Disk Imaging Software (Ghost, etc.)

[insanarchist]

Update: I've proposed a solution to my backup problem and would like to know anyone's/everyone's opinion! In a nutshell, I've got a small medical clinic running a simple mse2000/data server with Win2000 that needs to be backed up regularly, and a second nearly-identical server to use as a backup.

I propose using Acronis True Image Server to schedule regular weekly backups onto an external USB hard drive (switched out every week), as well as daily full backups/hourly incremental backups onto tape through the Windows Backup utility.

Please post any/all opinions on the matter, as we're talking about the first semi-major software purchase for this clinic in almost five years, and I'd like to not get yelled at after the fact if I'm making a mistake now


Original Post:
I need some opinions from people who are "in the field", have been around the block, and know their stuff when it comes to backing up data. I've got an MSE2000/data server that I need to back up in a manner that is easy to do, has an easy recovery, and can be maintained by a non-computer-literate person.

My idea was to ghost the machine regularly (once a month?) to CD/DVD, then use windows 2000 server's backup program to do daily and weekly backups to tape. I need the recovery process to be quick (a couple hours or less), and I need it to be able to recover to a very similarly (but not exactly the same) configured server.

Ideas? I know I have a similar thread running here, but this one is specific to disk imaging software. I know the obvious solution would be Norton Ghost, but it has been getting some incredibly poor reviews in it's most recent iteration (10)...

 

[dx2]

images of the server OS + Data would be kinda useless as you would have to reload the images on an exactly identical (hardware wise) server for it to work correctly.

You have the right idea in using backup to create daily and weekly backups but you need to separate the data from the OS.....as far as fast recovery goes its just a matter of loading the data into the new server that already has the OS up and running.

As far as making back ups easy for someone who is computer illiterate...thats a tougher task. If they have money on the line, e.g. they own a small business, they should make it a priority. I've found that you can ingrain the mentality "save early and often, and make back ups doubly so" into most people, but it never truly takes till they lose data that loses them money.

And the symantec solution suite (ghost, ghostcast, other imaging utilities) are ok...I use them because I'm stuck with them, but they are just best used on standardized hardware deployments...like dozens of the same desktops and I keep them away from the servers.

 

[insanarchist]

Hmm... so your suggestion is to just keep the backup server (we'll call it server 2 vs. server 1 ) ready with the same OS installed, then use the daily/weekly backup tapes to restore the data into server 2 from server 1? That makes sense. I had tried to back up the MSE store and related files before, but it was taking literally hours and hours to do. What exactly should I be backing up?

Thanks for your help

 

[dx2]

You basically just want to back up the store (the databases) and thats it...if its a file server you would want to just save all user generated files (spread sheets, documents, pictures). If it were a domain controller you'd want to preserve the AD database.

Does this link help at all?

http://www.petri.co.il/backup_exchange_2000_2003_with_ntbackup.htm

 

[sully127]

What you're looking for is called Continuity. It is the ability to have a practically seemless transition in the event of a server failure.

Continuity is common when you have server clusters because the data itself isn't stored on the front-end server, but for data servers with independent storage, it is practically impossible.

You didn't say what kind of capacity you were looking to backup, but one possibility is to have nightly incremental backups done to some form of attached storage whether it is an external hard drive, a NAS, or a SAN (you said keep it simple, though, so you'd probably go External Drive or NAS), and do your weekly backups to tape. That way you have a digital copy of the data already and can just connect to another server in the event of failure.

Symantec's Backup Exec software is what my company currently uses; however, we like to pretend like it is still the 90's and backup only to tape... that's okay though; most of our backup jobs fail anyway.

 

[insanarchist]

The C drive (where Exchange is) is an 8GB drive with 1.5GB free, and includes windows as well. I'm not sure how to find out how big the things I need to back-up are (as I'm not even sure exactly which things to back up!) but if you send me on a mission I can figure it out pretty quick!

