QuorumLabs Updates Its Automated BC Package

QuorumLabs has released v3.0 of its onQ Business Continuity Appliance that allows companies to automatically test their business continuity plans.

onQ 3.0 solves the thorny problem of difficult and inadequate testing, giving companies of all sizes peace of mind that their IT systems are protected.

The Fremont, Calif.-based company claims that onQ is the only product on the market that automates the testing process, reducing it from a tedious procedure that can take several days to an automatic process that takes only minutes.

(If any of you readers know of a product similar to this, send us an email and a Web link to the comment section below, please.)

Automation for functions like BC is good idea. Business continuity plans aren’t often top of mind during regular production days; daily production generally is at the forefront of a manager’s daily planning.

“Having a well-defined business continuity plan is of no value unless you are confident it will work when you need it most,” CEO Larry Lang said. “If you can’t test systems at regular intervals, you may be testing them when there’s no room for error.

“Unfortunately, only a small percentage of companies regularly conduct tests and the majority of them are compelled to do so for compliance reasons since it’s such a time-consuming process. Now, businesses can simply use the turnkey onQ appliance to perform automated, real-world testing in less than an hour, instead of the days or weeks it would take with other solutions.”

Key new features, according to QuorumLabs, include:

• Self test capability: Automatically boots up Recovery Nodes in background of test network to transparently take over and demonstrate that applications and data are available. Shortens the testing process from one week to an hour and does not require extra equipment or personnel.
• Large deployments: onQ 3.0 adds a full range of scalability and performance enhancements for use in larger server deployments.
• Error detection and diagnostics: Improved predictive error detection and self-diagnostics to identify errors early, diagnose and alert businesses in advance of incidents to ensure business continuity.

QuorumLabs’ partners offer onQ in several forms, including dual-appliance configurations with up to 13TB of internal storage [expandable with external storage] and packages starting at about $15,000 for a pair of replicating appliances.