Restore to another Server

[syed_jahanzaib]

I am using BE2014. I have created a backup set on TAPE for one of my server name Server1

Now I want to test this backup by restoring (disaster recovery with evrey thing) to another server name server2. Both have remote agent installed and working. hardware is same, bot have SAN storage connected with them, (SAN have two arrays, adn each array is attached with each server)

Can I do online restore of server1 to server2 ? How can I do that ? because I cannot see any option to change the server. if I go in server1 restore option, it donot give any option to restore on server2.

help please

[VJware]

In the restore wizard, after you select the data/backup sets, it gives an option to restore to original location or to a different location. Choose the option of different location.

And what type of data are you trying to restore to the other server ?

[syed_jahanzaib]

I am trying to do FULL system disaster recovery (including C: d: e: and efi partition, system state etc)

(I tried to restore by booting from SDR on Server2 and tro to do the restore , but I encounter 2 issues, SAN shows duplicate paritions (even If i disable 2nd FC card) , and second problem is that If the SAN is attached to the server2, it donot boot just blank cursor, if i remove the san fc cable from the server fc card, then it boots fine)

[VJware]

A DR restore this way is not possible. Firstly, the server name should be the same and in a workgroup. Secondly, have a look @ this KB (http://www.symantec.com/business/support/index?page=content&id=TECH86323) which would give you a brief idea as to how the manual complete system restore is done.

[syed_jahanzaib]

Thank you for your reply. How can I test if DR is working or not? i cannot restore DR to original productioin server which is live 24x7.

I want to restore it for DR test purpose to show management that DR will work in case of total disaster , How can I simulate it ? (I cannot use VM because of space issue, so I must use physical server with san attached)

[VJware]

You would preferably need identical hardware (as you are performing manual DR and not SDR). Install exact same version of Windows including patch/SP level. File system format and partitioning must be same as that of the original. Give it the same name and do not join the server to the domain.

Install the remote agent for windows on this server. Now using BE, you can test a DR restore from the new server. From the original server, initiate the restore job. You'll have to restore C:\ first and system state. And these can be redirected to your new server. (Do not choose the option of restoring the complete system as this cannot be redirected.)

[pkh]

When a system state is redirected, it will be restored as just files and folders.  The machine to which the system state is redirected to cannot be reboot to the machine which was backed up.

[VJware]

Thanks pkh for clarifying.

@aacable: Let me try to be a bit clear on the test DR process.

You would preferably need identical hardware (as you are performing manual DR and not SDR). Install exact same version of Windows including patch/SP level. File system format and partitioning must be same as that of the original. Give it the same name and do not join the server to the domain.

Install the remote agent for windows on this server. Now using BE, add this server to the Backup & Restore tab using Netbios name. Establish a trust relationship if needed. Now, run a restore and choose the option to restore the complete system. This will run the restore to the new machine. Do keep in mind, the original production server must be off the network.

Lastly, a better way to test a manual DR would be to run a backup and restore of the same machine itself. Setup a test machine for this purpose. This is more simplified than trying to simulate a DR restore from a production machine to a test machine.

[syed_jahanzaib]

Do keep in mind, the original production server must be off the network.

This is not acceptable because the production server is SAP application and cannot taken offline even for a minute. Currently I am testing an restore to another identicial machine (with some partitions modifications). I will post updates.

[syed_jahanzaib · Accepted solution]

Finally I managed to restore the server1 backup to server2 machine using SDR. Success :)

However I faced following issue.

1) server1 and server2 have exactly same identicical hardware specs with san attached on both with 2 FC card in each server for multi path fail over. Even I loaded MPIO driver from IBM in SDR using LOAD DRIVER, it showed me duplicate SAN partitions, I even remvoed one FC card, still it showed double partitions, so I made custom partition layout for san partition by using only top 3 partitions (for san only)

2) After restore completes, windows boots fine for the first time, but then on second reboot, it donot load windows, instead it shows only cursor blinking. I then removed FC cables, then windows boot fine. I removed MS MPIO feature, and rebooted , connected FC cabled, and Windows loaded fine :) now I load IBM MPIO driver and everythign is now on track with DR server :D

just for info, its a SAP EHP6 application server I was trying to restore. Servers are IBM Xseries 3650 M4 with Qlogic FC cards, and V3700 storewize san storage with 2 brocade FC switches.