Case Study: Alunorf achieves six years of zero downtime and always-on production with Stratus Technologies' ftServer

Stratus Ftserver Secures Production Process

Alunorf, the world’s largest aluminium rolling and casting plant in Neuss, Germany, produces about 1.5 million tonnes of aluminium rolls annually. Its hot-rolling mill—where 500°C bars are processed into long strips and cold-rolled to 0.2 mm—depends on area control and visualization servers to manage pit and pusher furnaces; any server failure could halt the entire production line and compromise safety, so extremely high availability was the primary requirement when replacing a discontinued system.

Instead of a complex cluster, Alunorf deployed Stratus ftServer fault-tolerant servers that duplicate all components, run as a single machine, and include Call Home servicing and non‑disruptive maintenance. Four ftServers now run 24/7/365, delivering industry-leading availability (99.9999% uptime), six years of continuous operation with no downtime, and avoided costly software changes or production interruptions.

Alunorf

Markus Haastert

Line Manager