IBM is preparing to launch new services for cloud-based disaster recovery and data archiving. The disaster-recovery service offers duplication of client applications and data on IBM infrastructure that can be activated to replace primary infrastructure at any time through a web-based portal.

The server recovery service is called SmartCloud Virtualized Server Recovery. Rich Cocchiara, CTO for IBM's business continuity and resiliency services division said the service is available at three service levels: gold, silver and bronze.

At gold level, duplicate machines are on all the time, ready to take over for primary machines instantly. At silver level, virtual machines are not provisioned until the time of an incident.

"The client can access our site from any portal," Cocchiara said. "They select the machines that they want to failover."

At gold level, customer applications and associated data are replicated regularly at customer-specified intervals.

The bronze-level offering is a back-up service, rather than replication. If a bronze customer has a downtime incident, IBM will restore their data from back-up and provision virtual machines, in which case recovery takes longer.

Customers will be able to use different service levels for applications of different criticality. IBM will also be offering both virtual and physical server recovery.

IBM has had a managed backup service for several year now, where customers pay for the amount of storage space their data is using. The new services will enable them to be charged not only on the basis of storage space, but also on the basis of how many virtual machines they are using and for how long ÔÇô a pay-as-you-go cloud pricing model.

The new SmartCloud Archive offering was designed to meet privacy and regulatory compliance requirements. The service has advanced search, indexing, retrieval and eDiscovery capabilities.

The new SmartCloud services have not been officially launched anywhere in the world, and Cocchiara said IBM was leaving it up to executives overseeing different geographical regions to decide whether or not to make them available in their specific markets.

Customers will have the ability to choose the physical location of their data, as long as local regulations do not prohibit them from doing so, Cocchiara explained. Customers will be responsible for making sure their location choices are lawful.