Model Overview

This integrated systems model, which adapts as new technology and capabilities emerge, is in agreement with an integrated system meta-model developed by the Security Industry Association.  This roadmap for the evolution of technology  in and information technology driven world may be downloaded.  It is based, in part, on the presumption that infrastructure will be shared in a structured, IP connected world. 

When infrastructure is truly shared, products are defined by the software that makes them work.  Enterprise solutions become collections of software modules performing roles as needed to create successful systems.   These modules must interoperate to create working solutions.  This requires standards that permit the exchange of information between the software modules that define the solutions.  Thus, the emergence of this architecture envisions interoperating modules that communicate according to standards and work together in a shared infrastructure.   

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Model Summary

Systems are imagined to be composed of three types of software components defined by the roles and the character of the software’s interaction with other components.  Typically, each type of software makes different demands on the enterprises shared resources.  We provide here some symbols that represent each of these levels.

System components that provides services on a system wide basis are called “Core Services” and they depend on the shared resources provided by on the core services level of the system’s shared resources.  Generally these resources include powerful computers running enterprise class server operating systems, database engines and databases with provisioning and reference data, protected environments, UPS power, and extensive network connectivity.  Frequently there is a professional staff that manages these resources and supports the infrastructure.

The middleware services level contains the shared resources needed to support the middleware applications of the enterprise.  Middleware software supports the distribution of core service capabilities throughout the Enterprise and provides distributed access to specialized services.  One may think of the distributed enterprise as having islands of middleware at critical locations throughout the enterprise much like trucking operations utilize distribution centers to optimize their operations.   Typically there are several such islands of middleware shared resources supporting middleware services in any large Enterprise.  Generally the shared resources provided include computers running server operating systems supporting specialized applications and distributed copies of data to expedite local access to the information, protected environments, UPS power, and extensive network connectivity. 

Edge Components are the parts of systems that human users can see and use.  They represent the most tangible parts of systems.   There are many examples of edge components and they are broadly distributed throughout the Enterprise.  They are supported by the Edge Component Level of the system’s shared infrastructure.  These resources may include network connectivity, UPS power, protected spaces for cabling connections environmental conditioning, and similar resources. 

An Enterprise’s shared resources are thus viewed as a composition of multiple layers of shared resources as illustrated below. 

Environment, Connectivity, Communications, and Computing resources are the infrastructure elements upon which systems are built and deployed. The systems of the future will share this infrastructure.  In the schematics that follow, the above symbols will represent the ubiquitous and significant role played by the shared resources. 

Each supported software application is a part of the total solution and, as shown below, the applications may be represented as resting on the level of the shared resources they rely upon.   This very modular design view offers greater extensibility and scalability to the Enterprise because solution may be adapted to emerging requirements and because scalability is easy to achieve by addition of another instance of a software module using the shared resources of the enterprise.  This approach protects the Enterprise’s investment in infrastructure and “Future Proofs” the system.

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Edge Components

Edge Components represent the many user interfaces of the system. All elements external to the system interact with the system through an edge component.  The edge component may be a portal, an administrative work station, a digital video server, or an interface to an external system. Edge components frequently interact with middleware in distributed environments.

An Edge Component is composed of software and hardware elements.  It is illustrated as residing on a layer as shown in the figure.  These components constitute the visible face of the system, i.e., its user interface.  Every type of user interface may be distinctive. 

An Edge Component is:

• An Edge Application, a software module performing in a role providing specific services
• An Edge Device, a computing device and Operating System Environment (OS) as needed to provide a place for an Edge Application that creates the Edge Component.  It will have the necessary ports needed to connect to the System and to any field devices needed to fulfill its mission. 
• Field Devices as required to complete the mission of the Edge Component. 

Examples of Edge Components

• Digital Video Server with analog or IP cameras  where the videoserver receives, stores, and serves up video and controls the camera in all respects are examples of edge components.  These components are composed of applications software, and edge device (a PC) and an operating environment defined by the operating system on the PC.  In the picture both a Salient Systems RM1000 and a Panasonic 316 Digital Disk Recorder are shown as examples of edge components that are in the Laboratory. 

 

• Controlled Access Portal where a portal controller manages the interactions between cards, locks, door sensors, etc. to admit card-holders according to provisioned rules.  The picture shows an access control edge component, the HID Global VertX V1000 controller.  The application software is ICS’s OSCII access software, the edge device is the VertX V1000 controller and the operating environment is LINUX. 

 

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Middleware Components

Middleware services provide a means for systems to become larger and still perform well.  Typically they are distributed throughout the Enterprise’s infrastructure serving in the capacities described below. 

They require computing devices with operating environments to perform their functions.  In the picture a number of computing elements that are tasked with providing support middleware services are shown.  The applications software running on these machines performs in varying combinations all of the software application functions described below. 

In the descriptions below, figures represent the appearance of middleware applications on their island of shared resources. 

• Message Concentration – Middleware can assist by concentrating event and other transaction communications especially over wide area communication facilities.  An example of this is the role performed by a video server that distributes live and stored video to its consumers.  

• Distribute Core Services-  Middleware improves system availability by representing core services to distributed edge components and distributed edge components to core services.   When connectivity between these functions are lost, the middleware can provide the services and enable continued operation to some degree.  This includes the provisioning of distributed elements. Provides faster, local access to data in highly distributed systems.

• Complex Calculations – Middleware provides higher level computing resources to edge components to complete complex transactions.   

• Connectivity – Middleware can provide an efficient path for edge component to edge component communications.

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Core Services Components

Core services typically are deployed in the centralized computing facilities present in most Enterprises.  Frequently they will be deployed on emerging computing platforms like blade servers possible running under a hardware sharing operating system like VM.  Such a deployment is an excellent example of how shared resources improved the value of a solution by reducing the cost while increasing the availability.  An application providing core services is illustrated as residing above or below the disk representing these shared resources as shown in the illustration.  Provisioning services play such a foundational role, they are placed below the disk and annotated with a database symbol.  The transaction processing components are placed above the disk.

• Provisioning Services include databases and sometimes interfaced applications that provide provisioning data or other essential information to the system.  Provisioning services affect the operation of the entire system.  In the Laboratory the database is Oracle 10.g.2.

• Monitoring Services receive and distribute transactions as configured by their provisioning.

• Control Services provide the automatic system responses to events based on their provisioning.

In reality these services may be integrated or separated however, as a general principle, separated strategies provide greater scalability and flexibility.

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System Schematic

The schematic below illustrates a complex system with the shared resources levels and the many different applications and edge components that constitute the system.