 

[insanarchist]

By the way, do I need to have MSE installed on the backup server too? I'm not sure how it was originally set up on the main server (I got thrown into this with nothing but a user/pass)

 

[sully127]

Foremost, MSE + file server = bad combo.

You aren't sure what you want to backup; are you looking to backup just data from the fileserver or the MSE stores?

I don't mean to offend, but saying that it needs to be maintained by someone who isn't computer literate is really limiting the options here.

Walk us through your server's setup.

Do you have separate partitions for the OS, mailbox stores, and your file server's shared data?

If not, you are in a bit of a bind. It is still possible to use software to selectively chose what to backup, but it is gonna be a major pain.

If you want to be able to get your data and your MSE up and running quickly, you need to have the data and the mailbox stores backed up and have another server on standby, like someone said earlier, with MSE installed and configured so that all you have to do is restore your store data and you'll be all set.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...FamilyID=6E55DD49-8A6C-4F30-947E-BDE95917F585

That is the Exchange 2000 Disaster recovery guide. It should help you out a little.

 

[insanarchist]

Foremost, MSE + file server = bad combo.

Really? Does the scale of the organization matter? I've got the one server and 10 total clients just for some background info.

You aren't sure what you want to backup; are you looking to backup just data from the fileserver or the MSE stores?

I was planning on backing up the data once a month or so, 'cause it's really mostly static forms and such that we print out. Backing up the data isn't a problem: that's easy. It's the MSE stores/the program itself that I need to figure out.

I don't mean to offend, but saying that it needs to be maintained by someone who isn't computer literate is really limiting the options here.

Let me rephrase: I would prefer as much of the backup process to be automated as possible, with human interaction for the most part limited to changing out a tape or CD. The company should always have a computer nerd at hand, but I don't want them to be 100% dependent on one being around all day every day to keep their system/s backed up.

Walk us through your server's setup. Do you have separate partitions for the OS, mailbox stores, and your file server's shared data? If not, you are in a bit of a bind. It is still possible to use software to selectively chose what to backup, but it is gonna be a major pain.

This computer has three partitions and three hard disks. Two are 17GB Raid-1 Hdd's split into two partitions: C:\ (with Windows & the entire MSE program on it including the store as far as I can tell) and D:\ (file server stuff). The third disk is a 74GB hdd with old records that are rarely accessed and some related files...

Disk 1[C:\ 8.00GB | 39mb* | D:\ 8.91GB]
Disk 2[C:\ 8.00GB | D:\ 8.91GB | 39mb**]

Disk 3[E:\ pagefile ]

I didn't set this thing up: it'd have a lot more drives/more intelligent setup if I did...

If you want to be able to get your data and your MSE up and running quickly, you need to have the data and the mailbox stores backed up and have another server on standby, like someone said earlier, with MSE installed and configured so that all you have to do is restore your store data and you'll be all set.

I agree, that's gonna be my plan. My question is: do I need to set up MSE separately by itself as a new installation on "Server 2"? If so, I'll need some sort of walkthrough, 'cause I've got no idea how to do it

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...FamilyID=6E55DD49-8A6C-4F30-947E-BDE95917F585
That is the Exchange 2000 Disaster recovery guide. It should help you out a little.

Was just reading that actually

I've said it a couple times, but I really want to make sure you guys know how much I appreciate your help with this!

 

[Spartacus]

The C drive (where Exchange is) is an 8GB drive with 1.5GB free, and includes windows as well. I'm not sure how to find out how big the things I need to back-up are (as I'm not even sure exactly which things to back up!) but if you send me on a mission I can figure it out pretty quick!

What is the capacity of the tape system?

If it's only an 8GB OS partition, that's nothing. Get Backup Exec and setup a daily backup job to backup the whole partition. When you are only talking a small amount of data, it's silly to be selective with the backups. Do a full backup every day.

You are going to run into trouble with the 1.5GB free part though. That's not enough free space on an OS partition, especially on a server with MSE running. Just installing Backup Exec you will be out of space. Being low on space like that will start to cause lockups and crashes, you need to fix that.

Is the OS partition sharing a physical (or logical RAID) drive with the data partition?

