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Copying files from one server to another with robocopy using /MIR function.....
Posted on 2013-11-14
hi guys,
We have an old server 2003 connected to a SAN. We also have a virtualised system, with a file server on Windows 2008 R2 and connected to a SAN.
I've so far managed to copy many TB's of information from the old on to the new. And I'm running a script every single night, that then goes and copies files from the old server on to the new one. Then at night, the new server content is backed up. This is all so that I can get the system ready to revert to the new one soon.
However, on the robocopy script I'm using the /MIR function. As an example:
ROBOCOPY "\\192.168.11.35\IT" "\\172.25.241.10\F$\IT" /MIR /COPY:DATS /r:1 /log:c:\IT.txt
But then last night, someone ended up deleting what was on the old server. So the script ran after and then it had disappeared off the new one. At least we had a backup from the night before.
I wanted to mirror, so that only the changes are copied over across and it reduces the amount of time it takes to copy things over.
My question is, until the new server is implemented, would this also be your solution? What method would you implement to reduce the chances of any such mishaps?
Thanks
Yashy
We have an old server 2003 connected to a SAN. We also have a virtualised system, with a file server on Windows 2008 R2 and connected to a SAN.
I've so far managed to copy many TB's of information from the old on to the new. And I'm running a script every single night, that then goes and copies files from the old server on to the new one. Then at night, the new server content is backed up. This is all so that I can get the system ready to revert to the new one soon.
However, on the robocopy script I'm using the /MIR function. As an example:
ROBOCOPY "\\192.168.11.35\IT" "\\172.25.241.10\F$\IT" /MIR /COPY:DATS /r:1 /log:c:\IT.txt
But then last night, someone ended up deleting what was on the old server. So the script ran after and then it had disappeared off the new one. At least we had a backup from the night before.
I wanted to mirror, so that only the changes are copied over across and it reduces the amount of time it takes to copy things over.
My question is, until the new server is implemented, would this also be your solution? What method would you implement to reduce the chances of any such mishaps?
Thanks
Yashy
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4 Comments
robocopy C:\Data\Share D:\Share /e /r:1 /w:1 /zb /secfix /tee /log:C:\log.txt --Copy with securityfix
Active today
The question is, do you want do you want the target to look exactly like the source, or do you want files that get deleted on the source to get deleted on the target? You may not want files to get "resurrected" on the new server, or for files to be in an old location. I would normally do /mir like you are. If you just want to copy over files and don't mind if there are "extra" files, use /e instead.
Since your old and new file servers are both connected to the SAN, you may be able to just detach the SAN volume(s) from the old server and attach them to the new VM. You wouldn't need to copy the data at all. I do this all the time with iSCSI connected SAN volumes. You can attach the volume directly to the guest, or attach to the hypervisor and do a pass-through or raw device mapping to the guest.
Since your old and new file servers are both connected to the SAN, you may be able to just detach the SAN volume(s) from the old server and attach them to the new VM. You wouldn't need to copy the data at all. I do this all the time with iSCSI connected SAN volumes. You can attach the volume directly to the guest, or attach to the hypervisor and do a pass-through or raw device mapping to the guest.
Active today
Well your robocopy did exactly what you told it to. Given what you are trying to do, and depending on your time frame...
I'd probably switch to doing a nightly regular robocopy, and then a weekly robocopy with the /mir switch.
Robocopy is going to definitely minimize the copy time and only copy the changed files (that's its purpose).
So... based on what you put:
Nightly:
Weekly:
If you wanted to be more cautious, you could put in a test file in the source directory.
Coralon
I'd probably switch to doing a nightly regular robocopy, and then a weekly robocopy with the /mir switch.
Robocopy is going to definitely minimize the copy time and only copy the changed files (that's its purpose).
So... based on what you put:
Nightly:
ROBOCOPY /e "\\192.168.11.35\IT" "\\172.25.241.10\F$\IT" /COPY:DATS /r:1 /w:1 /log:c:\IT.txt
Weekly:
ROBOCOPY /e "\\192.168.11.35\IT" "\\172.25.241.10\F$\IT" /mir /COPY:DATS /r:1 /w:1 /log:c:\IT.txt
If you wanted to be more cautious, you could put in a test file in the source directory.
if exist (\\192.168.11.35\it\test.txt) do ROBOCOPY /e "\\192.168.11.35\IT" "\\172.25.241.10\F$\IT" /COPY:DATS /r:1 /w:1 /log:c:\IT.txt
Coralon
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