High Availability Considerations for a Distributed Computer-Based Railway Information System

In this paper we present an implementation of a computer-based railway information system. This system requires a distributed infrastructure that should offer a high availability. The solution proposed is distributed into three kind of nodes: a node that implements the system interface for administering and monitoring using an ubiquitous Web application, a central computer that stores the data and serves as the union nexus and an embedded computer on each station for controlling the station elements (displays, megaphones, etc). The system can also make VoIP connections between the interface and the station. This paper describes the major issues faced during the designing of this railway information system that are related to achieve a high availability