---
title: "High Availability and Redundancy for Video Management Software (VMS)"
description: "High Availability and Redundancy for Video Management Software (VMS) Video Management Software (VMS) collects and records camera video and provides an interface for operators to view live and recorded video. Video management software increases life safety, reduces theft and improves security officers efficiency. Video Management Software (VMS) records all criminal acts, from theft to murder, […]"
canonical: "https://safekit.eviden.com/use-cases/video-management-software-vms-redundancy/"
topics: "What is video management software (VMS)?, Why a VMS software is critical?, Key players list in VMS, SafeKit brings two solutions for redundancy and high availability of a VMS software, SafeKit, a recognized solution on the security market, 🔍 SafeKit High Availability Navigation Hub"
category: "use-cases"
lang: "en"
---

<h1 id="high-availability-and-redundancy-for-video-management-software-vms">High Availability and Redundancy for Video Management Software (VMS)</h1>
<h2 id="what-is-video-management-software-vms">What is video management software (VMS)?</h2>
<p>Video Management Software (VMS) collects and records camera video and provides an interface for operators to view live and recorded video.</p>
<p>Video management software increases life safety, reduces theft and improves security officers efficiency.</p>
<h2 id="why-a-vms-software-is-critical">Why a VMS software is critical?</h2>
<p>Video Management Software (VMS) records all criminal acts, from theft to murder, and provides a means to track criminals.</p>
<p>The safety of people is directly associated with the proper execution of the VMS software.</p>
<p>And that&rsquo;s why the system must always be available to security officers who must react immediately to the slightest incident.</p>
<h2 id="key-players-list-in-vms">Key players list in VMS</h2>
<p>The key players in VMS are:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Genetec (Canada)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Milestone (Denmark)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Hikvision (China)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Dahua (China)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Motorola (Avigilon) (Canada)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Johnson Controls (Ireland)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Tiandy (China)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Eagle Eye Networks (US)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>ISS (US)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Teledyne Flir (US)</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="safekit-brings-two-solutions-for-redundancy-and-high-availability-of-a-vms-software">SafeKit brings two solutions for redundancy and high availability of a VMS software</h2>
<h3 id="redundancy-and-high-availability-at-the-application-level">Redundancy and high availability at the application level</h3>
<p>In this type of solution, only application data are replicated. And only the application is restared in case of failure.</p>
<img src="/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/application-ha-4.png" width="168" alt="Redundancy at the application level for a VMS software">
<p>This solution requires a technical understanding of the application. You need to define which services to restart, specify the application folders to replicate, and configure a virtual IP address for failover. But this solution is platform agnostic and works with applications inside physical machines, virtual machines, in the Cloud. Any hypervisor is supported (VMware, Hyper-V&hellip;).</p>
<h3 id="examples">Examples</h3>
<ul>
<li>Video management: <a href="/solutions/milestone-xprotect-corporate-high-availability-synchronous-replication-failover/">Milestone (Management, SQL, Log, Event)/SafeKit</a></li>
<li>Video management: <a href="/solutions/genetec-sql-server-the-simplest-high-availability-cluster-with-synchronous-replication-and-failover-between-two-redundant-servers/">Genetec (SQL)/SafeKit</a></li>
<li>Access control: <a href="/solutions/nedap-high-availability-synchronous-replication-failover/">Nedap (AEOS, SQL)/SafeKit</a></li>
<li>New application (define services to restart, application folders to replicate, a virtual IP address for failover): <a href="/solutions/windows-high-availability-software-synchronous-replication-failover/">Windows</a>, <a href="/solutions/linux-high-availability-software-synchronous-replication-failover/">Linux</a></li>
</ul>
<h3 id="redundancy-and-high-availability-at-the-virtual-machine-level">Redundancy and high availability at the virtual machine level</h3>
<p>In this type of solution, the VMS software is put inside a virtual machine. The full Virtual Machine (VM) is replicated and restarted (Application + OS).</p>
<img src="/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/vm-ha-4.png" width="184" alt="Redundancy at the virtual machine level for a VMS software">
<p>The advantage of this solution is that it does not require a technical understanding of the application; you only need to define the location of the VM files where the application is installed. This solution is generic for any VMS software. However, it works only with Windows/Hyper-V and Linux/KVM, but not with VMware. This is an active/active solution with several virtual machines replicated and restarted between two nodes.</p>
<h3 id="examples-1">Examples</h3>
<ul>
<li>Building management: <a href="/solutions/siemens-desigo-cc-redundancy-high-availability-cluster-active-active/">Siemens Desigo CC/SafeKit</a></li>
<li>Video management and access control: <a href="/solutions/siemens-siveillance-redundancy-high-availability-cluster-active-active/">Siemens Siveillance suite/SafeKit</a></li>
<li>New application (define the location of the VM files folder where the application is installed): <a href="/solutions/hyper-v-replication-automatic-failover-load-balancing/">Windows/Hyper-V</a>, <a href="/solutions/linux-kvm-high-availability-replication-automatic-failover-load-balancing/">Linux/KVM</a></li>
</ul>
<p>More comparison between <a href="/best-practises/vm-ha-vs-application-ha/">VM HA vs Application HA</a></p>
<h2 id="safekit-a-recognized-solution-on-the-security-market">SafeKit, a recognized solution on the security market</h2>
<h3 id="milestone-has-chosen-safekit">Milestone has chosen SafeKit</h3>
<p>SafeKit is deployed in 30+ countries with the video management software of Milestone.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.milestonesys.com/products/expand-your-solution/milestone-extensions/management-server-failover/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SafeKit is validated by Milestone</a> for redundancy and high availability of the management server.</p>
