Keeping applications up and available is getting a little easier. Pure, always-on app availability still requires costly, high-end replication across redundant data centers, but a new offering from Hewlett-Packard adds another weapon to companies' arsenals for improving availability without spending a lot of money.

HP on Thursday unveiled business-continuity software capabilities for its midrange storage system. According to analysts, this puts HP on the same playing field with EMC and IBM. Aimed at users of HP's StorageWorks Enterprise Virtual Array, new software for HP-UX and Windows systems includes HP Metrocluster, HP Continentalclusters, and HP StorageWorks Cluster Extension EVA.

Metrocluster will allow automatic and bi-directional failover so two sites can remain up and running, even when failing over information. Continentalclusters will let customers use multiple replication tools, including one from Oracle, across long distances. The Cluster Extension product will integrate remote mirroring on EVA storage systems to software residing on servers.

An industry analyst says such server-to-storage integration in this space is a differentiator, for now. "Midrange business continuity is just growing up," says Bob Passmore, an industry analyst at IT market research firm Gartner. "And now HP's EVA is very competitive."