RackFalcon provides identity-verified physical access logging for data center cabinets and cages, enabling organizations to prove who was physically present, for how long, and why. This addresses a critical gap in security and compliance for colocated and regulated infrastructure.
In colocation and shared data center environments, physical access remains one of the weakest points in the security and compliance chain.
Traditional approaches rely on:
These systems fail to answer:
No other existing system, gives who, how long, and why, visitors are present at high value cabinets and cages. Legacy systems deliver none or half the information and require non scalable expensive complex installation.
— Richard Sumnall, founder of RackFalcon
RackFalcon set out to build a solution that could deliver tenant-owned, identity-bound, continuous proof of presence, without relying on facility infrastructure. This makes their solution perfect for colocation and multi-tenant data centers.
There's many moving parts involved in the creation of a vision-based system that can not only detect people, but also verify the identity of them.
Richard Sumnall, founder of RackFalcon, decided to build the system using Axis network cameras. This proved to be a powerful choice since a lot of the functionality was already there in the camera's embedded Linux-based OS.
The build covered front end and back end software development, working in partnership with on device software.
— Richard Sumnall, founder of RackFalcon
The solution requires software to be implemented for an AWS-based back-end system, a front-end application for user interaction and an edge-deployed component running in each camera to provide an outbound only connection from the camera in such a way that data is only sent when there's actually something interesting happening in front of the camera.
RackFalcon’s initial implementation for the edge component was built using the camera’s built-in rule engine. This approach proved highly effective as an initial proof of concept and successfully validated the core idea: identity-verified physical access logging at the rack level that is simple to deploy.
However, as RackFalcon moved from the first minimal prototype, several limitations became clear:
While the rule-engine-based approach confirmed product viability, it was not sufficient for secure, scalable, long-term deployments in real data center environments.
"What I didn't want is what most cameras will do for you, which is
like event, event, event, event, spam. I don't want that. I want 'tell me that Richard has arrived and then tell me how long he's there.'"
RackFalcon is building their solution entirely in house, but building expertise and knowledge needed for both front end and server back end is hard. To also extend this expertise with embedded programming in C++, learning cross-compilation for multiple architectures and all the internals of the AXIS OS and ACAP SDK would delay the project too much and move focus away from the product to technical implementation details. The solution was to make use of modern tools and infrastructure which allowed them to focus on what was really important and unique to them.
The FixedIT Data Agent is a really powerful layer which allows the creation of custom ACAP apps, without the need for C++, dev teams, or lengthy dev time. We were able to deliver scalable custom provisioning, including rotating auth tokens, to send images securely to our backend in record time.
— Richard Sumnall, founder of RackFalcon
The FixedIT Data Agent provided a managed, extensible edge runtime that removed the constraints of the native rule engine while preserving the simplicity required for data center deployments. The edge-deployed agent enables use of plugins and custom configuration files to create workflows and automations directly in the Axis device. The range of plugins include integrations such as MQTT, HTTP/REST, InfluxDB, SFTP and much more.
We've built the solution entirely in house, with a little email help from FixedIT who were super responsive and helpful throughout.
— Richard Sumnall, founder of RackFalcon
By building on the FixedIT Data Agent, RackFalcon was able to directly translate architectural choices into concrete operational and security outcomes:
Zero-Touch Deployment
< 30 minutes installation time
No custom onboarding scripts
No complex networking changes
No dependency on colocation provider infrastructure
Outbound-Only Security Model
Cameras initiate outbound connections only
No inbound access into customer networks
Strong alignment with data center security and compliance requirements
Secure, Scalable Provisioning
Rotating authentication tokens
Secure data transmission to RackFalcon’s backend
Centralized configuration and updates
Continuous health and status feedback from deployed devices
I would estimate that the FixedIT Data Agent saved us 3-6 months of dev time for the initial release. We will definitely continue to use it since we can iterate fast, and continue to improve and adapt the solution without a dedicated dev team in the embedded ACAP area.
— Richard Sumnall, founder of RackFalcon
If you are running hardware in collocated environments and are interested in knowing exactly who is physically present at your hardware, for how long, and why (security and compliance), all with a simple plug and play, outbound only installation, contact RackFalcon via rackfalcon.com.
If you too want to leapfrog by leveraging the FixedIT.ai technology to move faster and focus on what actually matters, you can read more about their service offering at FixedIT.ai or contact them at info@fixedit.ai.
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