Moving an Operating System from a SATA drive to a SAS drive part way through migration
I have un-intentionally installed SBS 2011 Standard in migration mode to the point of DCPROMO on a SATA drive (on IBM X3400M3).
The OS should have ended up on a SAS drive.
Is it best to complete the whole migration first then move the OS to the SAS drive or should I move the OS before doing anything else?
Note: This is a live network with SBS2003 and SBS2011 and I need to make sure I avoid disrupting workflow and avoid complicating the migration process.
I have a Storage Craft backup of the server just after the DCPROMO.
Can I use this to do the move?
I am not sure what are the do's and don’ts at this point. I.e. what would happen if I re-installed SBS 2-11 from scratch on to the correct drive?
The OS should have ended up on a SAS drive.
Is it best to complete the whole migration first then move the OS to the SAS drive or should I move the OS before doing anything else?
Note: This is a live network with SBS2003 and SBS2011 and I need to make sure I avoid disrupting workflow and avoid complicating the migration process.
I have a Storage Craft backup of the server just after the DCPROMO.
Can I use this to do the move?
I am not sure what are the do's and don’ts at this point. I.e. what would happen if I re-installed SBS 2-11 from scratch on to the correct drive?
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If you have Server Imaging type of software available or if you can Open Windows Backup then you should be OK.
I would stop where you are at and backup the system (image type backup) and restore to the correct drive. I would personally just try the Windows backup at this early point (no 3rd party software intalled, right?), and do the Bare Metal restore to the SAS drive. Boot the system (disconnected from the MAIN LAN) and see if any errors pop-up. If it looks good then connect to the LAN and continue.
Keep the SATA disk safe and seperate so that you can plug it back in and 'roll back' if you need to.
I would stop where you are at and backup the system (image type backup) and restore to the correct drive. I would personally just try the Windows backup at this early point (no 3rd party software intalled, right?), and do the Bare Metal restore to the SAS drive. Boot the system (disconnected from the MAIN LAN) and see if any errors pop-up. If it looks good then connect to the LAN and continue.
Keep the SATA disk safe and seperate so that you can plug it back in and 'roll back' if you need to.
ASKER
chakko,
I have Storage Craft IT Edition - I can run backup without installing anything - just off USB.
Just checked windows backup and it looks like I can run this - setup wizard pops up.
The destination server has been running for most part of the day.
I havn't used/tried windows back on a 2011 server.
Do I leave LAN cable connected while I backup/restore?
I have Storage Craft IT Edition - I can run backup without installing anything - just off USB.
Just checked windows backup and it looks like I can run this - setup wizard pops up.
The destination server has been running for most part of the day.
I havn't used/tried windows back on a 2011 server.
Do I leave LAN cable connected while I backup/restore?
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OK I will try this after hours and see how I go.
Do I have to make any changes to the server UEFI (BIOS) after physically disconnecting the SATA drive so the RAID disk is detected as the boot device?
I think this is where things went wrong for me:
Originally I only had SAS drives on the controller and disk management was simple.
Then I decided to install a SATA drive for local backups.
When I connected the SATA drive directly to motherboard this changed the drive letters in disk management and I ended up with OS on the SATA drive.
I may need to do a crash course on UEFI I find it a bit confusing
Do I have to make any changes to the server UEFI (BIOS) after physically disconnecting the SATA drive so the RAID disk is detected as the boot device?
I think this is where things went wrong for me:
Originally I only had SAS drives on the controller and disk management was simple.
Then I decided to install a SATA drive for local backups.
When I connected the SATA drive directly to motherboard this changed the drive letters in disk management and I ended up with OS on the SATA drive.
I may need to do a crash course on UEFI I find it a bit confusing
Depends on what it is you will do, but if you do a cloning type of operating then drivers could be an issue.
So you will change to a SAS / RAID (hardware RAID) setup now? You should install the related drivers for the RAID system before you backup/clone the system. This way the system will have the drivers 'pre-loaded' and can detect the hardware properly when you boot the system to the SAS disk.
So you will change to a SAS / RAID (hardware RAID) setup now? You should install the related drivers for the RAID system before you backup/clone the system. This way the system will have the drivers 'pre-loaded' and can detect the hardware properly when you boot the system to the SAS disk.
ASKER
Yes I will change to SAS / RAID.
Original install was carried out using IBM Server Guide CD which has the drivers.
I just checked device manager and it displays two entries for IBM ServeRAID M5015 Disk Device and one for ATA device.
I assume it is good to go?
Original install was carried out using IBM Server Guide CD which has the drivers.
I just checked device manager and it displays two entries for IBM ServeRAID M5015 Disk Device and one for ATA device.
I assume it is good to go?
Seems like it should be fine on the driver side.
Always have a current full backup. For this I would have 2 backups to be extra safe. I would make 1 StorageCraft and 1 with Windows (choose everything including the Bare Metal Restore).
Always have a current full backup. For this I would have 2 backups to be extra safe. I would make 1 StorageCraft and 1 with Windows (choose everything including the Bare Metal Restore).
ASKER
OK thanks again I will let you know results.
ASKER
Using the windows backup/2011DVD/system repair option failed.
I received error:
The system image restore failed.
Windows cannot restore a system image to a computer that has different firmware.The system image was on a computer that has different firmware. The system image was created on a computer using EFI and this computer is using BIOS.
I received error:
The system image restore failed.
Windows cannot restore a system image to a computer that has different firmware.The system image was on a computer that has different firmware. The system image was created on a computer using EFI and this computer is using BIOS.
ASKER
Using Storage Craft Shadow Protect I had greater success but I am not in the clear yet.
After overcoming complicated Sorage Craft licensing requirements (even though I have a license), I attempted restore.
