Hyper-V cluster without shared storage on a SAN

Feature Comparison: SafeKit VM HA vs. SafeKit Application HA Clustering

Comparison Feature	VM HA with SafeKit Hyper-V or KVM Module	Application HA with SafeKit Application Modules
Deployment Diagram
Failover Scope	SafeKit inside 2 hypervisors: replication and failover of the full VM.	SafeKit inside 2 virtual or physical machines: replication and failover at the application level.
Data Replicated	Replicates more data (Application + Operating System).	Replicates only application data, leading to smaller data volumes.
Recovery Process & Speed (RTO)	Reboot of VM on hypervisor 2 if hypervisor 1 crashes. Recovery time depends on the OS reboot. VM checker and failover mechanism.	Quick recovery time with restart of App on OS2 if server 1 crashes. Typically around 1 minute or less (low RTO/RPO). Application checker and software failover.
Configuration	Generic solution for any application / OS running in the VM.	Requires restart scripts to be written within the specific application modules.
Platform Compatibility	Works with Windows/Hyper-V and Linux/KVM but is not compatible with VMware.	Platform agnostic; works with physical or virtual machines, cloud infrastructure, and any hypervisor, including VMware.

Final Recommendation: VM HA for Generality vs. Application HA for Low RTO

Architectural Comparison: SafeKit Non-Shared Storage HA vs. Traditional SAN-Based Clusters

SafeKit (with Hyper-V or KVM Module)	Microsoft Hyper-V Cluster & VMware HA (Traditional)
No shared disk required - uses synchronous real-time replication instead, ensuring no data loss.	Requires shared disk and a specific external disk bay (SAN).
Supports Remote Sites without requiring SAN replication across locations.	Remote sites typically require replicating disk bays across a complex SAN setup.
No specific IT skill is required to configure the system (using hyperv.safe and kvm.safe).	Requires specific, high-level IT skills to configure the cluster and SAN infrastructure.
Note that the Hyper-V/SafeKit and KVM/SafeKit solutions are limited to replication and failover of 32 VMs.	Note that the Hyper-V built-in replication (Hyper-V Replica) does not qualify as a high availability solution. This is because the replication is asynchronous, which can result in data loss during failures, and it lacks automatic failover and failback capabilities.

Conclusion: Why SafeKit's SAN-Less HA is a Modern Alternative

Traditional clustering solutions often suffer from high complexity, reliance on costly shared storage (SAN), and difficult management. The Evidian SafeKit Mirror Cluster is engineered to solve these problems by offering a software-defined, shared-nothing architecture. This approach not only ensures zero data loss (RPO=0) through synchronous file replication but also dramatically reduces deployment time and expense. The following table breaks down the core features that make SafeKit a flexible, cost-effective, and unified solution for mission-critical applications on Windows and Linux.

Summary of SafeKit Mirror Cluster Benefits for High Availability

The Evidian SafeKit Farm Cluster is a high availability solution specifically designed for scalable application environments where load distribution and rapid failover are essential. Unlike traditional methods that require dedicated hardware load balancers or complex network configurations, SafeKit provides an integrated, software-defined clustering solution installed directly on the application servers. The following table details the core features and unique advantages of the SafeKit Farm Cluster, focusing on how it simplifies network load balancing and ensures continuous service availability across Windows and Linux platforms.

Summary of SafeKit Farm Cluster Benefits for Load Balancing

In conclusion, the SafeKit Farm Cluster provides a unified, software-based approach to load balancing and high availability that dramatically lowers complexity and cost. By embedding load balancing and failover directly into the application server layer using a standard virtual IP address, it avoids the need for external network hardware (load balancers or proxies) and specialized multicast configurations. This integrated approach, coupled with its ability to combine with the mirror cluster for full N-tiers HA, makes SafeKit a uniquely simple and comprehensive solution for achieving scalable and resilient application delivery across diverse environments.

Modern High Availability (HA) solutions have evolved beyond the constraints of shared storage infrastructure. Evidian SafeKit offers a flexible, software-defined approach that achieves fault tolerance and business continuity without requiring expensive Storage Area Networks (SANs), dedicated external load balancers, or complex network configurations. SafeKit relies on synchronous data replication and application-level monitoring, contrasting sharply with traditional methods. The detailed comparison below breaks down the key architectural differences across critical aspects, including deployment complexity, replication type, recovery time, and cluster management.

Conclusion: SafeKit's Unified and Simplified HA Approach

The comparative analysis clearly illustrates SafeKit’s shift toward a **simplified, shared-nothing HA model**. By bundling real-time, synchronous file replication, active-active capability, and a robust failover mechanism into a software package, SafeKit eliminates the need for numerous specialized hardware components and complex storage dependencies (SANs and dedicated load balancers). This results in lower total cost of ownership, easier deployment, and superior disaster recovery capabilities, particularly for remote sites. Ultimately, SafeKit offers a unified and flexible solution that provides quick recovery times (low RTO) and guaranteed data integrity (RPO=0), making it a highly effective modern alternative to legacy shared-disk clustering.