Do You Still Need a Windows PC in the Office to Run Your Gate?

By Self Storage Hosting. Published September 20, 2026.

It depends on your gate system and your facility management software (FMS). Some setups, as their own vendors document them, still depend on a Windows computer that stays on around the clock. Storable: What to do if the gate sync is not working For some cloud systems, the documents name no such computer for day-to-day management. OpenTech Alliance: CIA access control DoorKing: Cloud Account Manager, 1830 series Janus International: Nokē Smart Entry System

Here, a gate server means the computer that runs your gate software, or the one that runs the sync between your FMS and the gate. Despite the name, the documents below mostly call it a PC or simply your computer.

Windows matters too: Microsoft ended support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. Microsoft: End of support for Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 The Windows section below covers what that means for a gate computer.

One option, and the one we sell, is hosting: the office PC's job moves to the cloud, and a small bridge stays at the site to talk to your controllers. You can read how our cloud access control hosting works. This guide covers the other options too.

What a gate server actually does

A gate computer can do two separate jobs.

Job one: running the gate maker's software

The DigiGate-700 installation manual, which PTI Security Systems keeps in its document archive, is a clear example. It says the office PC runs the DigiGate software and is used to program the system controller. The PC connects to the controller by an RS-232 cable up to 50 feet long, and receives the controller's activity log when it runs the DigiGate program. PTI Security Systems: DigiGate installation manual, archived (PDF) The manual asks for the PC's hibernation and standby features to be turned off, and it is plain about the gate itself: "Once programmed, the system controller can run the system without the PC being on." PTI Security Systems: DigiGate installation manual, archived (PDF)

Job two: syncing your FMS with the gate

Storable Easy describes the chain. A change you make in Storable Easy goes to the gate sync program on your computer, which connects Storable Easy to your gate program, and the gate software sends it on to the gate. Storable: Common gate problems (Storable Easy help) Storable's troubleshooting page is direct: "Your computer must stay turned on 24/7 for the gate to sync correctly." Storable: What to do if the gate sync is not working A screensaver is fine, and so is logging off, but the computer should not sleep or hibernate. Storable: What to do if the gate sync is not working Storable: Common gate problems (Storable Easy help)

So the two jobs can differ when the computer is off: the DigiGate manual describes the gate itself, while Storable describes changes reaching it. A gate that still opens does not prove the computer is optional. If codes have stopped matching, our guide to a gate that is not syncing walks through the checks.

What each vendor's documents say about a computer

Each row reports what the vendor's own document says, including where it describes something other than a computer. A product missing from a list is not proof that it is incompatible; that document simply does not list it.

One note on that last row: the Sitelink Web Edition requirement above is for the computer you run Sitelink on, not a gate computer.

Storable Easy and Storable Edge

Storable's help pages refer to your computer without saying where it has to be. Storable Edge's gate integration page lists Storable Access Control among its integrations, and lists INSOMNIAC CIA too, though the page's own list names it OpenTech CIA. Its same-computer sentence does not name either one, and the page does not say whether they need the gate program. Storable: Gate integration (Storable Edge help) Our self-storage gate compatibility matrix compares which gate systems each Storable product lists.

PTI: StorLogix Desktop, StorLogix Cloud and the BridgeApp

StorLogix Desktop's installation guide has you choose whether the computer is the StorLogix server or a workstation. PTI Security Systems: StorLogix Desktop installation guide, archived (PDF) PTI's facts page lists StorLogix Desktop, FalconXT, the StorLogix Cloud Adaptor and DigiGate as legacy products it no longer sells or supports, and gives no dates for them. PTI Security Systems: Facts, including legacy products

StorLogix Cloud does not remove the computer in every case. PTI's StorLogix Cloud manual says the BridgeApp is required if your FMS is not yet integrated with PTI's API, and describes it as a service that processes FMS flat files and keeps running in the background. PTI says to install it on the PC or server that also holds your FMS client, which does not have to be at the site, though it usually is. PTI Security Systems: StorLogix Cloud user's manual (PDF) PTI's facts page marks Sitelink, Storable Edge and Storable Easy as connecting through the BridgeApp rather than the API, and gives Storable Edge a second, webhooks row marked for the API. Its table prints Storable Edge and Storable Easy under earlier names, and Sitelink with a capital L. PTI Security Systems: Facts, including legacy products Our guides to FalconXT end of life and replacing DigiGate go further.

Cloud systems: INSOMNIAC CIA, DoorKing and Nokē

In the documents cited here, the CIA controller reaches its database over the internet, DoorKing's Cloud Account Manager runs in a web browser, and each Nokē mesh hub location needs internet access. None of these documents names a computer that has to stay on for day-to-day management.

