Is it a problem at all to boot to Clonezilla? If so there are other options. If you don't mind the machine being down for a bit, this is ideal.
Josh Luthman Office: 937-552-2340 Direct: 937-552-2343 1100 Wayne St Suite 1337 Troy, OH 45373 On Tue, Dec 26, 2017 at 10:53 PM, Forrest Christian (List Account) < [email protected]> wrote: > Yeah, clonezilla is what I was planning on using. Looks like it will > write an image file to a nfs mount or similar, so I can mount my nas disk > and write to it. > > On Dec 26, 2017 4:21 PM, "Brian Webster" <[email protected]> wrote: > > I would still just do clonezilla disk images. For what you have described > it seems to be the most simple solution for your needs. If you are used to > working with ghost then clonezilla would be familiar to use. I feel you on > the old computer hardware, as was previously mentioned I have to keep old > relics running just to program various land mobile radios. I have on > program that pukes on an old Pentium 2 400 MHz because the serial port is > too fast. I can get the program to run with a slowdown program but it still > won’t talk to the serial port. Running old DOS boxes can be a drag. I > certainly wish they could all just be run under emulators but alas they > won’t. > > > > Thank You, > > Brian Webster > > > > *From:* Af [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Forrest Christian > (List Account) > *Sent:* Tuesday, December 26, 2017 3:02 PM > > *To:* af > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Computer Image backup/restore > > > > So we have a local NAS which is backed up to a couple cloud services. > > > > The current working plan is to do an image backup to the NAS box during > our biweekly maintenance day using the open source tool mentioned earlier > in the thread. I'll verify that this is reliable over the next few > maintenance days. > > > > I'm also going to set up a daily file backup as well. This should catch > changes between the images. > > > > > > > > On Dec 26, 2017 12:46 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > > How about putting all the files on network drive/ dropbox/ google drive, > have duplicate boxes always connected to the net so all the files stay in > sync. > > > > Then at least all the configs and data will be fresh and hot standby. > > > > *From:* Forrest Christian (List Account) > > *Sent:* Tuesday, December 26, 2017 12:38 PM > > *To:* af > > *Subject:* Re: [AFMUG] Computer Image backup/restore > > > > Thats sort of what I do now, the concern being keeping them in sync. > > > > As time goes on machine configs change, bugs are fixed, drivers updated > etc.. So I want to be able to make a copy of the image regularly to some > backup medium without going through the hassle of starting up the backup > machines. Which is what I started this thread about. > > > > Most of these I have identical devices on the shelf. With varying > definitions of identical. Usually the only change will be memory or disk > or something like a video card which doesn't matter that much. Definitely > not enough to prevent an image copy from working. > > > > > > On Dec 26, 2017 8:33 AM, "Josh Luthman" <[email protected]> > wrote: > > What if you just bought say 2-4 identical new machines at $400 each and > then imaged from one to the next. Then just store the extra machines > nearby. > > > > > > Josh Luthman > Office: 937-552-2340 <(937)%20552-2340> > Direct: 937-552-2343 <(937)%20552-2343> > 1100 Wayne St > <https://maps.google.com/?q=1100+Wayne+St+Suite+1337+Troy,+OH+45373&entry=gmail&source=g> > Suite 1337 > <https://maps.google.com/?q=1100+Wayne+St+Suite+1337+Troy,+OH+45373&entry=gmail&source=g> > Troy, OH 45373 > <https://maps.google.com/?q=1100+Wayne+St+Suite+1337+Troy,+OH+45373&entry=gmail&source=g> > > > > On Sat, Dec 23, 2017 at 1:21 PM, Robert <[email protected]> wrote: > > Which would be the whole loss of industry that Microsoft was the direct > cause of with their moving target of proprietary OS's... I hope the > designers of that are headed to perdition of non-installing drivers for > eternity... > > On 12/23/17 9:56 AM, Forrest Christian (List Account) wrote: > > There are lots of days that I just want to go buy all new stuff which > works consistently on modern hardware. Unfortunately to do so I figure I'd > have to triple my prices, at which point no one would buy anything, and the > whole issue would be irrelevant. So I'm stuck with a chunk of older > equipment, which still works extremely well, except for it being a pain to > set up automation with it. > > > > > > On Dec 23, 2017 4:19 AM, "Lewis Bergman" <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > We