Cannot restore Windows 2003 x64 Enterprise server

[plusignan]

Hi,

We are doing some testing to complete our disaster recovery procedure and we have some problem using BackupExec 12.5 (SP4) IDR option. We have created the IDR boot CD, the DR file and a full backup for our Windows 2003 x64 Ent server (HP DL380 G5 hardware). We are trying to restore to an alternate server (HP DL380 G6) with different hardware but we meet the requirement of the IDR documentation (same number of partition, more space on partition then initially, etc.).

When we run the IDR recovery on the alternate server, everything worked just fine in the Symantec IDR step by step procedure and the server restart, after I see the Windows logo with the completion bar but then the screen goes black and the server reboot.

Please note that the server to restore contain a SQL2005 database

Here is the servers config:

Backed up server:

• HP DL380 G5
• 1 quadcore processor
• 3 partitions (OS partition is on 2 disk raid1, others two on SAN volume)

Alternate test server:

• HP DL380 G6
• 1 quadcore processor
• 3 partitions (1 OS partion on 1 HD raid0, 1 partition on another disk raid0 and the last partion on 2 HD raid0)

Any help will be welcome

PL

[pkh]

1) Are the disk spaces in the test server greater or equal to that of the the backed up server?

2) During the IDR process, how many restore jobs to you see?  You should see a minimum of 2 jobs, one for restoring the C drive and another to restore the system state.

[plusignan]

Hi pkh,

Yes disk space is greater on the test server for all disk.
I see 5 restore jobs during idr process (drive C, drive E, Drive F, system state and shadow copies).

Thanks

PL

[Colin_Weaver]

There are limits on how well IDR handles dissimilar hardware - I have a feeling your reboot is because one of the hardware drivers (i.e. the the driver for the raid card or motherboard chipset) from your backed up server is being asked to load and then failing because the hardware it needs is not present.

You would need to disable the auto-reboot on error conditioon settings in the OS and possibly do some OS logging to trap the error that is causing the reboot - this might then help you trace the hardware driver that causes the issue - which you might be able to disable.

The BESR (BackuP Exec System Recovery) product which is based on block level backups (like Ghost) instead of file level backups does have better capabilities agsainst the "Restore Anywhere" feature and might be able to handle this better, although it is a separate chargeable product

[plusignan]

How do I disable the auto-reboot setting? I cannot load the console or the safe mode. Is there a way to have some kind of logfile to help me identify the problem. Or is there a way to install the correct drivers before windows load?

Thanks for the advice on BackupExec System Restore, do you know if there is a trial that we can tried?