System Redundancy

Q-SYS Level 1 Cinema Training : Hardware Overview

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1 ) Introduction to Q-SYS Level 1 for Cinema

3m 58s

6 ) Audio Playback

13m 10s

9 ) Final Exam Overview

24m 55s

Video Transcript

System Redundancy 2m 42s
0:08
Now let’s talk about some of the Redundancy options in your Q-SYS system
0:12
and show you how quickly the system can recover from a hardware failure.
0:17
In a basic signal path, your Core is connected to your network
0:21
through which it communicates with any I/O Frame.
0:24
Now you can have a backup Core on your network as well as a backup I/O Frame,
0:29
and since every Core and every I/O Frame has two Ethernet ports,
0:33
you can also employ a backup network as well.
0:37
Now in addition, you can have an amplifier redundancy with the help of QSC’s DAB-801,
0:43
which is the DataPort Amplifier Backup panel.
0:46
Now we’re going to simulate a possible failure for each of these elements
0:51
so you can see for yourself how the system reacts.
0:54
Now you can see in our design here that we have a Core with a backup,
0:59
an I/O Frame with a backup, as well as the DAB-801.
1:05
When we save our Design to the Core by pressing F5,
1:08
you’ll see here that we have a status bar for our Core,
1:11
and a green LED lets us know that the Primary Core is running.
1:15
Our amplifiers and I/O Frame are still initializing,
1:18
but as soon as they’re finished then we’ll hear our Audio Player, which you can hear right now.
1:24
Now we’re going to simulate a Core failure by unplugging the power to the actual unit.
1:29
When the Primary Core fails, the network will switch over to the Secondary Core,
1:33
and as soon as that Core is active we’ll receive a notification of what has happened.
1:41
Next we’ll simulate a failure with the I/O Frame by unplugging it as well.
1:45
Once again we’ll get a brief interruption in the audio while the Core reports the situation,
1:50
and the Backup I/O Frame will switch from Standby to Active mode.
1:54
The amplifiers all shut off so there are no pops in the system,
1:58
as soon as they’re back up our audio is restored.
2:04
We can also unplug the Ethernet cable – and because this network is redundant
2:09
you’ll notice that we won’t have any audio dropout as long as one cable is plugged in.
2:13
We can take one out, trade one in for the other, and the audio will continue uninterrupted.
2:21
Finally we can simulate an amplifier failure.
2:24
We can unplug this amplifier, and the DAB-801 will switch the system over to the backup amplifier
2:30
and once again our audio path is restored.
2:34
That completes the redundancy demonstration for the Q-SYS signal path.
2:37
Thanks for watching and we’ll see you next time.

Lesson Description

System Redundancy 2m 42s
Understand the redundancy options available to Q-SYS systems, including those for the Core, I/O Frames, Network, and Amplifiers.

Tips and Definitions

System Redundancy 2m 42s
Core Redundancy allows a second Core to be connected to the network. Should the primary Core go offline for any reason, the secondary Core takes over.

Input/Output Redundancy give the designer the option of adding redundant I/O for high priority areas.

Network Redundancy may be implemented by simply adding additional network switches an cabling. In the event of a network failure, the Q-SYS components switch over instantly to the backup network.

Amplifier Redundancy is made possible with the use of the QSC DAB-801 (DataPort Amplifier Backup panel) which configures five 2-channel QSC DataPort amplifiers so that the fifth amplifier automatically kicks in if a problem is detected with any of the other four (4+1 redundancy). A second DAB-801 may be added for 8 + 1 redundancy.

Downloads and Links

System Redundancy 2m 42s
Download the video: "Identify Button" (720p)
Download Q-SYS Designer