Upgrade to larger hard drive : cloning advice

[non3333@.]

It's rare I'm buying a larger hard drive for a server, so eventhough
there's a ton of advice and information on transfering the current
server installation from the smaller drive to a newer larger drive,
I'm going to ask for advice on what I think will work right off the
bat.

I think this will work:
Platform: Windows Server 2008 / Dell platform / 40 gb disk / move to a
120 gb disk.

1. Put the new disk somewhere on the IDE chain (slave).
2. Boot to Windows server 2008
3, Format the new disk
4. Run a full backup, on the old disk to a file on the new disk
5. Shut down
6. Switch the drives on the IDE chain (i.e. - make new disk master C
7. Reinstall Windows Server 2008 from the CD
8. Restore the backup file

Can anyone say in foresight this procedure will not work or may have
complications? I'm tending to think maybe validation may be a problem
because the validation hash code is incorporating detection from the
new drive? I'm not sure. But, that seems to be the only thing I can
think of that might get in the way. Would this method somehow make it
impossible to log in?

Any feedback would be great!
Thanks.

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

non3333@. wrote:
> It's rare I'm buying a larger hard drive for a server, so eventhough
> there's a ton of advice and information on transfering the current
> server installation from the smaller drive to a newer larger drive,
> I'm going to ask for advice on what I think will work right off the
> bat.
>
> I think this will work:
> Platform: Windows Server 2008 / Dell platform / 40 gb disk / move to a
> 120 gb disk.
>
> 1. Put the new disk somewhere on the IDE chain (slave).
> 2. Boot to Windows server 2008
> 3, Format the new disk
> 4. Run a full backup, on the old disk to a file on the new disk
> 5. Shut down
> 6. Switch the drives on the IDE chain (i.e. - make new disk master C
> 7. Reinstall Windows Server 2008 from the CD
> 8. Restore the backup file
>
> Can anyone say in foresight this procedure will not work or may have
> complications? I'm tending to think maybe validation may be a problem
> because the validation hash code is incorporating detection from the
> new drive? I'm not sure. But, that seems to be the only thing I can
> think of that might get in the way. Would this method somehow make it
> impossible to log in?
>
> Any feedback would be great!
> Thanks.

Should work, but what a pain. I'd go for something like Acronis TrueImage
Server, honestly. Faster, and you can use it for backups in the future.
Also, if you're running a server on a single HD I hope it's just a home /
lab computer ... if this is a production server you really ought to be using
hardware RAID.

 

[Pegasus [MVP]]

wrote in message news:4ac5e68d.541158906@us.Usenet-News.net...
> It's rare I'm buying a larger hard drive for a server, so eventhough
> there's a ton of advice and information on transfering the current
> server installation from the smaller drive to a newer larger drive,
> I'm going to ask for advice on what I think will work right off the
> bat.
>
> I think this will work:
> Platform: Windows Server 2008 / Dell platform / 40 gb disk / move to a
> 120 gb disk.
>
> 1. Put the new disk somewhere on the IDE chain (slave).
> 2. Boot to Windows server 2008
> 3, Format the new disk
> 4. Run a full backup, on the old disk to a file on the new disk
> 5. Shut down
> 6. Switch the drives on the IDE chain (i.e. - make new disk master C
> 7. Reinstall Windows Server 2008 from the CD
> 8. Restore the backup file
>
> Can anyone say in foresight this procedure will not work or may have
> complications? I'm tending to think maybe validation may be a problem
> because the validation hash code is incorporating detection from the
> new drive? I'm not sure. But, that seems to be the only thing I can
> think of that might get in the way. Would this method somehow make it
> impossible to log in?
>
> Any feedback would be great!
> Thanks.

You can probably simplify the process as below. I have never tried it on a
Windows server 2008 but since it's easy and risk-free, you might as well
give it a go.
1. Put the new disk somewhere on the IDE chain (slave) on some other
machine.
2. Boot to Windows on that machine.
3. Partition & format the new disk
4. Mark the primary partition as "active".
5. Connect the new disk as a slave disk to the server.
6. Boot the server with a Bart PE boot CD or similar.
7. Use robocopy to copy the old disk to the new disk.
8. Disconnect the old disk. (This is important!)
9. Make the new disk the primary master.
10. Boot the server with the new disk.
Let us know how you go!

 

[non3333@.]

