Genetec Synergis Cloud Link - Complex, Costly and Confusing

"Complex, Costly, and Confusing"

doesnt this fall in line with all Genetec products or naw?

I wish there was a way for Genetec to see this post and understand the frustration the Cloud Link causes, but I don't think it will happen. I have brought this up many many times but get shut down every time. Back in the day it made sense because our options were the V100s and SMC. Then we were hooking MR panels to the SMC. Then Genetec said they are no longer supporting Mercury hardware. Then they came back and said they will but with the EP panel like you mentioned - to "respect the Mercury architecture".

The SCL is just running Windows 7 embedded with a very small program call Softwire running on it. It is a translator. It would make more sense to be turned into a role or run it as a service on the Access Control Manager but I don't see that happening. The software will clearly run on any Windows instance but they have gone to great lengths to prevent it from running anywhere else. This "3 tier architecture" is ridiculous. If want to design an entire site of LP/MR panels and all of the servers are VMs where the customer has clustering abilities and now I have to buy this piece of hardware and bolt it to the wall for the LP panels to talk. If the hardware dies or that building goes away we are now stuck without a connect. Yes, Genetec will sell you the Softwire program to run in your own VM environment, for $8k whereas the the SCL is $1k or the SV-100 is $1,200. It makes using Mercury hardware not cost effective for small sites, so we typically go with the SCL and V100s. However, as soon as you do that and the customer wants to leave Genetec the SCL is useless and Genetec is no longer "open platform". Stop making and selling hardware and stick to the software.

The Cloudlink is definitely an "added" device, but 1.) it's not that costly (in the grand scheme of any "Enterprise" deployment), 2.) it's not confusing, and 3.) there is a legitimate reason for it.

For those familiar with Lenel, the best comparison that I have heard is that the Cloudlink is very much like a Comm Server. While I won't get into the weeds on Comm Servers, they basically are where the bulk of the transactions are processed into the server/database itself. Adding too many controllers/readers/transactions/cameras/inputs/etc onto a single Comm Server can result in the system becoming overloaded and transactions taking longer to process, alarms not populating correctly, etc.

The Cloudlink is effectively a Comm Server, in that it is what does the initial buffering and communications of all the transactions that enter into the system. This is especially important in the Genetec environment where they accept multiple different types of access control hardware -- it allows them to be even further agnostic than most other access control systems on the market in terms of what they can support.  You mention S2, but S2 supports only S2 and Mercury hardware. You mention Feenics, but they ONLY support Mercury. There aren't many access platforms on the market that accept as many different hardware types as Genetec -- Mercury, HID, Axis, and then all of the various wireless platforms.

The other thing that I will add is that of course the number of Cloud access control deployments is low -- the product has barely been on the market a year, and it's still being developed to where it has a competitive feature-set with their on-premise solution. That said, I've deployed one cloud-based access system with Genetec, and it was by far one of the easiest deployments I've ever done. The CloudLink sync'd up with the CloudAccessManager immediately and it was online within minutes. We also Federated two Stratocast cameras in with it, so all of it is visible within SecurityDesk, including cameras linked to doors and events. With the added ability to Federate those cloud-based systems into a larger Genetec environment, it is a powerful deployment option for a large number of situations.

The one complaint I will definitely throw out there -- the name is just stupid and confusing. Putting the word "cloud" into any product should result in someone being tarred and feathered. It creates so much confusion with people who don't understand the architecture and makes them think there is more "cloud" involved in something when it's just used for a typical on-premise deployment...

I'm glad im not the only one thats confused as all hell about the purpose this device serves and when/why its actually needed

All i want to know is whats the path to functional threat levels if i have a bunch of sites with v100/etc connected to v1000 in genetec? My understanding is that threat levels wont work without these?

should i still be buying v100/v200/v1000?

should i just be buying these things?

Should i be replacing the v100/v1000 crap?

So I don't see many comments on "why" the CL is used, can you talk about some of the added benefits of the PACS solution with using the CL such as P2P Global Anti-Passback w/o host comms, support for Wireless Locks w/o additional gateways, STid Support etc.  It's pretty powerful device that allows Genetec to develop more features for the Mercury hardware for users to take advantage of.

I think this article is interesting but lack some perspective ans the unit is made for a worldwide audience, so that it can accomodate many "local" market request. 

The Cloudlink can be a door controler in a very extreme case that is used currently in France for very high end security. 

For some history: in this country , there is a national bureau called ANSSI (roughly translated as National Agency for IT Security) that devised a rought certification in acces control. (called CSPN) 

in this method, the reader needs to be totally "dumb" and is connected throught a RS485 directly to the master controler and only the controler, not the reader can decode the cypher, then read the card, and afterward take the decision. 

the cypher is contain in 3 SAM card that can fit in the unit and those are design to be wiped out if you remove them from the unit without authorisation. 

in this configuration throught its RS485 ports, and extension ports it can connect directly to 16 doors. 

(but you still need some V100 or V200 to open the doors, V100 so you don't pay the licence fee, or V200 if you don't care about price) 

this is a little step up from the OSDPv2 protocol and only 4 supplier currently pass this national  certification step. 

The older cloudlink cannot do it by the way, only those with the red strip on it. 

some other functionnalities are not support without the cloudlink on a Security system such as turnstile mode and global anti passback for instance. 

So even if it need some improvment, I still like this module as it simplifies my work on many project, since a lot of ACS system in Europe are still very proprietary for security Reason. 

yes, it's to mitigate the possibility of somebody removing the reader to retro engineer the secret and /or cypher in the device.

I don't get why this is so hard to grasp, yes we all agree that it could be done with out the "Brick" as its often reffered to but it is no differnt then having to stand up a Lenel Comm Server to handle traffic. In fact the Comm Server metodolgy can be more costly in terms of supporting, MS/VM Licensing, rack space, patcing etc. For those opperating in a large enterprise PACS deployment this is not really an issue, when I say Enterprise I mean 250K+ cardholders, 10K+ openings.