Review ACS with free software
One of the interesting trends in the Russian market of access control is the emergence of manufacturing companies representing their full-featured software absolutely free.
The magical attraction of the word “free” as a magnet attracts new customers, but the free one always has a downside, let's look at this “dark” side.
We will clear it of marketing layering, and tell you how not to get hooked by marketers.
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It is clear that companies must earn money on something, it would be logical to assume that the costs of developing software are simply included in the cost of controllers. Therefore, with the controllers and begin, consider the characteristics and cost, and then the functionality of the software.
Moreover, the software of each manufacturer works only with its own controllers.
The company was founded in May 2010 in Moscow. Offers the widest range of equipment under the RusGuard brand, including equipment unique to the Russian market, for example, the ACS-102-CE-B (POE) controller with a built-in POE splitter, which allows powering not only the controller with readers, but also locks and latches etc.
Or ACS-102-CE-B (WF) has a built-in WiFi module that supports all modern traffic encryption protocols: 64/128-bit WEP, WPA-PSK TKIP / AES, WPA2-PSK TKIP / AES; and is easily configured via the built-in WEB interface, the built-in Wi-Fi is found on the Russian market, but not all.
A total of 11 main models of controllers and 3 specialized for the transition from an already installed access control system based on Legos equipment
In addition to controllers, Rusgard offers a line of readers RDR-202-Multi that reads all known standards to science - Cotag (Siemens-Bewator), Indala-26, Indala-44, HIDProx Card II, Em-marine, Mifare Classic, Mifare Plus, Mifare Ultralight, Mifare Ultralight C, DESfire EV1, icode SLI, NXP SmartMX JCOP, Infineon Gemalto TOP.
Represented by the largest Russian alliance of companies "Rubezh", working in the field of security systems for 25 years. They offer a classic series of three controllers under the brand Strazh, which in its range has 80% of manufacturers of access control systems.
And also a whole series of unremarkable products under the same brand - readers, electromechanical, locks, electromagnetic locks, door closers, exit buttons, identifiers that any more or less large trading house has in its range.
In 2011, she presented the classic line of ACS controllers under the Era brand, the advantages of which were, then as now, the low price, the cheapest controller among the manufacturers we consider, they represent, the Era 500 controller - 5,500 rubles .
The Russian developer and manufacturer of access control systems from St. Petersburg has been successfully operating in the security systems market since 2000. They also offer a range of 5 controllers, the only one of which 4 controllers support the RS-485 communication interface.
Comparative table of characteristics and prices (Picture is clickable)
* for era controllers, the key and event memory capacity is indicated for one access point; for two points, the capacity will be divided in half.
Now, when we know exactly which controller to choose and how much it will cost, let's proceed to the software.
Well, here we come to the sweetest - free software. In addition to the ones we are considering, there are still a bunch of companies offering this or that software module for free, our review includes only those who offer all the classic functionality of an ACS for free.
" RusGuard Soft " from the company "RusGuard":
AC Tech from Strazh:
" ENT Access Control " from the company "Era of New Technologies":
StorkAccess from Stork:
The classic functionality is common to all - the configuration of controllers, monitoring in real time events occurring in the system, setting user rights, creating personnel cards, pass template editor, time tracking, graphical plans, photo verification, sms and e-mail alerts.
An interesting difference of RusGuard is the availability of the RusGuard Cloud service with which you can configure connections between system elements without a static IP address, the service is also completely free.
The second difference of RusGuard is that the module of the template of passes in the free version allows you to create only one template, if you want to use a larger number of templates, you will have to pay extra from 20,000 to 300,000 rubles.
Well-known software and hardware manufacturers are quite selective in integrating into their software. That is why the number of integrations is a significant quality metric.
Rusgard Integration
The undoubted leader in the number of integration with third-party software manufacturers, and equipment manufacturers.
Most of the integration modules in Rusgarg are paid, on average from 20,000 rubles.
Integration Era of New Technologies
Integration Stork
Integration Guard
The type of database will directly affect the cost and more importantly, in my opinion, the speed
Microsoft SQL Server
RusGuard Soft and AC Tech use Microsoft SQL Server, which is free in the Express edition, which has certain limitations.
The main limitation of SQL Server Express is the maximum database size is 10 GB.
Is it possible to quickly fill the access control database up to 10 GB? The average figure obtained by expert is 3 - 4 years.
Of course, it strongly depends on the number of employees and the intensity of use, the main volume will be given by photos and scans of passports, when using such functionality.
It is also important to understand that 10 GB is a point of no return, that is, if the base is filled up to 10 GB, it can only be updated to the paid version or thrown out.
If you categorically do not want to do this, then you need to carefully monitor the size of the database, and start cleaning it before it reaches 10 GB.
