A legacy server dies on a Monday morning. Rebuilding it shouldn’t be the recovery plan — OpenText Availability streams every changed byte from your Windows and Linux servers to a standby you choose, and a heartbeat monitor fails over and updates DNS when production stops — physical, any hypervisor, or cloud.
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This page covers OpenText Availability — server replication and failover, formerly Carbonite Availability, with OpenText Migrate on the same engine. The rest:
Most product pages skip this. We start here — so you buy a capability, not a buzzword.
A standby server receives every change in real time, ready to take over when the production server fails.
What consolidation actually replaces, dimension by dimension.
| Dimension | Rebuild and restore after an outage | OpenText Availability |
|---|---|---|
| Data at risk | Whatever changed since the last backup ran | Only what is still in flight to the target |
| Starting recovery | Rebuild the server, then restore onto it | Heartbeat-triggered or one-command failover |
| Pointing users over | Edit DNS by hand during the outage | Integrated DNS update at failover |
| Where the copy runs | Matching hardware in a second room | Any hypervisor, a cloud, or different hardware |
| Proving it works | A risky test on a weekend | Offline dry runs while production runs on |
| What it is NOT | — | Backup with history, a hosted DR site, or a list price |
The cheapest test is one server: replicate it to a spare VM, run an offline dry run, then a planned failover and failback, and time each step.
Vendors love diagrams; buyers need to know what they’re actually operating. Here’s the whole platform, demystified.
Software on the Windows or Linux source picks up each changed byte as it is written and queues it for the target, so applications keep running without a pause or a snapshot window.
The target can be physical, a VM on any hypervisor, or an instance in AWS, Azure or Google Cloud; it holds whole servers, applications or chosen datasets, ready to take over.
A heartbeat watches the production server; when it stops answering, failover can start on its own or on your command, and integrated DNS management points users at the target.
Jobs are set up, tested, failed over and failed back from the console, with alerting and reporting; a published API lets you script the same steps or feed your own monitoring.
Byte-level changes streamed to a standby you choose — a heartbeat spots the outage and DNS moves users across.
OpenText Availability keeps a warm standby of each critical server and hands users to it when production goes down.
Patented asynchronous replication sends each change as fast as bandwidth allows, so the target trails production by moments.
Full-server protection copies the OS, applications and settings, so admins need not know each application’s internals.
Traffic can be compressed at three levels and throttled during business hours, so a branch link is not swamped by replication.
Data is encrypted in flight between source and target, so replicating over the internet or a shared WAN does not expose it.
A heartbeat monitor watches production and can start failover automatically, or you trigger the same automated steps by hand.
Integrated DNS management rewrites records after a failover, so clients reach the target without being sent new addresses.
When the site is fixed, an automated failback resynchronises to the original server, or to a replacement, and hands back.
Non-disruptive testing brings the replica up offline to prove recovery, while production keeps running and replicating.
OpenText Migrate, sold separately, reuses the replication to move servers any-to-any with a cutover of seconds or minutes.
A 2021 overview of OpenText Availability, then two 2018 demos recorded under the old Carbonite Availability name: full-server protection and replicating into a virtual machine. All from OpenText’s official channels.
A two-minute tour of real-time replication and failover for Windows and Linux servers.
Recorded in 2018 under the old Carbonite Availability name: protecting and failing over a whole server.
Also from 2018, as Carbonite Availability: replicating a server into a virtual machine target.
Want a live, India-context walkthrough for your environment?
Book a guided demo →Here’s what genuinely sets it apart — and exactly where it stops.
Availability is not tied to one hypervisor. Source and target can each be physical, a VM or a cloud instance, with Hyper-V, vSphere, AWS, Azure and Google Cloud listed. An ageing physical server can fail over to a VM, or an on-premises one to an Indian cloud region.
A heartbeat monitor watches production; when it goes quiet, Availability can fail over on its own and rewrite DNS so users reach the target. OpenText puts a full-server failover at seconds to minutes. Failback is automated too, to the old server or a new one.
OpenText aims Availability at legacy applications that cannot be upgraded safely: replicate the server as it is and keep a standby warm. The same engine runs OpenText Migrate, which moves a server to new hardware or a cloud with a short cutover.
No price is published, and OpenText runs no hosted DR site for it, so you build the target. Current pages show no rollback journal or attack detection, so encrypted files replicate too. Windows and Linux only; the newest official videos date from 2021.
List servers where an hour down hurts most, note OS and version, and confirm each is on OpenText’s supported list.
Pick the standby: spare hardware, a VM on your hypervisor, or an instance in an Indian cloud region you control.
Install, run the initial mirror, then set compression and office-hours throttling so the WAN copes with the load.
Prove recovery with an offline test, then a planned failover with DNS update and a failback, timing each step.
Turn on heartbeat-driven failover where justified, wire alerts into monitoring, and pair with immutable backups.
Modelled on Gartner Peer Insights structure. *Counts and breakdowns are illustrative pending verified review collection.
“Our billing server is a physical box nobody dares patch. It now replicates to a VM, and the drill took under ten minutes.”
“We replicate a Linux ERP server from Pune to a cloud instance in Mumbai; the DNS switch was the part we feared most and it just worked.”
“Throttling during office hours stopped replication from choking the branch link. Overnight the queue catches up on its own.”
“We bought it for DR, then used Migrate on the same engine to move twenty servers into a new data centre over two weekends.”
