset in the ftServer W Series 4000 line, Active Upgrade technology enables online upgrading by splitting the fully redundant system into two independently running servers.
While one server continues to run the application without interruption, software updates are applied to the other server. The two sides are then resynchronised and returned to fault-tolerant operation as one logical server.
Currently undergoing testing and expected to be available in the first quarter 2006, the Active Upgrade process will work with standard Windows applications out of the box, with no software modifications needed. An interactive user interface application controls the overall online upgrade process and guides the operator through every stage. At any point during the upgrade process up to resynchronisation, the operator can easily roll back and uninstall the software should a problem or concern arise.
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