I'm assuming a typical RAID-1 array here. Two physical drives in a mirror, with an OS partition and a data partition. Close?

You need to use something like Acronis Disk Director Server to resize that OS partition by taking 15GB or so free space from the data partition (assuming it has plenty to spare). The Acronis will work on any 2000/2003 server, I've used it many times. I've had to do that many times on Dell servers that only have 12GB OS partitions. Very nice to resize partitions with the data in place without having to backup/format/restore. Huge time savings to use Acronis. It's very safe, but make sure you have current backups first.

If the data partition is also out of space, the easy solution to that is to add another RAID-1 mirror array for the data and move the data over to the new array. Then you can use all of the old array space for the OS. I've done that with great results several times. You'll still need Acronis to resize the OS partition.

EDIT: Just saw this....

>>This computer has three partitions and three hard disks. Two are 17GB Raid-1 Hdd's split into two partitions: C:\ (with Windows & the entire MSE program on it including the store as far as I can tell) and D:\ (file server stuff). The third disk is a 74GB hdd with old records that are rarely accessed and some related files...

Here's what I would do. First try to sell them a new server with SBS 2003 and more drive space. If they don't go for that and want to keep/upgrade this server, then buy another 74GB drive and setup a second RAID-1 array. MOve all data to the new array and then you have the original 17GB array for the OS.

 

[insanarchist]

I'm starting to realize more and more just how poorly this system was set up originally. Like I said, I walked into this 3-5 years after it was "set up" and forgotten about. I'm just worried because every day I sit here is another day closer to some sort of simple hardware/software failure that would result in a total system meltdown. So I'm trying to both handle this with kid-gloves, and get this done as quickly as possible with no room for error. It's stressful

I suppose that's why I get paid the big bucks. Oh wait, no I don't.. at all... err... why am I doing this?

Edit: The tape system is a 20/40GB tape, so no worries there. The problem is, the last time I tried to do a "full" backup, it took literally days and never finished. I know this is a separate problem, but I'm not really sure why it takes so long. I can try again knowing what you've told me now, and I'll read up some more on it today, but if I can't get around this problem I'm not sure what to do.

 

[insanarchist]

Here's what I would do. First try to sell them a new server with SBS 2003 and more drive space. If they don't go for that and want to keep/upgrade this server, then buy another 74GB drive and setup a second RAID-1 array. Move all data to the new array and then you have the original 17GB array for the OS.

That's a good idea. I know they won't go for a completely new server/software license, 'cause we're using MSE to do stuff it's not meant to do (dr's office practice management) for reasons I can't even begin to imagine, but because it's already here and the Dr's are already used to it, it's gotta stay for now. It's ridiculous, but that's how it is I guess. So, sticking with the current hodgepodge system, adding another 74gb drive, raid-1'ing that, and moving the data to that leaving the full 17 GB for the system is a good plan. I'm going to wait to address that until I've got a fully implemented backup system first, so I can just adjust it to the new sizes vs. messing with the only server in an incredibly volitile environment.

 

[Spartacus]

That's a good idea. I know they won't go for a completely new server/software license, 'cause we're using MSE to do stuff it's not meant to do (dr's office practice management) for reasons I can't even begin to imagine, but because it's already here and the Dr's are already used to it, it's gotta stay for now. It's ridiculous, but that's how it is I guess. So, sticking with the current hodgepodge system, adding another 74gb drive, raid-1'ing that, and moving the data to that leaving the full 17 GB for the system is a good plan. I'm going to wait to address that until I've got a fully implemented backup system first, so I can just adjust it to the new sizes vs. messing with the only server in an incredibly volitile environment.

That's one of the cheapest/best ways I can think of to fix the space problem. The 17GB is still a bit small on space, but do-able. You may need to move the Exchange message store to the data drive too.

Make sure you have everything backed up before you do anything.

First thing to do after that is setup the new data array and move the data.

