Disaster recovery of Windows 2008 R2 servers (Netbackup 7.5) to dissimilar hardware

[sclind]

Last time we did a DR test we only had Windows 2003 servers and were not yet at NB 7.5.  We could recover these servers (they were NB clients) with no problem.

Now we have lots of Windows 2008 R2 servers and are at NB 7.5.0.7 and we cant seem be able to recover a server to dissimilar hardware (like you would get at a DR provider).

Has anyone got this working?

So far we have not used Bare metal recovery (BMR) since in the past this was a seperate license.  But maybe thats what we need?

[Marianne · Accepted solution]

BMR has been included (for free) with Standard Client license since NBU 6.5 release (2007). 

The method described in this TN:  http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH56473  works best for same hardware restore (as in exact same hardware).

Anything else needs BMR for best chances on success. 

[Jaime_Vazquez]

As Marianne so clearly stated above, the BMR feature has been a free option starting with NBU 6.5. BMR Server and client setup is found in the BMR Admin Guide:

Symantec NetBackup Bare Metal Restore 7.5 Administrator's Guide
http://www.symantec.com/docs/DOC5163

This article helps with a DSR for Windows using BMR:

Doing a Dissimilar System Restore (DSR) to new hardware for Windows clients using Bare Metal Restore (BMR) on NetBackup 6.X and 7.X releases.
http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH52394

More TECH articles that can help with the BMR restore setup and process:

Windows Device Driver Requirements for Bare Metal Restore (BMR)  
http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH181674

How to update a BMR Shared Resource Tree (SRT) on BMR 7.X Boot Servers
http://www.symantec.com/docs/TECH160457   

Windows 2008/2008 R2 support came in at NBU 7.0.1 so all is good for you. As the servers you are looking at are all Windows 2008 R2, you really need to read the TN on device driver support needs.