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RobertB
Old Timer
Canada
528 Posts
Status: offline |
 Posted - 08/16/2006 : 11:42:40 AM
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Hi all,
In doing a search I have seen some posts on this but all were fairly old so I will see if new info has creeped into our world. I have a box I will call ServerA and I want to move that installation before the hardware dies (the box is 5+years old). The server I want to move to we'll call ServerB. Problem is A and B are fairly different, possibly even to the point of single vs dual CPU. There are apps on the server that were installed manually that I would prefer not to reinstall on the new box. I have Recovery Manager 3.01 from Winternals and all servers are backed up with Veritas BE. I have heard that you cannot restore to dissimilar hardware.
So the question is, can a restore be done and if so how?
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ebrux
Moderator
USA
2076 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 08/16/2006 : 12:10:56 PM
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We're going through this scenario as we develop our DR Plan. Our DR vendor insists that they do this all the time, so I'm really excited about seeing it in action. We will be restoring backups taken on HP to DELL machines. Should be interesting! 
Oh, and we're also restoring to VM's (again, taken from HP hardware). So I'll be sure to post in the VM section once we have those procedures down.
More to follow.... |
Eric B. Rux
Contributing Editor, Windows IT Pro
MVP - Windows Home Server
http://svconline.com/connectedhome/windowshomeserver |
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JSCLMEDAVE
Honorable But Hopeless Addict
USA
4685 Posts
Status: offline |
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pcmeiners
Honorable But Hopeless Addict
USA
1270 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 08/16/2006 : 12:41:46 PM
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Tim..
Thanks for info, have not used it for a while.. was not aware acronis could restore to dissimilar hardware. |
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JSCLMEDAVE
Honorable But Hopeless Addict
USA
4685 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 08/16/2006 : 12:44:12 PM
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| I have it, but have not had a chance to test it yet. |
Tim-
"Will the woman who left her 9 kids at Wrigley field please come and claim them? - they're beating the Cubs 5-0"
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clarinathan
Moderator
United Kingdom
4774 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 08/16/2006 : 1:58:56 PM
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With regards moving from physical to virtual or between any combinations of the two, Platspin have a good product which I believe can do that type of operation.
Eric, what sort of DR planning are you going through?
Cheers
Nathan |
Nathan Winters - MVP Exchange Server
MCSE & MCSA 2000 & 2003 + Messaging, MCITP Exchange 2007, MCP, VMWare VCP v2 & v3.
Checkout the Messaging and Mobility User Group: http://www.mmmug.co.uk
Checkout my blog:
Unified Comms: - http://www.nathanwinters.co.uk |
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ebrux
Moderator
USA
2076 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 08/16/2006 : 3:39:24 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by clarinathan
....Eric, what sort of DR planning are you going through...
Scenario where we lose the entire building. Fire, theft, flood, chemical spill near the building making it "quarantined", etc.
So, right now we have everything documented, a second/off-site copy of our media (Windows 2000 Server, etc.). Also working on a co-located DC & email gateway that is up and running at all times.
It's actually a lot of fun planning everything out. We just had our first "mini-test" before the "big one", and we learned a LOT. Discovered things that we had missed, verified restore times, etc.
Didn't mean to hijack this thread....I'll shut up now.....  |
Eric B. Rux
Contributing Editor, Windows IT Pro
MVP - Windows Home Server
http://svconline.com/connectedhome/windowshomeserver |
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RobertB
Old Timer
Canada
528 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 08/16/2006 : 4:07:23 PM
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| I was looking at the Acronis, and they claim to be able to just about restore from anything to anything. Pricey though from what I can tell. The DR option in Veritas does not seem to be adding anything to process at all. |
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clarinathan
Moderator
United Kingdom
4774 Posts
Status: offline |
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JSCLMEDAVE
Honorable But Hopeless Addict
USA
4685 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 08/16/2006 : 5:07:28 PM
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| But they are pricey... I am going to check out their Snap Restore which could save us some money. |
Tim-
"Will the woman who left her 9 kids at Wrigley field please come and claim them? - they're beating the Cubs 5-0"
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smeogul
Major Contributor
Canada
1006 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 08/16/2006 : 11:19:43 PM
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acronis rocks :)
PortLock is pretty good too. Not as expensive. free demo... it only does 1gb partitions
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DocJ
Welcome Newcomer
1 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 08/20/2006 : 12:08:47 PM
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Suggest you look at server 2003's built-in ASR utility. This is supposed to restore to different hardware, and I have used it for that several times (though I've had reports of its failure, too).
ASR backup (which is done with the server on line) creates an ASR floppy and a regular NTbackup *.bkf file.
During the restore (started from a server CD), it first does a half-way install of Windows, recognizing any new hardware, and then asks for the location of the *.bkf file, which it restores. At the point where it asks for the *.bkf file, it has already loaded the network drivers so you can store the bkf file on your network.
Try it - the price is certainly right! The two catches are 1) You need a floppy drive attached (USB ok) and 2) it recreates EXACTLY the same sized partitions on the new machine as were on the old.
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deason
Old Timer
United Kingdom
343 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 08/20/2006 : 12:09:17 PM
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Robert,
If your restoring to VMs at your DR site look at ESX Ranger products (http://www.vizioncore.com)
They offer the option to replicate virtual machines to a offsite DR site.