“Offline dry runs let us show auditors a working failover without a maintenance window. That alone justified the renewal.”
“It replicates well, but there is no price list and the console looks its age. Getting a quote took several rounds.”
Analyst firms bury this view behind paywalls, and G2 retired its Grid. So here’s TechBag’s synthesis of the disaster recovery market — tap any vendor to see why it sits where it does.
Execution strength vs product vision — the classic market map, minus the paywall.
Quoted through OpenText and partners; no public price.
The grid nobody publishes — how many places a replica can run, your own Indian site included, vs how much of the failover runs without a person.
Physical, any hypervisor, six clouds; heartbeat failover, DNS update.
Positions are TechBag’s illustrative synthesis of public review-platform data and vendor documentation — not a reproduction of any analyst graphic. Verify before relying on it.
Against Arcserve RHA, HPE Zerto Software, Veeam Data Platform CDP, Azure Site Recovery and AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery — on platforms, RPO, failover, testing, price, ransomware, support and India.
| Dimension | OpenText Availability | Arcserve Replication and High Availability | HPE Zerto Software | Veeam Data Platform (CDP) | Azure Site Recovery | AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Server HA and DR | Replication + HA | Journaling DR suite | CDP in the platform | Native Azure DR | Native AWS DR |
| Deployment | Software you install | Engine per server | Appliances per site | Self-hosted B&R | Vault + appliance | Agent, staging subnet |
| Workloads covered | Windows + 8 Linux | Physical, VMs, clouds | vSphere-led | Lands in vSphere | VMs and physical | Almost any server |
| Replication and RPO | Byte-level, moments | Byte-level, seconds | Seconds; 30-day journal | Seconds; 168 h of points | 5-minute points | Seconds (AWS claim) |
| Failover and failback | Heartbeat, DNS, return | Is Alive + switchback | Plans, Reverse Protect | Plans; runbooks Premium | Plans of 100 VMs | Plans, Failback Client |
| Testing without downtime | Offline dry runs | Assured Recovery, extra | Sandbox failover test | Drills in Premium | Isolated test failover | Drill instances |
| Pricing model | Quoted per server | Per server, by scenario | Per protected VM | Per workload (VUL) | Per instance, monthly | Per server-hour |
| Published entry price | Not published | Not published | No list price | Reported ~$350–450/yr | $25/instance/month | $0.028/server-hour |
| Included vs add-on | Migrate is separate | Testing is a module | Vault needs ARE | In every edition | Target billed apart | Fee is a fraction |
| Ransomware and corruption | Replicates the damage | Rewind, no detection | Detects encryption | Immutable, scanned | Copies what lands | Older snapshot |
| India DR site | Your own target | Your replica server | Wherever you send it | Your vSphere cluster | Four Indian regions | Mumbai and Hyderabad |
| Support | 24x7x365 Customer Care | Portal, chat, phone | HPE Tech Care | 24/7, 1-hour Sev 1 | Paid plan from $29 | Paid AWS plan |
| Lock-in and exit | Any-to-any targets | Dissimilar hardware | Native VMs, Move | CDP needs vSphere | Azure only | AWS only |
| Best fit | Mixed estates, old apps | App-aware server HA | Large VMware DR | Existing Veeam shops | Azure as DR site | AWS as DR site |
Honest fit signals — because the fastest way to lose your trust is to pretend one product wins every scenario.
OpenText Availability is one of 27 disaster recovery products TechBag carries. The Disaster Recovery guide narrows them to a shortlist and shows the reasoning. →
Drag the sliders (critical servers you replicate; IT engineer-hour cost). Estimates model the engineering time lost rebuilding failed servers, restoring data and repointing users by hand, at an assumed 1.5 hours per server a year, with 70% of it removed by a warm standby and automated failover. Both figures are assumptions. Illustrative.
Loaded cost = salary + overheads per productive hour. Illustrative only — your TechBag quote models your actual environment and modules.
Quote only. OpenText publishes no price for Availability on its product page or data sheet, and no rupee price exists; reseller catalogues show licences counted per physical server or per VM, with yearly maintenance. OpenText Migrate, on the same engine, is a separate product, and the one-day remote QuickStart implementation is a paid service. TechBag lists your source and target servers first, then quotes in INR with GST.
Best for servers that need a warm standby
Best for a broader rollout
Best for moving servers with a short cutover
Whatever the list prices above, TechBag negotiates a significantly better deal — with GST-compliant INR invoicing and local support. Ask us for your discounted quote.
Tell us your requirements and current tools — we’ll model it against what you spend today.
Take this into your next vendor call — including ours.
Which servers need a warm standby, and which can wait for a restore from backup? Licence only the first group.
Is every source on a Windows Server or Linux release that the current Availability version supports?
Where will the standby run: your second Indian site, a colo, or your own account in an Indian cloud region?
Can the link carry your peak change rate with compression on? Throttling in office hours delays the copy.
Should the heartbeat fail over automatically, or should a person decide? Agree it with application owners.
Will integrated DNS updates reach every client, and has the DNS team approved automated record changes?
Replication copies encrypted files. Which immutable backup restores you to before an attack?
Does the quote list each source and target, maintenance term and QuickStart? Ask for INR with GST and the roadmap.
Rank the servers that cannot wait for a restore first, or let a TechBag advisor place the standby in your own Indian site or cloud region and get the quote itemised in INR.
Stats, ratings, review counts and pricing are illustrative and sourced from public materials; verify before purchase.