Yup - I have restored from all sorts, the most amazing was a DL380G6 to a Dell Optiplex, this was a SBS2008 system, that came up almost completely cleanly, I think all that happened was a PCI network card wasn't recognised, this would have been easily sorted with the driver available at restore time, but its wasn't really a show stopper.
Ill admit though, in that instance it was just a "lets see if you can" test. Gavin. On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 3:46 PM, Jonathan Link <[email protected]>wrote: > It's been a while, but isn't Acronis good about restoring to dissimilar > hardware? I mean, isn't that a good feature, maybe even a necesarry one? > > > On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 10:42 AM, Bob Hartung <[email protected]>wrote: > >> I like Acronis but I've seen half a dozen disk imaging software packages >> that backup everything from Windows 2000 up to Windows 2008 for $50 - $100. >> They don't make any distinction that it's a workstation or server operating >> system. They just restore sectors to a drive. An as far as I can see, the >> only thing separating these packages from Acronis is the bootable media. >> >> If I can find a software for our 10 servers that cost a total of $500 - >> $1000 instead of $10,000 that seems worth pursuing. >> >> ---------------------- >> >> Bob Hartung >> Wisco Industries, Inc. >> 736 Janesville St. >> Oregon, WI 53575 >> Tel: (608) 835-3106 x215 >> Fax: (608) 835-7399 >> e-mail: bhartung(at)wiscoind.com >> >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* Gavin Wilby [mailto:[email protected]] >> >> *To:* NT System Admin Issues [mailto: >> [email protected]] >> *Sent:* Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:13:07 -0500 >> >> *Subject:* Re: Server Disk Imaging >> >> For what its worth, Acronis is worth every penny of what it costs. >> >> That 1000 bucks, when you actually really need it, say for a complelty >> popped server, is nothing… >> >> You might guess I am a fan, but to be honest, I wouldnt even consider >> another image based backup product over Acronis now we have used it on a few >> sites. >> >> Its not just the DR to consider, as its so quick to image and bare metal >> restore a server, for testing purposes etc its excellent. Why do an install >> on a live server when you can simply do it on a copy? >> >> Gavin. >> >> On Mon, Jul 12, 2010 at 2:40 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> >>> Well, it seems nearly all "Image a server and be able to restore it" >>> products all run about $1000 a pop. >>> >>> Check out UltraBac Gold. They are staking their reputation on their >>> ability to do "live" images, and then to restore to any machine (bare >>> metal). They also have (you guessed - additional license) a product which >>> will create the image directly to a virtual machine. SO, if the server >>> blows, one simply brings the VM on line. >>> >>> We have one Gold license and do not have the VM product. We have a VM >>> "ready", but the restore for us would be a two-step process. >>> >>> Anyway, their "preview" product is the full product (ALL licenses good) >>> but is time-limited (ie, 2-4 weeks). >>> >>> They're definely worth a look! >>> >>> http://www.ultrabac.com >>> -- >>> Richard D. McClary >>> Systems Administrator, Information Technology Group >>> *ASPCA®* >>> 1717 S. Philo Rd, Ste 36 >>> Urbana, IL 61802 >>> >>> [email protected] >>> >>> P: 217-337-9761 >>> C: 217-417-1182 >>> F: 217-337-9761 >>> *www.aspca.org* <http://www.aspca.org/> >>> >>> >>> The information contained in this e-mail, and any attachments hereto, is >>> from The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®(ASPCA >>> ®) and is intended only for use by the addressee(s) named herein and may >>> contain legally privileged and/or confidential information. If you are not >>> the intended recipient of this e-mail, you are hereby notified that any >>> dissemination, distribution, copying or use of the contents of this e-mail, >>> and any attachments hereto, is strictly prohibited. If you have received >>> this e-mail in error, please immediately notify me by reply email and >>> permanently delete the original and any copy of this e-mail and any printout >>> thereof. >>> >>> >>> "Bob Hartung" <[email protected]> wrote on 07/12/2010 08:30:56 AM: >>> >>> >>> > I've been looking for a disk imaging solution for the servers on our >>> > network. They currently are all Dell PowerEdge servers running >>> > Windows 2003. My main goal is to be able to restore a server quickly >>> > in the event of a hardware failure, like a RAID card failure that >>> > hoses the hard drives. >>> > >>> > We use Arcserve for doing nightly backups and as a file by file >>> > solution, it's fine. For disaster recovery, it leaves a lot to be >>> > desired. It essentially does a reinstall of the operating system and >>> > then restores from back. As such, it's not very fast. >>> > >>> > I've tried a number of disk imaging software packages. They all can >>> > create an image of the server system drive while the server is >>> > running and that's great. However, what seems to always be a weak >>> > point is restoring from a boot disk. >>> > >>> > All the packages have a utility to create a bootable CD but they >>> > generally have a problem either accessing the RAID volume or the LAN >>> > adapter or both. Whether they use Windows PXE, Linux or DOS, drivers >>> > seem to be a problem. It would seem logical that these software >>> > packages would have a utility to copy the existing drivers off the >>> > system and incorporate them into the BootDisk but none do that I've >>> found. >>> > >>> > The only package I've tried so far that seems to work with the >>> > couple of servers I've been testing on is Acronis Backup and >>> > Recovery for Servers. I'd use this if it weren't so expensive at >>> > roughly $1,000 per server. >>> > >>> > Anyone using a disk imaging solution they'd care to recommend? >>> > >>> > Thanks. >>> >>> > >>> > ---------------------- >>> > >>> > Bob Hartung >>> > Wisco Industries, Inc. >>> > 736 Janesville St. >>> > Oregon, WI 53575 >>> > Tel: (608) 835-3106 x215 >>> > Fax: (608) 835-7399 >>> > e-mail: bhartung(at)wiscoind.com >>> > >>> > >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> >> >> -- >> Gavin Wilby, >> Twitter: http://twitter.com/gavin_wilby >> GSXR Blog: http://www.stoof.co.uk >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > > > > > -- Gavin Wilby, Twitter: http://twitter.com/gavin_wilby GSXR Blog: http://www.stoof.co.uk ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