OR you could look at Platespin Powerconvert as Nathan says but this is quite pricey.
Dan |
SMS - System Management Slave
---------- Blog @ http://vmlover.blogspot.com ------------- |
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clarinathan
Moderator
United Kingdom
4774 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 08/20/2006 : 1:17:12 PM
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Hi DocJ, that sounds actually like a good idea. Certainly warrents some testing.
Welcome to the forums by the way. |
Nathan Winters - MVP Exchange Server
MCSE & MCSA 2000 & 2003 + Messaging, MCITP Exchange 2007, MCP, VMWare VCP v2 & v3.
Checkout the Messaging and Mobility User Group: http://www.mmmug.co.uk
Checkout my blog:
Unified Comms: - http://www.nathanwinters.co.uk |
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Mark Minasi
Chief cook and bottle washer
USA
9546 Posts
Status: online |
Posted - 08/21/2006 : 07:57:46 AM
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| Excellent response, thanks DocJ. Doing a different-hardware-restore on 2003's ASR has been on my list of things to try for a while. Sounds like they did a good job. |
Mark
tweetin' at mminasi |
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RobertB
Old Timer
Canada
528 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 08/21/2006 : 12:46:14 PM
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| Sounds good to me as well, especially the price. I have floppies still around on most of the servers that I need to seriously look at this for at present. Thanks |
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pcmeiners
Honorable But Hopeless Addict
USA
1270 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 08/21/2006 : 1:02:31 PM
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Thanks DocJ, never tried the ASR for restore to dissimilar hardware
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mikepiet
Honorable But Hopeless Addict
USA
1842 Posts
Status: offline |
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Xenophane
Honorable But Hopeless Addict
Denmark
2775 Posts
Status: online |
Posted - 08/22/2006 : 09:05:59 AM
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Another tool that I have used a lot is Symantec Livestate, actually used it a lot when we were upgrading from Exchange 5.5 to 2003.
We "took images" of the current production servers, restored them on different hardware in our test environment (Actually just restored them om regular workstations).
Even Exchange worked fine, after beeing moved to new hardware...
So I have just purchased 5 more licenses for my upcoming Citrix Farm ;) |
SIG> George Bernard Shaw : The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it. </SIG>
You can read my blog at www.xipher.dk |
Edited by - Xenophane on 08/22/2006 09:07:37 AM |
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RobertB
Old Timer
Canada
528 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 08/22/2006 : 10:37:52 AM
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| Mike, I was also under the impression that this could restore to different hardware, at least that is what they told me during the sales end. I have yet to actually try it but the tech support guys tell me it does not support that. I will be trying it and I will be complaining loudly if it does not work after being told it does. Especially since the main tool they kept comparing it to was LiveState. |
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clarinathan
Moderator
United Kingdom
4774 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 09/03/2006 : 04:49:11 AM
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Hmmm.
I haven't used the product, but looking through the website and reading the user manual, it isn't immediately obvious that it does restore to different hardware. It certainly restores to new hardware that is the same, or even just to a new hard disk (bare metal restore) but it doesn't seem to restore to other hardware.
I guess it may do as I haven't used the product but it isn't obvious if it does. You would have thought that a feature like that would be put in big letters somewhere. |
Nathan Winters - MVP Exchange Server
MCSE & MCSA 2000 & 2003 + Messaging, MCITP Exchange 2007, MCP, VMWare VCP v2 & v3.
Checkout the Messaging and Mobility User Group: http://www.mmmug.co.uk
Checkout my blog:
Unified Comms: - http://www.nathanwinters.co.uk |
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wim
Honorable But Hopeless Addict
Netherlands
1525 Posts
Status: offline |
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clarinathan
Moderator
United Kingdom
4774 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 09/03/2006 : 06:29:46 AM
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| Bearing in mind that that only seems to restore to another box which is the same type of hardware, so this wouldn't work going to a VM. However, useful info for the general DR type scenario. |
Nathan Winters - MVP Exchange Server
MCSE & MCSA 2000 & 2003 + Messaging, MCITP Exchange 2007, MCP, VMWare VCP v2 & v3.
Checkout the Messaging and Mobility User Group: http://www.mmmug.co.uk
Checkout my blog:
Unified Comms: - http://www.nathanwinters.co.uk |
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wim
Honorable But Hopeless Addict
Netherlands
1525 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 09/03/2006 : 11:14:20 AM
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haven't tried a VM actually but have moved from a proliant to a desktop once and have switched between scsi and IDE. It just takes some fiddling around and that's where all those expensive tools find there place I suppose.
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I hear and I forget, I see and I know, I do and I understand. |
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clarinathan
Moderator
United Kingdom
4774 Posts
Status: offline |
Posted - 09/03/2006 : 12:23:05 PM
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quote:
It just takes some fiddling around and that's where all those expensive tools find there place I suppose.
Absolutely! |
Nathan Winters - MVP Exchange Server
MCSE & MCSA 2000 & 2003 + Messaging, MCITP Exchange 2007, MCP, VMWare VCP v2 & v3.
Checkout the Messaging and Mobility User Group: http://www.mmmug.co.uk
Checkout my blog:
Unified Comms: - http://www.nathanwinters.co.uk |
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Restore to different hardware
