PostAuto – Integrated System Architecture (ISA)

Standardised system landscape for the rolling data centre: the Integrated System Architecture (ISA) project aims to standardise IT for the PostAuto fleet and is being implemented in around 2,500 PostAuto vehicles.

Challenge

The historically established, heterogeneous and extensively proprietary system landscape was the catalyst behind the Integrated System Architecture (ISA) project. The application of open standards and uniformity across the board can greatly help reduce investment and operating costs. Functions required by all applications should only be developed once and should be provided for all applications on one platform.

Solution

In the project, Puzzle carried out the proof of concept for the sales back end, developed the first prototype of the user interface for ticket sales and later looked after the engineering side of things when it came to automating the installation and configuration of the various on-board systems.

The back-end services for ticket sales, door control, external displays, timetable information and advertising run on the on-board computer. Two mini PCs are used to control the dual screens. They are also used by the driver to operate the front-end applications e.g. ticket sales and door control.

The entire system is based on an automated installation and update process, including versioned configuration management. Puzzle is responsible for engineering aspects here. These processes cover both the operating system and all of the software required to operate the services. The special requirements of a “rolling data centre” had to be taken into account, such as mobile communication and power supply.

The central back-end services, e.g. the sales back end, run on the PaaS (Platform as a Service) of Post IT. We were also able to support the design and implementation phases with our engineering experience.

Our tasks in vehicle management

• Connection of on-board vehicle computers to the Post infrastructure
• Automated, asynchronous updates uploaded to the vehicles
• Automation of RedHat satellite tasks
• Simultaneous transfer of voice and data via the same GSM modem
• Interception of ignition to enable/disable the systems
• Watchdogs for monitoring printers/modems and reset device
• Creation of ELK clusters for the vehicle log
• Construction of RPMs via Jenkins and automatic GIT tagging

Our tasks for the PaaS platform at Post IT

• Concept development and consultation during creation of PaaS
• Support during creation of PaaS
• Knowledge transfer to Post IT team
• Cluster changes and updates
• Incidents/troubleshooting
• Coordination with internal security
• Support for the development teams during deployments on the platforms