I read up on Replica. Fascinating. However, is there no solution that does not launch into virtualization?
Without detracting from all the advantages, virtualization adds a layer of complexity to our thinly resourced practices and requires a major investment in time to learn, or money to hire an expert. As usual, while I may seek help from an expert, I like to know my technology to at least an intermediate level.
Not cost effectively.
I have worked on or delivered redundant, live-failover systems such as you seek for over 20 years. The price was measured in portions of a million, and has come down over the years, but I would ball-park the cost to still be in the 20-50k for what you are seeking. Many skilled shops won't entertain a project of that scope for less than 50K to start.
Virtualization allows you to reduce the entry cost, at the cost of true hardware redundancy.
Virtualization also allows organizations to more cost effectively implement hardware redundancy as well as location redundancy, but that is still rather pricey as well.
