For a compare-and-contrast, Tandem is the Stratus competitor that went more toward software FT (though it does have redundant hardware). You can also look at various n-of-m voter redundancy setup that are very common in aerospace computers. Definitely not rube goldberg, but also not cheap if for no other reason than you need 3+ of everything (e.g. the primary Space Shuttle computer ran 4 synchronized voters).