BESR V7.0 Bare Metal Restore to different HW

[david_abowitt]

My assumption on a bare metal is that the system does not have preconfigured partitions or the controller does not have to be configured.

I have a Dell 2950 that I have deleted the hard drives, when I boot to the BESR V7 disk and then connect to the image I'm trying to restore, on attached USB HD, it only gives me the attached USB hard drive as a point to restore to.  Am I missing anything?

Optionally, if I use the Dell configuration disk I have to go through the entire process of configuring the HD and installing an OS and then if I use the BESR V7 with restore anywhere process it will give me the appropriate points to apply the image since the drive array is now configured.

This is cumbersome and not really a true bare metal restore. 

Any recommendations or am I missing a process?

[Bill_Felt]

Hello,

If you boot the system to the Symantec Recovery Disk (SRD) and you cannot see your local disk drives, it would indicate (if I understand correctly) that a driver for the mass storage controller in the 2950 is not present on the SRD.

I would recommend one of the following:

1.  Use the Load a Driver button within the SRD itself to load a driver for the mass storage controller.

Note: Using option 1 will load a driver allowing the SRD to communicate with the mass storage controller, allowing the recovery point to be restored.  It will not however add the driver to our retargeting driver database.  This means that if the restore anyware option is selected, you may be prompted for the driver again during the restore anyware portion of the operation.

2.  Create a new custom SRD that includes the correct drivers for the Dell 2950 system.

          a.  On a system that has Backup Exec System Recovery (BESR) installed, open BESR.

         b.  Insert the default SRD into the CD-ROM drive.

         c.  At the BESR main screen, click File > Create Recovery Disk.

         d.  At the Driver Comparison Results screen, choose custom.

         e.  Choose Add.

          f.  Browse to the folder containing the driver files (sys/inf) for the mass storage controller in the 2950.

         g.  Complete the wizard and create a new SRD.

3.  You could also send a message to nic_drivers@symantec.com explaining your problem.

Note: If you select option 3, be sure to attach the driver files for the 2950 to the email message.  The technicians monitoring that email address will create a custom SRD for you that contains the 2950 drivers and give you instructions on how to download the custom SRD.

---------------

Recovery points created with Backup Exec System Recovery include everything needed to restore your system volume(s) from scratch.  We capture all sectors containing data, file system information (i.e. file system type (NTFS/FAT32 etc), size, etc), volume boot sector, MBR, etc.  Even if the target hard drive or hard drive array is unformatted and empty, we can still recreate your disk volumes and restore them in their entirety, without the need to manually format the new drive or drive array, install the OS, etc.

If the recovery point is being restored to a different system than the one from which it came, you can choose the Restore Anyware option, which will cause the recovery process to ensure that the correct HAL, mass storage controller driver, and other critical components are present and correct to allow the operating system to boot properly on the new hardware configuration.

If I understand your situation correctly, this particular problem is that our SRD is unable to communicate with the hard drive controller in the 2950, as no driver is present (the result of which is that the target drives do not show up in the restore wizard).

Let me know if I have misunderstood your situation.

Thanks.

Message Edited by Bill Felt on 07-19-200702:32 PM

[david_abowitt]

Bill thanks for your reply.  I will attempt your suggested resolution and communicate back its effectiveness.

[david_abowitt]

OK, tried process number one and it did not work.  I went to the Dell 2950 website and downloaded two downloades for the LSI Logic Perc 5/I SAS Controller that is installed on the 2950.  I used the load driver button and installed both sets of drivers.  I then went into the process of creating image and it is still not seeing array controller.

Thanks

[david_abowitt]

So just talked to Dell technical support and I have downloaded the correct driver for the Dell Server.  The BESR 7 system is indicating it is installing the driver after I select the .INF file but it still will not recognize the controller and give me the option to install the image only the option to install the image to my USB drive which obviously I do not want to do.  So, to me it looks like a fault of the BESR program. 

Comments welcome but I going to rebuild the partitions and go from there.