BE 2010 System Recovery Server Incompatable with 2003-Only RAID

[JStellato]

Ok So I started a new thread about this to clear up a problem I was having.  I had to restore 2 Servers, one of them a fairly recent intel S5000 MB with RAID onboard.  The solution was to use the 2008 Server RAID Driver within the SRD to successfully restore.  That worked, and I'm happy for that.

However, the second server that is down is a 2003 server, but an older intel motherboard.  There are no 2008 RAID Drivers, so I believe now there is no way to get the SRD to see the RAID Array.  Which means I can't restore the server, so although it's compatable to Backup, it's impossible to Restore.

This is something that really should be in bold print somewhere.  If you own a 2003 server to which 2008 RAID Drivers do not exist, then this program is incompatable.

I'm really hoping I'm wrong about this, so if anyone knows away around it let me know

Joe

[criley]

Joe,

I can see you are in a difficult position here. The SRD can only work with Vista/2008 drivers so if they do not exist for your hardware you will need to contact the hardware vendor to see if they can provide this to you.

It's always recommended to test the SRD with your hardware before you actually need to perform a restore to ensure that all hardware devices can be 'seen'.

What's the hardware model you are having issues with?

[JStellato]

I have an Intel SE7505VBS Motherboard, which uses the onboard RAID.

The hardware vendor is not creating new drivers, , this issue is obviously going to affect a large portion of users who have RAID controllers with no 2008 Drivers.

So I am correct then, if there are no 2008 Drivers for whatever RAID Controller we have then Backup Exec System Recovery Server 2010 SRD cannot be used to restore the system, dispite the fact that the backed up system does not require 2008 Server RAID Drivers.  That is dissapointing.

Why is it, with every symantec product that comes along, there's always a catch, or significant piece that isn't working.  It's so frustrating.  Sure not many people have experienced this issue thus far because it's a new product, and the only way they would face it would be to have to restore there system or put it through a recovery test.

So, Symantec, why not create 2 SRD's. 

1. for Server 2008/Vista/Win7 Core
2. for 2003/XP

It's not like you didn't have a PE CD Before that ran off of the XP Core.

[criley]

You make a good point and I think this falls under the umbrella of an enhancement request. I would encourage you to add one here:

https://www-secure.symantec.com/connect/backup-and-archiving/ideas

I know this does not help you right now, but it may help to improve the product in future.

In terms of your current issue, a 'workaround' would be to re-install the operating system and then recover your 'data' volumes from within Windows. Not an ideal solution but it would at least get you up and running again.

[JStellato]

If the enhancement is to make the product act as advertised, then yes this is an Enchancment Request..

The software says it is compatable with 2003 Server, but it is not 100% compatable with 2003, it's really just compatable with 2008 Server, and 2003 if it has the 2008 Drivers.

Sorry to make a big deal out of this, but it's just so frustrating when software costs almost a 1000$ and doesn't perform as advertised.  And it just seems to happen time and time again with Symantec.

[criley]

Just another thought because it's not clear from your posts - have you actually tried the 2003 driver to see if it works?

[CheckOut]

I've loaded the drivers and also created a custom SRD containing the W2K3 LSI drivers for onboard RAID and it cannot see the drives. I've since loaded W2K8 drivers and it can see the drives.
This is despite the Driver Validation earlier saying all required drivers were on the CD.
There should be a warning in large type about Win2008 drivers being required!

[JStellato]

Yes I have tried the 2003 Drivers. 

Let me elaborate a little further on my frustration.  Not only is it not compatable even though it states it is.  But our customers, who purchased the support plan got this product sent out to them.

So basically the old version worked, they keep paying for version upgrades, and now there out of luck.  It isn't like this is a small issue, hundreds of our customers are using Intel Motherboards with On-Board RAID.  I've confirmed this problem with other intel boards as well.

I.E. 7520BD2 board was another example, basically anything in the 7000 series will not work.  Of course I'm writing this message on a Dell Poweredge 2850 which is ALSO not compatable because 2008 RAID Drivers don't exist.  To make things worse I'm working on this server because it has Symantec Endpoint 11.01 which filled up the hard drive with definition files.  UGH!

What a bad situation

Joe

[criley]

Joe,

It worked in earlier versions because the older SRDs are based on earlier versions of WinPE which means you can user 2003 based drivers.

I assume those customers still have access to the old versions of the SRD? If so, why not try restoring using the older SRD?

[JStellato]

The Old SRD uses the older version of BESRS, you can't restore an image created from a newer version of the software with an older version SRD.

[criley]

Have you actually tried it youself? If so, what actually happened? Did you see any errors?

I'll be honest, it's not something that I've tried and is probably something that is not supported but if it's your only option...

[JStellato]

Sorry it took so long, but I wanted accurate information.  The latest release of BE that uses the XP PE is 6.5.  So I used this version to boot into, yes it does see the drive, yes I can pick the backups, however it WILL NOT restore.  If you pick the .v2i file by itself and try to restore, it says this error:

Error EA39071A: Image file is a newer version, that is not supported by this version of the application

For reference and arguments sake I tried version 7.0 which is the first to use the vista PE, that failed.

So I am still correct to say Backup Exec System Recovery Server 2010 is NOT Supported fully by 2003 Server, ONLY if 2008 Drivers Exist for the RAID Controller in use.

Can symantec provide us with a version of BE 2010 that will run on XP PE?? That would solve this problem.

[Andreas_Horlach]

JStellato,

Can you please send me a private message with your contact information? I have a couple of ideas I'd like to share with you.

Thanks,
Andreas

[Specialized_Eng]

Was a workaround ever found for this issue, I too am running into the same issue.