Then you'll still need something like Acronis to delete the old data partition on the 17GB array and absorb that space into the OS partition. You could also Ghost/format/Ghost restore the OS partition. Acronis is MUCH easier though.

 

[insanarchist]

...Then you'll still need something like Acronis to delete the old data partition on the 17GB array and absorb that space into the OS partition. You could also Ghost/format/Ghost restore the OS partition. Acronis is MUCH easier though.

Someone else was talking about Acronis' "True Image" software as a more reliable/flexible replacement to Norton Ghost. Have you ever used it?

 

[SJConsultant]

I'd say at this point and in the best interest of the business, you had better start looking for a local qualified consultant or technician to help you.

Your lack of experience with everything your dealing with is going to haunt you if anything goes wrong.

FYI - While backups are important, it is also important to know the information can be restored which can be a nightmare if you don't know how to do things.

 

[insanarchist]

I'd say at this point and in the best interest of the business, you had better start looking for a local qualified consultant or technician to help you.

Your lack of experience with everything your dealing with is going to haunt you if anything goes wrong.

FYI - While backups are important, it is also important to know the information can be restored which can be a nightmare if you don't know how to do things.

I'd probably have to agree with you there: I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I started with this business, and neither did they. For my own future knowledge, I'd like to learn how to work with (vs. against!) MSE, as I'm sure it'd be a useful skill to have down the road. Just as some background, I have an excellent history of figuring computer-related stuff out and mastering it rather quickly, am a near-expert with hardware, and have been installing/fixing/re-configuring software, especially windows installations, for a number of years. The reason I mention this is not to try to impress anybody (I'm 100% sure this still puts me in the lower to lower-middle range of experience & knowledge on these boards, which is why I come here to learn! ), but to give a little background and to let you know where I'm coming from. I also know that I have no idea what I'm doing and am guessing my way around some important business-in-the-palm-of-my-hands stuff and that a qualified expert would, and always has been, the best choice for the business.


All of that said, I'd still like to do something here and now to at least prevent a catastrophic failure. My plan is as follows:

1 - Purchase copy of Norton Ghost and ghost the entire system. Do so at least once a month.

2 - Set up a backup routine to do "Normal" backups of the exchange store once a day.

3 - Start looking into a consultant. In the mean time, practice setting up & messing with exchange on the backup server, which I'll just use as spare parts in case of hardware failure on the main server.

Yes? No?

 

[SJConsultant]

1 - Purchase copy of Norton Ghost and ghost the entire system. Do so at least once a month.

Will the office accept that much data loss? A month's worth of data is alot to lose for a busy office not to mention the turmoil it will cause.

2 - Set up a backup routine to do "Normal" backups of the exchange store once a day.

Sounds like your using the built in backup utility. If that is the case, then you also need to shutdown Exchange Services in order for the Exchage database to be properly backed up.

3 - Start looking into a consultant. In the mean time, practice setting up & messing with exchange on the backup server, which I'll just use as spare parts in case of hardware failure on the main server.

Just be sure to setup the other server on a separate network so that no matter what you do, it will not interfere with the production system. Having two servers with the same name and ip addresses is bad mojo.

 

[insanarchist]

I was under the (apparently mistaken) impression that the Exchange Store had everything but program setting for Exchange in it. Obviously, I was wrong: what would I need to back up daily/hourly to keep recently added appointments/contacts updated? Other than those two things, most of the data is static or at least semi-static. Perhaps backing up that stuff daily plus the folders where' peoples' profiles are kept?

I'm honestly trying to learn here

 

[SJConsultant]

No you are correct in your assumption. I had read the ghosting bit as a possibility that would be the only backup being done.

That said, normal backups of the server (including systems state) should backup the daily data that is entered. You just need to turn "off" the exchange services to properly backup the Exchange Store and turn them back "on" when the backup is complete. This can be automated through a batch file.

Ideally, (and this is where my opinion differs greatly with most other local "techs" or "computer shops" ) you would perform a backup of the entire server at least once a week and not just the data. Think for a moment about the time it would take to recreated the AD environment if you only backed up pure data. A few missing settings could easily run you into hours of troubleshooting.

