|
þ The VFTA™ PC = 100% Uptime + 0 Data Loss + 100% Automatic Backup + Full built-in redundancy + Instant Recovery
VFTA™:
the High Availability Computing Consortium, is an open industry alliance of
companies dedicated to creating standards for more available, more reliable
"everyday PCs" and enhancing their variants. Whether intended for use in
mission critical, business critical and/or hazardous applications, the VFTA™ PC
standard insures from 100%-1000% greater reliability and availability, reducing
the risk of entrusting important data and applications to the traditional, low
cost, over the counter personal computer.
Building RELIABLE, high availability personal computers for
every application, VFTA™ members focus their products at providing
instant recovery from hard drive failure, automatic
and instantaneous data & application backup and recovery. They include comprehensive security
& archival, dataset loss prevention and deleted object retention, storage migration,
mission critical fall back,
redundancy and auto failover. Companies which comply with VFTA™ (Very Fault
Tolerating Architecture) are embracing a "new standard of quality and
availability" as well as a "future quality standard in the making".
VFTA™ is the first and last word in reliable computing, the "captain" of
automatic backup, and the "king" of automatic system recovery... the
"Holy Grail" of End-Point Computer Reliability. Included in the VFTA™ standard are features applicable to all
different forms of computer (current revisions
indicated):
As new computing challenges emerge, VFTA™ will grow along with them. The initial version of the VFTA™ Standard (rev 1.0) is the outgrowth of the work of three computer companies and aggregate experience spanning the history of the computer industry. Today, due to the vastly diminished cost of computer component parts, virtually all of the standard can be complied with by properly designed and manufactured Personal Computers for the desktop and mobile application. Those that don't comply are simply not designed or implemented well enough. And in addition to bringing a new standard of reliability to PCs, VFTA™ Server computers are even more capable: the standard includes capacities for compliance that apply at an even higher level for Servers of all kinds. Completing the cycle of High Availability, Local and Wide Area Networks have very specific responsibilities that dramatically improve and offer significant benefits from embracing compliance with VFTA™.
Last but not least, individual and overall security processes necessary in the cyber space are included in the VFTA™ standard, for networks work hand in hand with high availability computers, and the notion of high availability networks represents the elimination of QOS (Quality of Service) issues that represent a key and substantial potential weak point, one that VFTA™ compliance helps overcome. To round out the "cycle of reliability" the Consortium has defined in the first draft (rev 1.0) of the standard, elements of High Availability Compliance which contribute to an overall long range philosophy of reliable computing, and which address every aspect of computing in a holistic fashion.
The key elements of the VFTA™ standard listed above, are earmarked by a program of product testing and certification through facilities agreed upon and sanctioned by the VFTA™ Consortia. Individual companies with relevant product(s) or service(s) may join the Consortium to find out more, can receive advice and guidance from the governing board through the auspices of the "Candidacy Test" cycle, and may submit products for certification testing. Upon completion of Candidacy Test cycle and graduation from the election process, a certified product is added to the Consortia's Compliance Database. The Certified Product Lists are published for use by those interested in ascertaining if a vendor or product manufacturer was able to meet or exceed the VFTA™ Standard.
VFTA™ is subdivided into 18 general areas of certification, along with several tiers (or levels) of "VFTA™ Attainment". Since products need not always equal or exceed certain levels of conformance or address all 18 general areas, the Consortium offers compliance rules that allow progressive compliance: compliance can be met by different kinds of product and application across a spectrum of "VFTA™ Attainment", called "Levels of VFTA™ Attainment & Compliance". In such cases, suitable applications for those with partial or lower levels of attainment are also outlined by the standard. While the VFTA™ Consortium and it's Consortia do not WARRANTY the products that have attained Certification, and there is no way for the Consortium to insure that a less scrupulous product or service provider doesn't "cut corners", the Consortia provide a Consultative Forensics Laboratory that can provide an assessment regarding a "VFTA™ Compliant" product or service in use for a particular application, to ascertain if it was "in compliance" at the time of a specific event or incident. At no time are the Consortia nor the VFTA Consortium liable nor responsible for the fitness nor merchantability of any product and/or service provided by the Membership. A legal affairs document that explains the unilateral extent of this disclaimer shall be provided to anyone who writes to us requesting a copy.
The VFTA™ standard also includes and incorporates other standards conformance, called "referenced compliance acknowledgement", which relate to standards of quality assurance, such as ISO 9000, which if a vendor proves their product meets, are also "referenced within their VFTA Compliance Certification" so that such achievement can be considered "verified". However, conformance to those other standards is neither tested for nor complied with by attaining VFTA™ standards certification. In addition, VFTA™ also includes "acknowledgement" of the Americans with a Disabilities Act under Section 508, and also will incorporate indications from a Candidate Product's vendor that such "supports" or "complies with or otherwise conforms to" Section 508's governing VPAT standards.
The VFTA™ standard was first offered by the VFTA™ Consortium in 2004, however, was the outgrowth of the Reliable Computing Initiative™, which was started in 1999 by the original VFTA™ Standard Sponsors. In 2004 six initial members participated in the testing and certification of the first VFTA™ complying products, and as a result, the Consortium began to gather momentum. Testing procedures are being expanded and proceduralized to allow the VFTA™ Candidacy Testing Cycle to be undertaken by qualified manufacturers and component/software providers with a minimum of expense, time and effort while accomplishing a maximum of attainment of the goals of the VFTA™ standard.
|
The VFTA™ High Availability ("HA") Consortium encompasses and includes several individual Consortia, each of which has a specific industry focus. These "included" Consortia are, as of this writing: HA Personal Computers, HA Laptop/Notebook/Mobile Computers, HA Servers, HA Computers of other kinds, HA Networks, HA Electronics, HA Telephony, HA Radio & Broadcast, HA Security, HA Databases, HA Standards Compliance, HA Operating Software & Systems, HA Application Software, and HA Methods & Best Practices. The VFTA HA Consortium continues to refine and define HA technologies and methods and as such reserves the right to expand it's focus into any other areas of relevance without prior written notice.
The VFTA™ standard and this website are subject to revision without prior notice for any reason. The VFTA™ Rev 1.0 Logo is property of the VFTA™ High Availability Consortium and may not be incorporated, reprinted or reproduced for any reason without the express written permission of the VFTA™ High Availability Computing Consortium.
Copyright 2004.