<p>SafeKit is the best solution because it is purely software, completely hardware-agnostic.</p>
<h3 id="solution-preferred-by-siemens">Solution preferred by Siemens</h3>
<p>SafeKit is available in the <a href="https://www.siemens.com/en-us/products/atos-safekit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Siemens marketplace</a> with its <a href="/solutions/siemens-siveillance-redundancy-high-availability-cluster-active-active/">Siveillance suite</a> (video and access control) and with its SCADA software: <a href="/solutions/siemens-desigo-cc-redundancy-high-availability-cluster-active-active/">Desigo CC</a> (building management), <a href="/solutions/siemens-simatic-wincc-redundancy-high-availability-cluster-active-active/">SIMATIC WinCC</a>, <a href="/solutions/siemens-simatic-pcs-7-redundancy-high-availability-cluster-active-active/">SIMATIC PCS 7</a>.</p>
<p>SafeKit is deployed by Siemens in Australia, France, the Netherlands, Qatar, Switzerland, the UAE, the UK, the US.</p>
<h3 id="safekit-recommended-by-nedap">SafeKit recommended by Nedap</h3>
<p>Nedap, a key player in physical access control, recommends SafeKit for redundancy and high availability of its AEOS application.</p>
<p>The <a href="/solutions/nedap-high-availability-synchronous-replication-failover/">Nedap/SafeKit solution</a> is available with a free trial and a quick installation guide.</p>
<h3 id="til-technologies-has-chosen-safekit">TIL Technologies has chosen SafeKit</h3>
<p>SafeKit is deployed in 100+ customer sites by TIL Technologies for access control and building management.</p>
<p>SafeKit is the <a href="https://www.til-technologies.fr/en_GB/products/microsesame" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high availability option of MICROSESAME</a>.</p>
<h3 id="innovation-award-in-video-management-software">Innovation award in Video Management Software</h3>
<p>Readers of Benchmark Magazine (specialized in physical security systems for resellers &amp; SI) have voted for <a href="https://benchmarkmagazine.com/evidian-safekit-redundancy-and-high-availability/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SafeKit as an innovation in Video Management Software</a>.</p>
<p>This award shows the importance of redundancy in security offerings.</p>
<h2 id="hub">🔍 SafeKit High Availability Navigation Hub</h2>
<p><strong>Explore SafeKit: Features, technical videos, documentation, and free trial</strong></p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Resource Type</th>
<th>Description</th>
<th>Direct Link</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Key Features</strong></td>
<td>Why Choose SafeKit for Simple and Cost-Effective High Availability?</td>
<td><a href="/#why-choose-safekit-for-ha" title="Discover SafeKit features for simple and cost-effective high availability">See Why Choose SafeKit for High Availability</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Use Cases</strong></td>
<td>Explore How SafeKit Ensures the High Availability of Critical Infrastructure</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-use-cases" title="Explore SafeKit high availability use cases">See All Use Cases (OEM Software, Edge Servers, SCADA, and more)</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Deployment Model</strong></td>
<td>All-in-One SANless HA: Shared-Nothing Software Clustering</td>
<td><a href="/#all-in-one-sanless-ha" title="Learn about all-in-one SANless high availability with shared-nothing software clustering">See SafeKit All-in-One SANless HA</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>HA Strategies</strong></td>
<td>SafeKit: Infrastructure (VM) vs. Application-Level High Availability</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-ha-redundancy-choices" title="Compare VM-level redundancy with SafeKit application-level high availability strategies">See SafeKit HA &amp; Redundancy: VM vs. Application Level</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Technical Specifications</strong></td>
<td>Technical Limitations for SafeKit Clustering</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-ha-limitations" title="Technical requirements and limitations for SafeKit application clustering">See SafeKit High Availability Limitations</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Proof of Concept</strong></td>
<td>SafeKit: High Availability Configuration &amp; Failover Demos</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-failover-tutorials" title="Step-by-step videos on SafeKit high availability, from installation to automated failover">See SafeKit Failover Tutorials</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Architecture</strong></td>
<td>How the SafeKit Mirror Cluster works (Real-Time Replication &amp; Failover)</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-mirror-cluster" title="See technical architecture and failover mechanism of SafeKit Mirror Cluster">See SafeKit Mirror Cluster: Real-Time Replication &amp; Failover</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Architecture</strong></td>
<td>How the SafeKit Farm Cluster works (Network Load Balancing &amp; Failover)</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-farm-cluster" title="Technical overview of SafeKit Farm Cluster architecture with network load balancing">See SafeKit Farm Cluster: Network Load Balancing &amp; Failover</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Competitive Advantages</strong></td>
<td>Comparison: SafeKit vs. Traditional High Availability (HA) Clusters</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-ha-comparison" title="Detailed comparison of SafeKit software vs traditional hardware-based HA clusters">See SafeKit vs. Traditional HA Cluster Comparison</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Technical Resources</strong></td>
<td>SafeKit High Availability: Documentation, Downloads &amp; Trial</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-ha-technical-resources" title="Access SafeKit free trial, technical documentation, and high availability white papers">See SafeKit HA Free Trial &amp; Technical Documentation</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Pre-configured Solutions</strong></td>
<td>SafeKit Application Module Library: Ready-to-Use HA Solutions</td>
<td><a href="/#safekit-ha-application-modules" title="Browse the library of pre-configured SafeKit modules for automated application failover">See SafeKit High Availability Application Modules</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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