Finally, a monthly ghost image plus daily backups should cover things pretty well, however, and as I stated before a backup isn't "good" unless you know you can restore the information (and server!) when you need it the most.

 

[Spartacus]

Ideally, (and this is where my opinion differs greatly with most other local "techs" or "computer shops" ) you would perform a backup of the entire server at least once a week and not just the data. Think for a moment about the time it would take to recreated the AD environment if you only backed up pure data. A few missing settings could easily run you into hours of troubleshooting.

Finally, a monthly ghost image plus daily backups should cover things pretty well, however, and as I stated before a backup isn't "good" unless you know you can restore the information (and server!) when you need it the most.

You certainly have my agreement!

I usually setup my customers to do full backups every week night. Most are 100GB total or less. I realize it's harder on the equipment, but I tend to think it's worth it. This is especially since "I" am the guy who gets to do any restores. I hate working with incremental backups. Much nicer to have multiple full backups to work with.

insanarchist, make sure you do a test restore to verify the backups are valid. Pick a worthless file/folder on the server, delete it, and then restore it as a test.

 

[SJConsultant]

insanarchist, make sure you do a test restore to verify the backups are valid. Pick a worthless file/folder on the server, delete it, and then restore it as a test.

While that will work for standard files and folders, doing a complete rebuild on a server from a tape backup can all together be different.

 

[sully127]

Ghost is fine, but as someone said very early in on this conversation, the only way you will be able to restore that image is on a server with IDENTICAL hardware.

I mean, don't let that disuade you; I just inherited a Novell network about 2-3 weeks ago, and one of the first things I did was to use ZenWorks (Novell's PXE server) to make images of each of the mission critical servers just in case.

Ideally, what you want for a mail server is a cluster. In the Microsoft shop that I work for, we are currently implementing a SAN, so we will soon have our mailbox stores stored on there and have two Exchange servers, MSE1 and MSE2 pointing to that with MSEF as our FrontEnd server to which users actually connect. Even then, we'll still be faced with the issue of having to backup the data from the SAN to tape in the event that the SAN goes down, but at least we have continuity and redundancy of e-mail so that failure of one of the Exchange servers should go unnoticed by the end users.

What's probably best for this particular instance is to get backup software, create a new job to run nightly and do a full backup, and select everything except the OS to be backed up. Then just have a server on standby configured just like your current one.

Since you said you're not too comfortable with MSE yet, setting up that backup server gives you the perfect opportunity to get more acquainted with it and how it works and interfaces with other aspects of your enterprise. Just make sure to not put the server into production accidently, or you'll really cause a mess for yourself.

 

[Spartacus]

While that will work for standard files and folders, doing a complete rebuild on a server from a tape backup can all together be different.

Yep, putting a server back together from only a tape backup is not fun. That's when those Ghost backups or Veritas with IDR are very handy.

 

[SJConsultant]

What's probably best for this particular instance is to get backup software, create a new job to run nightly and do a full backup, and select everything except the OS to be backed up. Then just have a server on standby configured just like your current one.

Why would you not backup the OS? It's not a full backup if you don't backup everything.

 

[Internal Power]

If you are having trouble and worried about data loss. there is another way to backup your server(s) and that is using a outside vendor like Iron Mountian ( http://www.ironmountain.com/dataprotection/server/ ) to backup your data to a off site storage site. At the very least you can you use them as a consultant. It sounds like you have a big mess on your hands.

 

[Xilikon]

Ghost is fine, but as someone said very early in on this conversation, the only way you will be able to restore that image is on a server with IDENTICAL hardware.

I mean, don't let that disuade you; I just inherited a Novell network about 2-3 weeks ago, and one of the first things I did was to use ZenWorks (Novell's PXE server) to make images of each of the mission critical servers just in case.