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:55:39 GMT, non3333@. wrote:

>It's rare I'm buying a larger hard drive for a server, so eventhough
>there's a ton of advice and information on transfering the current
>server installation from the smaller drive to a newer larger drive,
>I'm going to ask for advice on what I think will work right off the
>bat.
>
>I think this will work:
>Platform: Windows Server 2008 / Dell platform / 40 gb disk / move to a
>120 gb disk.
>
>1. Put the new disk somewhere on the IDE chain (slave).
>2. Boot to Windows server 2008
>3, Format the new disk
>4. Run a full backup, on the old disk to a file on the new disk
>5. Shut down
>6. Switch the drives on the IDE chain (i.e. - make new disk master C
>7. Reinstall Windows Server 2008 from the CD
>8. Restore the backup file
>
>Can anyone say in foresight this procedure will not work or may have
>complications? I'm tending to think maybe validation may be a problem
>because the validation hash code is incorporating detection from the
>new drive? I'm not sure. But, that seems to be the only thing I can
>think of that might get in the way. Would this method somehow make it
>impossible to log in?
>
>Any feedback would be great!
>Thanks.
>

Just a note: I just read Windows Server 2008 requires a dedicated hard
drive for backup, therefore, it can never hold operating system system
files. Reinstallation of Server on the larger drive holding the
backup would eliminate the backup. Server 2008 doesn't create a
backup file like XP.

Can anyone confirm or refute this?

 

[non3333@.]

On Fri, 2 Oct 2009 08:36:53 -0400, "Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
wrote:

>non3333@. wrote:
>> It's rare I'm buying a larger hard drive for a server, so eventhough
>> there's a ton of advice and information on transfering the current
>> server installation from the smaller drive to a newer larger drive,
>> I'm going to ask for advice on what I think will work right off the
>> bat.
>>
>> I think this will work:
>> Platform: Windows Server 2008 / Dell platform / 40 gb disk / move to a
>> 120 gb disk.
>>
>> 1. Put the new disk somewhere on the IDE chain (slave).
>> 2. Boot to Windows server 2008
>> 3, Format the new disk
>> 4. Run a full backup, on the old disk to a file on the new disk
>> 5. Shut down
>> 6. Switch the drives on the IDE chain (i.e. - make new disk master C
>> 7. Reinstall Windows Server 2008 from the CD
>> 8. Restore the backup file
>>
>> Can anyone say in foresight this procedure will not work or may have
>> complications? I'm tending to think maybe validation may be a problem
>> because the validation hash code is incorporating detection from the
>> new drive? I'm not sure. But, that seems to be the only thing I can
>> think of that might get in the way. Would this method somehow make it
>> impossible to log in?
>>
>> Any feedback would be great!
>> Thanks.
>
>Should work, but what a pain. I'd go for something like Acronis TrueImage
>Server, honestly. Faster, and you can use it for backups in the future.
>Also, if you're running a server on a single HD I hope it's just a home /
>lab computer ... if this is a production server you really ought to be using
>hardware RAID.
>

It is just a growing home staging MSDN subscription set of servers / 3
or 4. I use a hosting company. You can still understand the loss.
It would take DAYS to install everything. I haven't tested it yet,
but, it does run from the image : clonezilla ... I still need to get
the larger hard drive. Search after search after search ...

But here's another question: WHERE to back up ... NOW Server 2008
doesn't support TAPE ... look at the technet site!

What's the compression rate? How much attached storage is this
inflated patch pattern going to turn into?

Is there some compression calculation for the software backup product?
Is there compression for the Server 2008 Server backup? or even
ntbackup.exe?

