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al3b3d3v's avatar
al3b3d3v
Level 4
14 years ago

upgrading my EV805 to EV903 planning, need some guidance

hi everyone, I want to share my plan of upgrading the environment and wanted some feedback as to how I can approach this task.

scenario - upgrade ev805 to ev903. 

current ev805 DELL SERVER ( w2003 x86 standard sp2, 4 gig ram, P4 cpu, 2 disk arrays, A) Dell Disk Array  B) HP Disk Array,  they are connected through a DELL PERC 6e card.)

new HP server - future EV903 ( w2008 R2 x64, 16gb ram, quad cpu, hp raid card 2 external slots)

EV sql server dell - win 2003 x86 std sp2, 4gb ram - the server is upgradable to win2008 x64 and can take up to 32 gb of ram, which I will plan to do POST EV903 migration.

Space is really tight on my dell array and we got the HP array a few months before we got the HP server for the migration.  

The way I think about this is that I have several options, but I think I will only be left with plan b, as I dig deeper into this mess.

Plan A:1) upgrade the current EV805 Dell server to EV903  2) install EV903 on a brand new HP server  3) disconnect the HP disk  array from the old dell server and connect it to the new hp server ( I dont think this will work because the array created by the dell raid card will not agree with the HP array card, correct me if I am wrong about this please.) which leads me to plan b below.

Plan B:1) temporarily move what I have on the HP array off to the dell array and maybe the SAN if space permits ( here the issue is really about space for closed and the open store, I need to figure out where I can fit it all). 2) disconnect the HP array from the DELL server EV805. 3) connect it to the HP server, reconfigure format, etc 4) Upgrade Dell EV805 to EV903 5) Install EV903 on the HP server 6) Migrate stores back into the HP Array which is now on the HP array. 7) split the work load between 2 ev servers

 

Thanks for reading, I know its a lot and I appreciate any guidance in the matter!

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  • Richard_Knobloc's avatar
    Richard_Knobloc
    14 years ago

    I am really sure, that Dell RAID will not be understood by the HP RAID Controller.

     

    Your Plan B is the best idea, but don't expect, that your installation will work. You have to do a Desaster Recovery to the new server and before you can do this, you have to make sure, that the whole environment, including drive letters etc. is identical to the old one. Depending the size of your RAID, this will cost a lot of time.

    You can shorten the offline-times if you know the right procedures and by hacking into the databases.

    However, I never would do either way without a Symantec or Partner Consultant.

     

    Richard

  • Maverik's avatar
    Maverik
    Level 6
    14 years ago

    The HP working with Dell stuff I would recommned that you speak to Dell/HP about.  As far as EV is concerned as long as the drive letter and path is the same for the data moved around that is really all it will care about.  My only concern is where you state "split the work load betwen 2 EV servers".  The storage service for the archive/s concerned will only process on the original server.  So the load wont be split as evenly as you may think, specifcally for storage.

  • Richard_Knobloc's avatar
    Richard_Knobloc
    Level 4
    14 years ago

    I am really sure, that Dell RAID will not be understood by the HP RAID Controller.

     

    Your Plan B is the best idea, but don't expect, that your installation will work. You have to do a Desaster Recovery to the new server and before you can do this, you have to make sure, that the whole environment, including drive letters etc. is identical to the old one. Depending the size of your RAID, this will cost a lot of time.

    You can shorten the offline-times if you know the right procedures and by hacking into the databases.

    However, I never would do either way without a Symantec or Partner Consultant.

     

    Richard

  • Maverik's avatar
    Maverik
    Level 6
    14 years ago

    Hi,


    Did you get a solution for this in the end? Be interested to know

  • al3b3d3v's avatar
    al3b3d3v
    Level 4
    14 years ago

    Maverik, not yet... my other idea is to do a full restore from backup to move the data, but im still sleeping on it.

  • Golfhead's avatar
    Golfhead
    Level 2
    13 years ago

    Hey al3b3d3v,

     

    I went through software and hardware migration 6 months ago. this was my path. upgrade the ev 2007 to ev 8, 8.0.1, 8.0.2 then jump to ev 9.0.1 and finally to 9.0.2. make sure you follow the software upgrade path to the teeth or else hell will rain upon you. i skiped ev 8.0.1 and 8.0.2 jump straight to 9x thinking everything will be fine. Not so becasue the SPs have stuff that required in 9x. Google EV hardware migration guide.

    I did an in-place upgrade on the old server and port over to the new hardware after everything was upgraded with 9.x on the old server, this would be cleaner and easier for the cut over. For myself, I used a real-time replication tool to synchonize my data from the old server to the new server, i used Vision Solution Double-Take software. This is an awesome tool but quite expensive to own. It's about $5K/server. Anyway, good news, you could download a full functional free trial software and I think it has 7 or 14 days trial period. You can use it to sync your indexes from old to new servers.

    here's an overview order of the upgrade

    1. upgrade the EV software on old server to 9.x.

    2. backup your ev databases and restore it to the new database server. google symantec how to migrate ev databases for proper steps. hint, need to make sure your queues are empty before you start your db backup process and restore. this requires downtime.

    3. once the databases are restored to the new db server, on the VAC reconnect EV to new database server. i believe you do this in the top level.

    4. now the fun part, move your software to the new servers. again google the migration hardware steps provided by symantec. make sure don't deviate from the instructions. the only think the guide didn't mention properly or kinda vague is updating the EV SQL entries, i.e. PST holding folder path, etc. Those you have to make a call to Symantec Tech Support for assistant. Tell them what components are still pointing to the old server. They know the database entries better than anyone else.

     

    Hope this help, and good luck on your migration.

    -golfHead

  • GertjanA's avatar
    GertjanA
    Moderator
    13 years ago

    Despite the space issues, have you seen the Migration wizard?

    http://www.symantec.com/docs/HOWTO42445

    What I would do is to upgrade EV to 9.03. Then use the migration wizard to move EV to the new 2008r2 server. While in this process, you could move the data etc. If I read correct, during the configuration of the new server (importing the config), you can enter new locations for the data/indexes.

    I have seen several entries in this forum of people who used it, without problems.