Ideally, what you want for a mail server is a cluster. In the Microsoft shop that I work for, we are currently implementing a SAN, so we will soon have our mailbox stores stored on there and have two Exchange servers, MSE1 and MSE2 pointing to that with MSEF as our FrontEnd server to which users actually connect. Even then, we'll still be faced with the issue of having to backup the data from the SAN to tape in the event that the SAN goes down, but at least we have continuity and redundancy of e-mail so that failure of one of the Exchange servers should go unnoticed by the end users.

What's probably best for this particular instance is to get backup software, create a new job to run nightly and do a full backup, and select everything except the OS to be backed up. Then just have a server on standby configured just like your current one.

Since you said you're not too comfortable with MSE yet, setting up that backup server gives you the perfect opportunity to get more acquainted with it and how it works and interfaces with other aspects of your enterprise. Just make sure to not put the server into production accidently, or you'll really cause a mess for yourself.

I agree with this method... For the SAN redundancy, just make a mirror SAN as well then plan a procedure for regular data synchronisation between the 2 SAN servers. This will get you to recover from any crashes in under 1 hour for most cases then you have time to fix the failed server before putting it back online. It's very rare 2 servers fails in a short span of time but plan a contingency plan still.

 

[SJConsultant]

For those who are suggesting anything to do with a SAN, keep in mind this is a small medical practice with only 10 clients. SANs are simply not cost effective.

The OP pointed out in a similiar thread, the Doctors will not invest into a proper practice management software package to replace their current method of using Exchange to schedule patient appointments.

 

[Xilikon]

For those who are suggesting anything to do with a SAN, keep in mind this is a small medical practice with only 10 clients. SANs are simply not cost effective.

The OP pointed out in a similiar thread, the Doctors will not invest into a proper practice management software package to replace their current method of using Exchange to schedule patient appointments.

With the original topic in context, I can now size his needs and indeed, most suggestions, even mine is a bit overrated.

The only easy way to do backup/recovery thing if the data is not too big is to do regular backups with ghost/Acronis and setup a identical server to act as backup.

 

[dx2]

What kind of doctor is this? A chiropractor?

 

[sully127]

If it is a proctocologist, wear gloves when you touch his keyboard...

 

[Internal Power]

For those who are suggesting anything to do with a SAN, keep in mind this is a small medical practice with only 10 clients. SANs are simply not cost effective.

The OP pointed out in a similiar thread, the Doctors will not invest into a proper practice management software package to replace their current method of using Exchange to schedule patient appointments.

Originally Posted by Xilikon

With the original topic in context, I can now size his needs and indeed, most suggestions, even mine is a bit overrated.

The only easy way to do backup/recovery thing if the data is not too big is to do regular backups with ghost/Acronis and setup a identical server to act as backup.

I agree with you Xilikon and SJC I forgot/missed the post of the size of the Biz myself

 

[insanarchist]

With the original topic in context, I can now size his needs and indeed, most suggestions, even mine is a bit overrated.

The only easy way to do backup/recovery thing if the data is not too big is to do regular backups with ghost/Acronis and setup a identical server to act as backup.

I'm glad to hear I wasn't completely out in left field when it came to my proposed backup plan! That said, how exact are we talking hardware-wise? For instance, are we talking same processor/chipset/hard drive size or are we talking same EXACT hardware?

I agree with you Xilikon and SJC I forgot/missed the post of the size of the Biz myself

Sorry 'bout that: in retrospect, the size of the practice/"Biz" would have been pertinent information to re-iterate earlier in the conversation

 

[Xilikon]

From my own experience as a images manager in my workplace, the 2 only thing that matters for a smooth move is having the same motherboard chipset and the same processor type (single-core or dual-core or multiprocessors) since the HAL is different for each chipset/processor type. However, it can be done with a totally different hardware and if you do this, you need to do a repair installation (install windows -> repair existing version) then redo the updates.

Fulfilling this will leave you with light drivers update if the hardware is slighty different (network cards, display drivers and some others). For a good recovery, you need to use sysprep before creating a image (a bit of a hassle) or use NewSID (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Utilities/NewSid.mspx) immediatly upon first booting the new image.