DoorKing documents both kinds. Its cloud page says previous programming methods required a dedicated PC. DoorKing: Cloud Account Manager, 1830 series Version 6.5 B of its Windows Account Manager can transfer the user database to the Cloud Account Manager. DoorKing: Windows Account Manager, 1830 series Check your FMS first: DoorKing's self-storage page lists Sitelink, Storable Edge and Storable Easy for its Remote Account Manager, two of the three under other names, and says its cloud software is compatible with one self-storage application only, Cubby. DoorKing: Self storage

OpenTech Alliance's 2018 K-500 manual for CIA also says that if the internet connection is lost, the controller runs on its own from cached data, but no code or configuration changes are possible until the connection returns. OpenTech Alliance: CIA K-500 keypad installation manual (PDF)

Windows 10 end of support and your gate computer

Microsoft says Windows 10 reached end of support on October 14, 2025, and that it no longer provides software updates, security fixes or technical assistance for Windows 10 PCs. Microsoft: End of support for Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 Microsoft's consumer Extended Security Updates (ESU) program keeps enrolled Windows 10 devices on critical and important security updates through October 12, 2027, and Microsoft points commercial customers to a separate program, whose terms this guide does not cover. Microsoft: End of support for Windows 10, Windows 8.1 and Windows 7

Now set that beside the Windows versions these documents name:

• Storable Edge's gate integration requirements list Windows Vista, 7, 8 or 10, and do not mention Windows 11. Storable: Gate integration (Storable Edge help)
• DoorKing's Windows Account Manager page lists Windows 7, 8 and 10, and does not mention Windows 11. DoorKing: Windows Account Manager, 1830 series
• Storable Easy recommends a computer running Windows 7 or later. Storable: Common gate problems (Storable Easy help)
• PTI's StorLogix Desktop requirements list Windows 10 or higher. PTI Security Systems: Computer requirements for StorLogix Desktop, archived (PDF)

A page that does not mention Windows 11 is not saying the software fails on it, so ask the vendor before you upgrade or replace the computer.

For a gate computer still on Windows 10, Microsoft's statement applies as it does to any Windows 10 PC: unless the computer is enrolled in ESU, Microsoft no longer provides it with security fixes. The choices for the computer itself are to enroll it in an ESU program that applies to it, to move the gate software to a newer Windows version your vendors confirm they support, or to move to a setup that does not need the computer.

How to check your own site

Answer these for each facility before you change anything.

1. Is there a computer that has to stay on? Look for one that is never switched off, with sleep turned off and gate software open. In Storable Easy, open the Setup tab and select Gate: if you see a red X, or the "Checked for change" message does not appear every 5 minutes, Storable says the sync has stopped. Storable: What to do if the gate sync is not working
2. What runs on it? List each program: the gate maker's software, a sync program from your FMS, PTI's BridgeApp, and the FMS itself. Some run as services, as the table shows for Storable Easy, so check the Windows Services app as well as the screen.
3. What does the vendor say happens if it is off? Find your system in the table above. Note whether the document means the gate itself or changes reaching it.
4. Which Windows version does it run? Compare it with Microsoft's dates and your vendors' listed versions above.
5. What else depends on it? If your FMS runs on the same computer, retiring the gate software may not retire the computer. PTI's BridgeApp, described above, is one example.

Your options

Keep the current setup for now

If it works, you can keep it. That means keeping the computer on and awake as the documents above ask, checking that the sync is running, and settling the Windows 10 question with ESU or a newer Windows version your vendors confirm.

Move to your gate vendor's cloud product

For PTI sites, that is StorLogix Cloud, with CloudController as PTI's go-forward controller. If your FMS connects through the BridgeApp, a PC or server that holds your FMS client stays in the picture. PTI Security Systems: StorLogix Cloud user's manual (PDF) For DoorKing 1830 Series entry systems, it is the Cloud Account Manager. DoorKing: Cloud Account Manager, 1830 series Check DoorKing's FMS list, described above, before you plan on it.

Choose a cloud access system that works with your FMS

OpenTech Alliance describes INSOMNIAC CIA, and Janus International describes Nokē Smart Entry, as cloud-based. OpenTech Alliance: CIA access control Janus International: Nokē Smart Entry System Which FMS each one works with is a separate question; our compatibility matrix sets out what each vendor publishes.

Use your FMS vendor's own access control

Storable Edge's gate integration page lists Storable Access Control among its integrations. Storable: Gate integration (Storable Edge help) If you run Storable software, ask Storable what it would involve at your site.

Move the computer's job to a hosted service

This is what we do. The office PC's job moves to the cloud. A small bridge stays at the site to talk to your controllers. We can bridge Storable Edge and Storable Easy to OpenTech Alliance's INSOMNIAC CIA and to DigiGate. Tell us your setup.

What to do next

Start with the checklist. If you run DigiGate or FalconXT, read our guides to DigiGate replacement options or FalconXT end of life first, since PTI lists both as legacy products. PTI Security Systems: Facts, including legacy products If codes are not reaching the gate today, work through the gate sync diagnostic guide before you change anything else.

If hosting is the option you want to explore, read how our cloud access control hosting works. Tell us what is on site. We will tell you plainly whether we can work with it as it is, and what replacing it would involve if not. Pricing depends on how many facilities you run and what hardware is on site.

We are not affiliated with PTI Security Systems, Storable, OpenTech Alliance, DoorKing, Janus International or Microsoft, or with the makers of QuikStor, Revenue Control Systems, StorGuard, SpiderDoor, WinSen or Cubby. Product names are the property of their owners.