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

non3333@. wrote:
> On Fri, 2 Oct 2009 08:36:53 -0400, "Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]"
> wrote:
>
>> non3333@. wrote:
>>> It's rare I'm buying a larger hard drive for a server, so eventhough
>>> there's a ton of advice and information on transfering the current
>>> server installation from the smaller drive to a newer larger drive,
>>> I'm going to ask for advice on what I think will work right off the
>>> bat.
>>>
>>> I think this will work:
>>> Platform: Windows Server 2008 / Dell platform / 40 gb disk / move
>>> to a 120 gb disk.
>>>
>>> 1. Put the new disk somewhere on the IDE chain (slave).
>>> 2. Boot to Windows server 2008
>>> 3, Format the new disk
>>> 4. Run a full backup, on the old disk to a file on the new disk
>>> 5. Shut down
>>> 6. Switch the drives on the IDE chain (i.e. - make new disk master
>>> C
>>> 7. Reinstall Windows Server 2008 from the CD
>>> 8. Restore the backup file
>>>
>>> Can anyone say in foresight this procedure will not work or may have
>>> complications? I'm tending to think maybe validation may be a
>>> problem because the validation hash code is incorporating detection
>>> from the new drive? I'm not sure. But, that seems to be the only
>>> thing I can think of that might get in the way. Would this method
>>> somehow make it impossible to log in?
>>>
>>> Any feedback would be great!
>>> Thanks.
>>
>> Should work, but what a pain. I'd go for something like Acronis
>> TrueImage Server, honestly. Faster, and you can use it for backups
>> in the future. Also, if you're running a server on a single HD I
>> hope it's just a home / lab computer ... if this is a production
>> server you really ought to be using hardware RAID.
>>
>
> It is just a growing home staging MSDN subscription set of servers / 3
> or 4. I use a hosting company. You can still understand the loss.
> It would take DAYS to install everything.

Heck yeah. I can relate. Acronis will save your butt with this server over
time as well.

> I haven't tested it yet,
> but, it does run from the image : clonezilla ... I still need to get
> the larger hard drive. Search after search after search ...
>
> But here's another question: WHERE to back up ... NOW Server 2008
> doesn't support TAPE ... look at the technet site!

Get a USB hard drive. They're cheap as all get-out now.
>
> What's the compression rate? How much attached storage is this
> inflated patch pattern going to turn into?
>
> Is there some compression calculation for the software backup product?
> Is there compression for the Server 2008 Server backup? or even
> ntbackup.exe?

No idea, sorry.

 

[Tecknomage]

On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:22:44 GMT, non3333@. wrote:

> On Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:55:39 GMT, non3333@. wrote:
>
> >It's rare I'm buying a larger hard drive for a server, so eventhough
> >there's a ton of advice and information on transfering the current
> >server installation from the smaller drive to a newer larger drive,
> >I'm going to ask for advice on what I think will work right off the
> >bat.
> >
> >I think this will work:
> >Platform: Windows Server 2008 / Dell platform / 40 gb disk / move to a
> >120 gb disk.
> >
> >1. Put the new disk somewhere on the IDE chain (slave).
> >2. Boot to Windows server 2008
> >3, Format the new disk
> >4. Run a full backup, on the old disk to a file on the new disk
> >5. Shut down
> >6. Switch the drives on the IDE chain (i.e. - make new disk master C
> >7. Reinstall Windows Server 2008 from the CD
> >8. Restore the backup file
> >
> >Can anyone say in foresight this procedure will not work or may have
> >complications? I'm tending to think maybe validation may be a problem
> >because the validation hash code is incorporating detection from the
> >new drive? I'm not sure. But, that seems to be the only thing I can
> >think of that might get in the way. Would this method somehow make it
> >impossible to log in?
> >
> >Any feedback would be great!
> >Thanks.
> >
>
> Just a note: I just read Windows Server 2008 requires a dedicated hard
> drive for backup, therefore, it can never hold operating system system
> files. Reinstallation of Server on the larger drive holding the
> backup would eliminate the backup. Server 2008 doesn't create a
> backup file like XP.
>
> Can anyone confirm or refute this?

For backups:
There is a solution, removable hard drive cartridges.

We use DELL's PowerVault RD1000 (internal) for our Server at work.
http://www.dell.com/content/products/produ...=en&s=bsd&cs=04

The only problem MAY be if they have an IDE version. I am assuming
you do not have SATA or you would be using RAID and "changing" to a
larger hard drive would not be applicable.

The version we use has *Removal Hard Drive Cartridges*

The drive looks like a DLT Tape drive but uses hard drive Cartridges.

Outstanding for backups.

Only one caution, do not automatically install all the software that
comes with the drive. We use "Symantec Backup Exec" at work. But
when we did the OS install and installed the PowerVault, we did not
pay attention and second backup software was installed (forget the
name right now) and had a hell of a time removing it. In other words,
do a custom install of PowerVault software and hold off on the backup
utility until you are sure you want to use it.




--
======== Tecknomage ========
Computer Systems Specialist
IT Technician
San Diego, CA