If the server is very old and your office has some money to spend to upgrade, it's easier to order 2 cheap identical servers like a Dell PowerEdge 840. It's easier than hunting down for the same hardware for the older servers like s478 processors thru eBay, [H] FS/FT or other flea markets. Then, image the old server and move to the new, tweak till you are happy then do a new image.

 

[Party2go9820]

From my own experience as a images manager in my workplace, the 2 only thing that matters for a smooth move is having the same motherboard chipset and the same processor type (single-core or dual-core or multiprocessors) since the HAL is different for each chipset/processor type. However, it can be done with a totally different hardware and if you do this, you need to do a repair installation (install windows -> repair existing version) then redo the updates.

Fulfilling this will leave you with light drivers update if the hardware is slighty different (network cards, display drivers and some others). For a good recovery, you need to use sysprep before creating a image (a bit of a hassle) or use NewSID (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/Utilities/NewSid.mspx) immediatly upon first booting the new image.

If the server is very old and your office has some money to spend to upgrade, it's easier to order 2 cheap identical servers like a Dell PowerEdge 840. It's easier than hunting down for the same hardware for the older servers like s478 processors thru eBay, [H] FS/FT or other flea markets. Then, image the old server and move to the new, tweak till you are happy then do a new image.

Not to hijack, but would a solution to the identical hardware scenario be to use Virtual Servers? I'm just starting to learn and read about them, but wouldn't you be able to restore a VM to any server (regardless of hardware). Obviously the data is another story, but having identical server hardware isn't always an option.

 

[Xilikon]

Not to hijack, but would a solution to the identical hardware scenario be to use Virtual Servers? I'm just starting to learn and read about them, but wouldn't you be able to restore a VM to any server (regardless of hardware). Obviously the data is another story, but having identical server hardware isn't always an option.

A VM would also work as well and if you know how to setup and to make it work fine, it would be a easier way. However, there is still a question of VM contents compatibility if you get a new VM software version or jump from VMWare to VirtualPC.

 

[sully127]

not to mention the fact that you need good hardware to efficiently utilize vmware

 

[Party2go9820]

not to mention the fact that you need good hardware to efficiently utilize vmware

A VM would also work as well and if you know how to setup and to make it work fine, it would be a easier way. However, there is still a question of VM contents compatibility if you get a new VM software version or jump from VMWare to VirtualPC.

Sorry, I wasn't suggesting it as a solution for the OP, more of a "for my information" question.

Thanks!

 

[sully127]

Oh yeah, I absolutely love virtualization and what it is doing to the entire industry.

I read somewhere a few weeks ago that with Virtual Infrastructure 3, the average time from decision to complete implementation for new servers has gone from days to 4 hours.

The impact has even been to the extent that Microsoft changed the licensing structure of 2005 to allow for 5 installs/license.

Just remarkable the functionality and practicality that it brings to the business

 

[insanarchist]

Looking at Acronis True Image, it looks like at least a comparable, if not superior product to Norton Ghost. In my particular case of a very simple single-server setup with MSE2000, would the Workstation version most likely do what I need it to do, or do I need to convince my organization to spend more than the computer is worth for the Server version?

*edit: I mean more than the computer hardware is worth. I know the software/everything that we use the server for is worth many times over the price of the Server version of Acronis: I just need to have a solid argument for the Server version vs. the Workstation version

 

[Xilikon]

Looking at Acronis True Image, it looks like at least a comparable, if not superior product to Norton Ghost. In my particular case of a very simple single-server setup with MSE2000, would the Workstation version most likely do what I need it to do, or do I need to convince my organization to spend more than the computer is worth for the Server version?

*edit: I mean more than the computer hardware is worth. I know the software/everything that we use the server for is worth many times over the price of the Server version of Acronis: I just need to have a solid argument for the Server version vs. the Workstation version

A single argument would make you get the money for the server version is to show this : http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/products/ATIESWin/comparison.html and point out that the OS version running is 2000 Server, which need this licence

However, in reality, I don't believe it really matters unless you want to use some of the advanced server features.