Solving internet coverage issues offshore

Because connectivity varies dramatically at sea, Mr Driver said it can be impossible to achieve the level of quality of service (QoS), especially when companies attempt to run applications locally at remote sites that use large database systems, which is a major source of frustration.

“The first step to improving remote access to applications and data is changing the internet’s role from backbone to occasionally needed service,” said Mr Driver.

Decentralisation, or the distributed data and applications approach, has become a major solution for the problem because when applications are deployed in this way, offshore offices do not shut down when the network connectivity is slow or lost, and the data centre is no longer a single point of failure.

Database replication technologies allow a rich client interface to operate uninterrupted via a local database, even during periods of complete network unavailability. They can then allow updates to stream back and forth over the network during periods of acceptable network QoS.

Crucially, users in marine industries don’t have to be connected to a network to access their data. Instead, they can obtain up to date information at any time with the same level of QoS, performance and management costs as those in the central office – using either simple data replication or complete synchronisation.

DXSTRO’s DataXtendRE (DXRE) data replication technology enables enterprises to synchronise data securely and reliably between head office, remote sites and mobile workers in locations where connectivity is intermittent or limited.

By Anne-Marie Causer