Firebird
“ENT Access Control” and “StorkAccess” use Firebird which is known to be completely free.
Even an unsophisticated person in databases, at this moment the question begins to creep in, why is someone using paid databases, and someone is free.
Both companies, for which, by the way, honor them and praise, I honestly warn you that you may have to face a decline in productivity.
From the documentation Stork
From the documentation of the era of new technologies
Database security
I can not fail to mention the study of the security of the database of ACS producers, in which ENT Access Control turned out to be vulnerable, AC Tech was not investigated. No vulnerabilities were found in StorkAccess and RusGuard Soft.
The question of the cost of software acquires importance when a large number of client licenses are needed, this is mainly required for large companies with a wide geographically distributed structure.
But for such companies, the issue of free software is unlikely to be the main one, for them the cost of owning a system is much more important, which in turn depends on reliability, security, software performance, quality of technical support, quality of hardware, availability of hardware.
And taking into account the fact that many ACS producers with paid software use a licensing scheme in which only server software is paid, and client work places are provided free of charge, the benefits of companies with free software are minimized.
For medium and small companies with a small number of staff, and they are unlikely to be able to experience the problems of speed and security of the database, and the problem of overflow of the database they may face for the first time in 5-7 years.
For them, the initial cost of access control, cost in general, with controllers, readers, installation services, etc. will be important.
And given the fact that the most popular, it is also the cheapest controller for access control in Russia, the Z-5R costs only 590 rubles , the same conclusion suggests that the issue of free software will not be the main one.
If you sum up all of the above, it turns out that the free software is more a marketing tool than a serious criterion for choosing an ACS.
This conclusion is confirmed by the leader identified by us - the company Rusgard, the leader in software, in hardware, and the leader in terms of the number and cost of paid modules.
If you are interested in access control systems with free software, or you want to compare the possibilities of free and paid software - we are always in touch .
The magical attraction of the word “free” as a magnet attracts new customers, but the free one always has a downside, let's look at this “dark” side.
We will clear it of marketing layering, and tell you how not to get hooked by marketers.
')
It is clear that companies must earn money on something, it would be logical to assume that the costs of developing software are simply included in the cost of controllers. Therefore, with the controllers and begin, consider the characteristics and cost, and then the functionality of the software.
Moreover, the software of each manufacturer works only with its own controllers.
Company "RusGard"
The company was founded in May 2010 in Moscow. Offers the widest range of equipment under the RusGuard brand, including equipment unique to the Russian market, for example, the ACS-102-CE-B (POE) controller with a built-in POE splitter, which allows powering not only the controller with readers, but also locks and latches etc.
Or ACS-102-CE-B (WF) has a built-in WiFi module that supports all modern traffic encryption protocols: 64/128-bit WEP, WPA-PSK TKIP / AES, WPA2-PSK TKIP / AES; and is easily configured via the built-in WEB interface, the built-in Wi-Fi is found on the Russian market, but not all.
A total of 11 main models of controllers and 3 specialized for the transition from an already installed access control system based on Legos equipment
In addition to controllers, Rusgard offers a line of readers RDR-202-Multi that reads all known standards to science - Cotag (Siemens-Bewator), Indala-26, Indala-44, HIDProx Card II, Em-marine, Mifare Classic, Mifare Plus, Mifare Ultralight, Mifare Ultralight C, DESfire EV1, icode SLI, NXP SmartMX JCOP, Infineon Gemalto TOP.
Company "Guardian"
Represented by the largest Russian alliance of companies "Rubezh", working in the field of security systems for 25 years. They offer a classic series of three controllers under the brand Strazh, which in its range has 80% of manufacturers of access control systems.
And also a whole series of unremarkable products under the same brand - readers, electromechanical, locks, electromagnetic locks, door closers, exit buttons, identifiers that any more or less large trading house has in its range.
The company "Era of New Technologies"
In 2011, she presented the classic line of ACS controllers under the Era brand, the advantages of which were, then as now, the low price, the cheapest controller among the manufacturers we consider, they represent, the Era 500 controller - 5,500 rubles .
Company "Stork"
The Russian developer and manufacturer of access control systems from St. Petersburg has been successfully operating in the security systems market since 2000. They also offer a range of 5 controllers, the only one of which 4 controllers support the RS-485 communication interface.
Comparative table of characteristics and prices (Picture is clickable)
* for era controllers, the key and event memory capacity is indicated for one access point; for two points, the capacity will be divided in half.
Now, when we know exactly which controller to choose and how much it will cost, let's proceed to the software.
Software
Well, here we come to the sweetest - free software. In addition to the ones we are considering, there are still a bunch of companies offering this or that software module for free, our review includes only those who offer all the classic functionality of an ACS for free.