delt with the same thing with radios. Programs requiring a > specific window of CPU clock speed to communicate with a device. We > had to use an intermediate program loop to slow the CPU down enough > to make them work eventually. > We ended up with a half dozen old computers around to program > various ages of equipment. Unlike you, we eventually were able to > decide it want worth it and just told the customers it was EOL. I > know you don't have the luxury. > > > On Sat, Dec 23, 2017, 3:19 AM Forrest Christian (List Account) > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > The machine I am most worried about took about a week to rebuild > last time we had a software issue even with carefully logged > instructions. > > To give everyone an idea about my pain, there are on this > machine two particular drivers for two different pieces of > hardware. One won't install on anything after Windows 7. The > other one requires windows 8.1 or 10. Fortunately the driver > which requires windows 7 to install works just fine on the > latter versions, it just won't install on them. I think it uses > some functionality that isn't shipped with windows after 7. So > a rebuild involves installing windows 7, installing this driver, > and then upgrading to Windows 10, at which point everything else > can get installed. > > A lot of the problem with much of the test equipment and > physical machinery seems to be that it was designed with a > specific age of computer in mind, and requires that system to run. > > On Dec 22, 2017 9:43 PM, "Josh Luthman" > <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected] > <[email protected]%0b%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%20%3cmailto:[email protected]>>> > wrote: > > How hard is it to just throw in a brand new PC? What if you > had the files from the old one? > > > Josh Luthman > Office: 937-552-2340 <tel:(937)%20552-2340 <(937)%20552-2340>> > Direct: 937-552-2343 <tel:(937)%20552-2343 <(937)%20552-2343>> > 1100 Wayne St > <https://maps.google.com/?q=1100+Wayne+St&entry=gmail&source=g> > <https://maps.google.com/?q=1100+Wayne+St+Suite+1337+Troy,+ > OH+45373&entry=gmail&source=g> > Suite 1337 > <https://maps.google.com/?q=1100+Wayne+St+Suite+1337+%3Chttps://maps.google.com/?q%3D1100%2BWayne%2BSt%2BSuite%2B1337%2BTroy,%2BOH%2B45373%26entry%3Dgmail%26source%3Dg%3E+Troy,+OH+45373+%3Chttps://maps.google.com/?q%3D1100%2BWayne%2BSt%2BSuite%2B1337%2BTroy,%2BOH%2B45373%26entry%3Dgmail%26source%3Dg%3E&entry=gmail&source=g> > <https://maps.google.com/?q=1100+Wayne+St+Suite+1337+Troy,+ > OH+45373&entry=gmail&source=g> > Troy, OH 45373 > <https://maps.google.com/?q=1100+Wayne+St+Suite+1337+%3Chttps://maps.google.com/?q%3D1100%2BWayne%2BSt%2BSuite%2B1337%2BTroy,%2BOH%2B45373%26entry%3Dgmail%26source%3Dg%3E+Troy,+OH+45373+%3Chttps://maps.google.com/?q%3D1100%2BWayne%2BSt%2BSuite%2B1337%2BTroy,%2BOH%2B45373%26entry%3Dgmail%26source%3Dg%3E&entry=gmail&source=g> > <https://maps.google.com/?q=1100+Wayne+St+Suite+1337+Troy,+ > OH+45373&entry=gmail&source=g> > > On Dec 22, 2017 5:01 PM, "Forrest Christian (List Account)" > > > <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > If I could put it on a VM, I would definitely consider > it. Unfortunately, due to the fact that these machines > are not really 'servers' or 'workstations' but instead > 'automation/test platforms', that is not really a > possibility. The OS on these machines need direct > access to the hardware. Often, the drivers/software are > doing horrible things under the surface to windows to > make it work. Adding a VM layer just isn't practical > in this case. National Instruments describes it best: > > "NI hardware is not supported on VMs due to > communication challenges and the possibility of > incorrect data.Virtual machines generally cannot access > the PCI bus. As such, PCI- and PCIe-based instruments > are inherently incompatible with VMs, as are MXI > connected PXI and PXIe chassis. Modern VMs often allow > access to USB ports (known as USB pass-through). Given > the hosted nature of the VM, the variable speed of data > transfer associated with USB pass-through may cause > errors when communicating with DAQ devices." > > My experience is that even pci or pcie passthrough which > is supported in some VM's still isn't enough to permit > this stuff to run reliably - it's a lot like the > USB-passthrough issue described above. > > In my experience, failures are usually going to be > software or disk, not the underlying hardware. If the > underlying hardware fails, I realize that I'm stuck > unless I have identical hardware. Knowing