Always been a fan of server virtualisation, simply because of the portability of virtual servers once they have been through the virtual infrastructure sausage machine.

Data Center contingency becomes much easier, its a case of finding the most cost effective way of replicating the virtual servers from storage solution to remote storage solution and then providing the host hardware to run those virtual machine when the shit hits the fan (usually there are network routing and DNS issues to deal with too but hey, it doesn’t half make things easier once you virtualise)

Data replication though, it can be expensive stuff, so can the redundant hardware needed on the remote site, awaiting activitation when a ‘plane lands on your data center’ (not sure how many times that has happened, but always seem to be the number one threat when having discussion on the subject).

Platespin have released an appliance called ‘Forge”.  Looks the business this does, here are some details:

This is what the Forge product is:

• It is sold as an ‘out of the box appliance’
• Under the bonnet is VMware ESX server (hidden from the user) 
• On top is a Platespin Management Interface which is web based 

This is what it does

• Plug it in, and tell it which servers (virtual or physical, doesn’t matter) you want to provide contingency for. 
• It takes a virtual copy of the servers and places them on the Forge box 
• You set up a replication schedule for each machine you have chosen (every hour, every week etc) 
• It replicates changes at file level or disk level depending on your choice. 
• It then maintains a heart beat with the servers you have chosen. 
• If the original server fails, it takes over and boots the copy up on the Forge appliance, contingency achieved (the right people are notified of the failure, and have a number of options available before the actual contingency falls into place, those options are - 1. Do Zip, nothing.  2. Boot and awaiting config, 3. Boot and come online.

Some more details

• The box has 16 - 32GB of RAM 
• 2.5 TB of internal storage 
• The next release can connect directly to a SAN and utilise the disk space 
• Each Forge box can provide contingency for 25 servers or 2.5 TB of storage space
• It comes is 2 flavours, a 10 server solution or 25 server solution 

Unbelievable, this box will provide a degree of data center contingency without the need for a second SAN, without standby hosts and expensive replication software. It also looks simple to setup, I am itching to get my hands on one.

Regards,

Lee Wynne