On first attempt, using a feature to automaticaly create a partition of the same size as original on the destination/SAS drive, the process crashed!
I tried again and noticed the partition (System EFI) was created just before the crash.
I proceeded to format this partition and restore the 200MB EFI partition.
I then manually created the boot (C:) partition using the disk map tool in shadow protect and then restored.
After restore I shutdown, disconnected SATA drive, disconnected LAN cable and booted off drive 0 (SAS).
On initial boot I was given option to start in safe mode or normal, I selected normal.
When the server came up I saw the typical screen as when previous shutdown wasn’t planned or successful and you have to enter a comment.
I let the server finish booting and then I tried to check disk management and event viewer, both were freezing.
I think I stopped these two processes and then connected LAN cable.
Eventually I was able to run disk management and checked partition table.
Then I thought I better reboot and make sure the server starts as normal.
On this second restart the server was sitting on setting applying computer settings for about an hour or more and eventually displayed applying user settings.
At around this stage, I tried pinging destination server and got replies – rdp and web access failed.
It stayed on applying user settings settings forever, at one point I decided to walk away – hoping it would finish and sort itself out.
Before leaving, on the source server, I tried to do a windows backup but this failed with error relating to VSS.
This morning I checked to see if I could rdp in to destination server but no go – ping responses but that’s it.
I have a feeling that I am missing some critical aspect relating to IBM EFI in the restore process?
Not sure what to do now?
Do I reconnect the SATA drive?
Will the two servers talk to each other again after all this or was the source server affected by me connecting the destination server with a new boot system with potential issues?
After overcoming complicated Sorage Craft licensing requirements (even though I have a license), I attempted restore.
On first attempt, using a feature to automaticaly create a partition of the same size as original on the destination/SAS drive, the process crashed!
I tried again and noticed the partition (System EFI) was created just before the crash.
I proceeded to format this partition and restore the 200MB EFI partition.
I then manually created the boot (C:) partition using the disk map tool in shadow protect and then restored.
After restore I shutdown, disconnected SATA drive, disconnected LAN cable and booted off drive 0 (SAS).
On initial boot I was given option to start in safe mode or normal, I selected normal.
When the server came up I saw the typical screen as when previous shutdown wasn’t planned or successful and you have to enter a comment.
I let the server finish booting and then I tried to check disk management and event viewer, both were freezing.
I think I stopped these two processes and then connected LAN cable.
Eventually I was able to run disk management and checked partition table.
Then I thought I better reboot and make sure the server starts as normal.
On this second restart the server was sitting on setting applying computer settings for about an hour or more and eventually displayed applying user settings.
At around this stage, I tried pinging destination server and got replies – rdp and web access failed.
It stayed on applying user settings settings forever, at one point I decided to walk away – hoping it would finish and sort itself out.
Before leaving, on the source server, I tried to do a windows backup but this failed with error relating to VSS.
This morning I checked to see if I could rdp in to destination server but no go – ping responses but that’s it.
I have a feeling that I am missing some critical aspect relating to IBM EFI in the restore process?
Not sure what to do now?
Do I reconnect the SATA drive?
Will the two servers talk to each other again after all this or was the source server affected by me connecting the destination server with a new boot system with potential issues?
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chakko,
I was forced to do a cold boot on the destination server.
Restarted in safe mode ok.
Restarted in normal mode but same problem - sitting on applying settings for a long time.
I decided to restart the source server and I noticed as soon as source server started shutdown, the destination server finished loading.
I checked disk management and noticed I had a drive letter on the system EFI partition - I removed this.
Restarted destination server again.
This time applying settings took about 20min but server loaded normal.
Restarted destination server again, this time it loaded nice and quick.
I think I am back on track to continue with migration wizard!
I take your point about connecting server LAN cable to a standalone switch - I wasn't supposed to disconnect LAN cable altogether.
I was forced to do a cold boot on the destination server.
Restarted in safe mode ok.
Restarted in normal mode but same problem - sitting on applying settings for a long time.
I decided to restart the source server and I noticed as soon as source server started shutdown, the destination server finished loading.
I checked disk management and noticed I had a drive letter on the system EFI partition - I removed this.
Restarted destination server again.
This time applying settings took about 20min but server loaded normal.
Restarted destination server again, this time it loaded nice and quick.
I think I am back on track to continue with migration wizard!
I take your point about connecting server LAN cable to a standalone switch - I wasn't supposed to disconnect LAN cable altogether.
ASKER
Just summarizing:
Netflo helped me see that its best to continue with migration and not attempt re-install of OS on correct drive because this could get messy.
I felt more comfortable getting the OS on the right drive before proceeding with migration.
Chakko assisted me with moving the OS to the correct drive.
Shadow protect was the product which made this possible.
Thank you both for your comments.
Netflo helped me see that its best to continue with migration and not attempt re-install of OS on correct drive because this could get messy.
I felt more comfortable getting the OS on the right drive before proceeding with migration.
Chakko assisted me with moving the OS to the correct drive.
Shadow protect was the product which made this possible.
Thank you both for your comments.
ASKER
Clarifying the need to connect server LAN cable to a standalone switch earlier on in the post would have helped a lot and possibly saved me a lot of time.
ASKER
Out of interest, have you attempted format and fresh install?
I have 2x 300 SAS in RAID 1 and 2x 500 SAS in RAID 1 (off IBM Server RAID M5015) plus 1x SATA 2GB off motherboard.
What I tried to do after realizing install on the wrong drive:
I created a 100GB partition on the 300GB drive, shutdown the server, disconncted the SATA drive (single drive off motherboard sata port), restored a backup copy of OS on to the 100GB partition, rebooted server but boot failed.
I then connected SATA drive again. After some issues booting even off the original SATA I manged to get back to a working OS.
Maybe I overlooked activating the 100GB partition.