this, I > often actually have an identical motherboard and/or > server setting as part of the spares. And by > identical, I mean exact version, often bought at the > same time, or from the same batch. > > On Fri, Dec 22, 2017 at 10:08 AM, Josh Luthman > <[email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected] > <[email protected]>>> wrote: > > Images for Windows between any two machines simply > isn't dependable. DO NOT EXPECT IT TO WORK. > > Now if you can put all your stuff in a VM, you're > set. Put it in Dropbox for a cheap smart (bit > change only) backup. > > Josh Luthman > Office: 937-552-2340 <tel:(937)%20552-2340 > <(937)%20552-2340>> > Direct: 937-552-2343 <tel:(937)%20552-2343 > <(937)%20552-2343>> > 11 > <https://maps.google.com/?q=1100%2BWayne%2BSt%2BSuite%2B1337%2BTroy,%2BOH%2B45373&entry=gmail&source=g>00 > Wayne St > <https://maps.google.com/?q=11 > 00+Wayne+St+Suite+1337+Troy,+OH+45373&entry=gmail&source=g> > Suite 1337 > <https://maps.google.com/?q=1100+Wayne+St+Suite+1337+%3Chttps://maps.google.com/?q%3D1100%2BWayne%2BSt%2BSuite%2B1337%2BTroy,%2BOH%2B45373%26entry%3Dgmail%26source%3Dg%3E+Troy,+OH+45373+%3Chttps://maps.google.com/?q%3D1100%2BWayne%2BSt%2BSuite%2B1337%2BTroy,%2BOH%2B45373%26entry%3Dgmail%26source%3Dg%3E&entry=gmail&source=g> > <https://maps.google.com/?q=11 > 00+Wayne+St+Suite+1337+Troy,+OH+45373&entry=gmail&source=g> > Troy, OH 45373 > <https://maps.google.com/?q=1100+Wayne+St+Suite+1337+%3Chttps://maps.google.com/?q%3D1100%2BWayne%2BSt%2BSuite%2B1337%2BTroy,%2BOH%2B45373%26entry%3Dgmail%26source%3Dg%3E+Troy,+OH+45373+%3Chttps://maps.google.com/?q%3D1100%2BWayne%2BSt%2BSuite%2B1337%2BTroy,%2BOH%2B45373%26entry%3Dgmail%26source%3Dg%3E&entry=gmail&source=g> > <https://maps.google.com/?q=11 > 00+Wayne+St+Suite+1337+Troy,+OH+45373&entry=gmail&source=g> > > On Dec 21, 2017 11 > <https://maps.google.com/?q=1100%2BWayne%2BSt%2BSuite%2B1337%2BTroy,%2BOH%2B45373&entry=gmail&source=g>:06 > PM, "Forrest Christian (List > Account)" <[email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>>> > wrote: > > Normally backups around here are file-based, > I.E. I want to make sure I don't lose data. > > I have a couple of computers now which I really > would hate to have to rebuild due to hardware > failure. These are generally computers which > run a machine, such as the automatic test system > and the pick and place machine. These machines > area all typically single-drive (non-mirrored) > mostly off the shelf hardware running various > versions of windows. I'd like to take a full > image, and have at least a reasonable chance of > putting it back on similar hardware (probably > same motherboard, maybe different storage > medium) and it just work. > > It used to be that the tool for this was Norton > Ghost. But that's been discontinued (and I > understand it was going downhill before > that). So I'm looking for whatever the current > modern > version is. > > I know there's a few tools out there which do > this (Macrium, Acronis, etc). But the reviews > are all littered with failures. Unfortunately > it's hard to tell how much of this is lack of > clue and how much of this is broken software. > > I'm wondering if anyone has experience with > using these modern equivalents? Preferably > something which runs on a range of Windows > OS'es, and can dump the image onto NAS. > > -- *Forrest Christian* > /CEO//, PacketFlux > Technologies, Inc./ > Tel: 406-449-3345 | Address: 3577 Countryside > <https://maps.google.com/?q=3577+Countryside+%0D+%C2%A0+%C2%A0+%C2%A0+%C2%A0+%C2%A0+%C2%A0+%C2%A0+%C2%A0+%C2%A0+%C2%A0+%C2%A0+%C2%A0+Road,+Helena,+MT+59602&entry=gmail&source=g> > Road, Helena, MT 59602 > <https://maps.google.com/?q=35 > 77+Countryside+Road,+Helena,+MT+59602&entry=gmail&source=g> > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected] > <[email protected]>> | > http://www.packetflux.com > <http://www.packetflux.com/> > <http://www.linkedin.com/in/fwchristian> > <http://facebook.com/packetflux> > <http://twitter.com/@packetflux> > > > > > > -- *Forrest Christian* /CEO//, PacketFlux > Technologies, Inc./ > Tel: 406-449-3345 | Address: 35 > <https://maps.google.com/?q=3577%2BCountryside%2BRoad,%2BHelena,%2BMT%2B59602&entry=gmail&source=g>77 > Countryside Road, > Helena, MT 59602 > <https://maps.google.com/?q=35 > 77+Countryside+Road,+Helena,+MT+59602&entry=gmail&source=g> > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected] > <[email protected]>> | > http://www.packetflux.com <http://www.packetflux.com/> > <http://www.linkedin.com/in/fwchristian> > <http://facebook.com/packetflux> > <http://twitter.com/@packetflux> > > > > > > >