" RusGuard Soft " from the company "RusGuard":
Interface Screenshots
AC Tech from Strazh:
Interface Screenshots
" ENT Access Control " from the company "Era of New Technologies":
Interface Screenshots
StorkAccess from Stork:
Interface Screenshots
The classic functionality is common to all - the configuration of controllers, monitoring in real time events occurring in the system, setting user rights, creating personnel cards, pass template editor, time tracking, graphical plans, photo verification, sms and e-mail alerts.
An interesting difference of RusGuard is the availability of the RusGuard Cloud service with which you can configure connections between system elements without a static IP address, the service is also completely free.
The second difference of RusGuard is that the module of the template of passes in the free version allows you to create only one template, if you want to use a larger number of templates, you will have to pay extra from 20,000 to 300,000 rubles.
Integration
Well-known software and hardware manufacturers are quite selective in integrating into their software. That is why the number of integrations is a significant quality metric.
Rusgard Integration
The undoubted leader in the number of integration with third-party software manufacturers, and equipment manufacturers.
- Integration with fire safety systems
- Integration with video surveillance systems (Macroscop, Panasonic, ISS, ITV, Ivideon)
- Integration with 1C
- Integration of Alphalogic PSIM - a system for monitoring and managing security systems and building engineering systems
- Integration with VisitorControl visitor registration system
- Integration with Abbyy PassportReader
- Integration with ZKTeco biometrics
Most of the integration modules in Rusgarg are paid, on average from 20,000 rubles.
Integration Era of New Technologies
- With biometric ZKTeco
- CCTV Line
Integration Stork
- CCTV Line
Integration Guard
- With video surveillance RVi
Types of databases
The type of database will directly affect the cost and more importantly, in my opinion, the speed
Microsoft SQL Server
RusGuard Soft and AC Tech use Microsoft SQL Server, which is free in the Express edition, which has certain limitations.
The main limitation of SQL Server Express is the maximum database size is 10 GB.
Is it possible to quickly fill the access control database up to 10 GB? The average figure obtained by expert is 3 - 4 years.
Of course, it strongly depends on the number of employees and the intensity of use, the main volume will be given by photos and scans of passports, when using such functionality.
It is also important to understand that 10 GB is a point of no return, that is, if the base is filled up to 10 GB, it can only be updated to the paid version or thrown out.
If you categorically do not want to do this, then you need to carefully monitor the size of the database, and start cleaning it before it reaches 10 GB.
Firebird
“ENT Access Control” and “StorkAccess” use Firebird which is known to be completely free.
Even an unsophisticated person in databases, at this moment the question begins to creep in, why is someone using paid databases, and someone is free.
Both companies, for which, by the way, honor them and praise, I honestly warn you that you may have to face a decline in productivity.
From the documentation Stork
A large amount of information in the database can lead to a decrease in
performance of the software package for two reasons. First of all,
the size of the tables degrades query performance. Secondly, with a large amount of data, FireBird can automatically increase the size of the database file, which leads to an additional increase in the system resources of the personal computer.
From the documentation of the era of new technologies
The developers did not impose a limit on the number of remote clients, but with the simultaneous operation of a large number of remote clients, it is possible to “slow down” the program. It depends on the power of the computer on which the server side is located, and on the workload of the local network.
Database security
I can not fail to mention the study of the security of the database of ACS producers, in which ENT Access Control turned out to be vulnerable, AC Tech was not investigated. No vulnerabilities were found in StorkAccess and RusGuard Soft.
findings
The question of the cost of software acquires importance when a large number of client licenses are needed, this is mainly required for large companies with a wide geographically distributed structure.
But for such companies, the issue of free software is unlikely to be the main one, for them the cost of owning a system is much more important, which in turn depends on reliability, security, software performance, quality of technical support, quality of hardware, availability of hardware.
And taking into account the fact that many ACS producers with paid software use a licensing scheme in which only server software is paid, and client work places are provided free of charge, the benefits of companies with free software are minimized.
For medium and small companies with a small number of staff, and they are unlikely to be able to experience the problems of speed and security of the database, and the problem of overflow of the database they may face for the first time in 5-7 years.
For them, the initial cost of access control, cost in general, with controllers, readers, installation services, etc. will be important.
And given the fact that the most popular, it is also the cheapest controller for access control in Russia, the Z-5R costs only 590 rubles , the same conclusion suggests that the issue of free software will not be the main one.
If you sum up all of the above, it turns out that the free software is more a marketing tool than a serious criterion for choosing an ACS.
This conclusion is confirmed by the leader identified by us - the company Rusgard, the leader in software, in hardware, and the leader in terms of the number and cost of paid modules.
If you are interested in access control systems with free software, or you want to compare the possibilities of free and paid software - we are always in touch .
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/316728/
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