Disaster Recovery
Hi everyone, I would appreciate any ideas and thoughts.
A single site with a single HP Proliant server, server 2012 Standard R2 is the DC providing DNS, DHCP etc.. for 30 users plus is a RDC Host for a branch office with 10 users who connect remotely to use an accounting package.
With this being the only server, what would do you think would be the best solution to get the site back up and running in the event of server hardware failure.
The single server does limit options but the clients budget does not allow for a second server.
Any suggestions on a viable plan if the server goes down.
Hyper v possibles etc...
Thanks everyone
A single site with a single HP Proliant server, server 2012 Standard R2 is the DC providing DNS, DHCP etc.. for 30 users plus is a RDC Host for a branch office with 10 users who connect remotely to use an accounting package.
With this being the only server, what would do you think would be the best solution to get the site back up and running in the event of server hardware failure.
The single server does limit options but the clients budget does not allow for a second server.
Any suggestions on a viable plan if the server goes down.
Hyper v possibles etc...
Thanks everyone
Lee W, MVP
Any old workstation capable of running the free Hyper-V server, then enable replication to it.
Since you're running that many services and the whole company on one server I assume business won't run if it goes down. If a second server is not an option then invest in a good backup software with bare metal restore so you can throw the image onto a new machine if need be efficiently. When you're at this point your client will make budget for a replacement server. Many places even offer same day delivery and there are always places selling old servers as well that you can walk into and grab one. That's what I would do.
A replicated copy of the VM that runs things can provide near instant restoration of services with minimal data loss. (human intervention required). However, it's NOT a backup - it's disaster recovery. For example, DELETE everything on the server by accident and that deletion is ALSO REPLICATED. Replica is for recovering from a server or potentially, a site failure.
As suggested by Lee configure replica on a server to avoid outage for a long time. You can adjust the time of replication to the least to minimize the data loss.
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/canitpro/2013/04/07/step-by-step-virtual-machine-replication-using-hyper-v-replica/
You maybe saving $$$ now but when you have a hardware failure money lose for the company will be $$$$. Arrange one more hardware for the backup/replica as soon as you can.
Thanks
MAS
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/canitpro/2013/04/07/step-by-step-virtual-machine-replication-using-hyper-v-replica/
You maybe saving $$$ now but when you have a hardware failure money lose for the company will be $$$$. Arrange one more hardware for the backup/replica as soon as you can.
Thanks
MAS
ASKER
Thanks everyone, all seem like good ideas, I may be able to arrange a older Server with Server 2008, would this be a viable solution.
Rebuild the current Server 2012 as a host, setup a Hyper V guest machine to perform all the roles currently on the physical Server, DC, Dns, RDC Host etc...
Then load Hyper V role on older server 2008 and replicate the Hyper V from main server to older server.
In the event if the new server failing, the replicated Server 2008 can take over until the Server 2012 is repaired.
Just a few questions as I have never done this before:
1) Can i have the replicated Hyper v on the same Lan
2) Process to quickly get the users over to the replicated Hyper V backup server
Thanks all
Rebuild the current Server 2012 as a host, setup a Hyper V guest machine to perform all the roles currently on the physical Server, DC, Dns, RDC Host etc...
Then load Hyper V role on older server 2008 and replicate the Hyper V from main server to older server.
In the event if the new server failing, the replicated Server 2008 can take over until the Server 2012 is repaired.
Just a few questions as I have never done this before:
1) Can i have the replicated Hyper v on the same Lan
2) Process to quickly get the users over to the replicated Hyper V backup server
Thanks all
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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If you've never done this before then you DO NOT WANT TO DO THIS ON YOUR PRODUCTION NETWORK!!!!!
Setup a test environment and do it. Then REPEAT the test. Then repeat the test. Don't want to take the time to do that? Hire a pro to help you out.
You DO NOT want to replicate to a 2008 server! In fact, you CAN'T. Replica is a feature of 2012 and later. The GUEST OS doesn't matter, but the HOST must be 2012 or later. You use the Hyper-V Server 2012 or Hyper-V Server 2016 product available as a FREE download from Microsoft. And the free Hyper-V server, while it has the same technical capabilities as regular server with the hyper-v role, it does NOT have a graphical interface and configuring remote management can be tricky. You can use third party products such as 5Nine Manager or VT utilities - however these are not free (if you want to enable replication!)
Setup a test environment and do it. Then REPEAT the test. Then repeat the test. Don't want to take the time to do that? Hire a pro to help you out.
You DO NOT want to replicate to a 2008 server! In fact, you CAN'T. Replica is a feature of 2012 and later. The GUEST OS doesn't matter, but the HOST must be 2012 or later. You use the Hyper-V Server 2012 or Hyper-V Server 2016 product available as a FREE download from Microsoft. And the free Hyper-V server, while it has the same technical capabilities as regular server with the hyper-v role, it does NOT have a graphical interface and configuring remote management can be tricky. You can use third party products such as 5Nine Manager or VT utilities - however these are not free (if you want to enable replication!)
ASKER
Thanks Lee, I certainly wouldn't do this in the live environment, I am just considering options for a redundancy plan for my client, unfortunately they are a SME with limited budgets. With the limitation in Server 2008 as you mentioned, I am leaning towards this scenario. Rebuild the existing physical server, create a new Hyper V machine that will run as the DC etc... , for a backup plan, have another workstation/server available to restore the VM in the event of failure of the main server.
Some articles in have read suggests I could restore the VM to a Windows 10 PC as a temporary measure, repair or rebuild the main server and restore the VM back once fixed
Is this viable, does the Server 2012 and Win 10 licensing allow this etc...
Or would it be better to have another workstation/server with a second installation of Server 2012 over a Windows 10?
Any advice please
Some articles in have read suggests I could restore the VM to a Windows 10 PC as a temporary measure, repair or rebuild the main server and restore the VM back once fixed
Is this viable, does the Server 2012 and Win 10 licensing allow this etc...
Or would it be better to have another workstation/server with a second installation of Server 2012 over a Windows 10?
Any advice please
"Is this viable, does the Server 2012 and Win 10 licensing allow this etc... "
I don't see any problem with the licensing as long as you are only using ONE activated license at any one given time. Unless, if you have volume licensing for more than one server then it's a different story.
Since you won't be able to replicate to Windows 2008 Server I suggest you consider a good backup solution. Given the limited budget I would rather invest in a good backup software which will give you more than just a "transferable server installation" but also backups. It will come at a cost of course if you ever need to restore and that cost is time and you can only recover from the most current backup available. Just my two cents.
I don't see any problem with the licensing as long as you are only using ONE activated license at any one given time. Unless, if you have volume licensing for more than one server then it's a different story.
Since you won't be able to replicate to Windows 2008 Server I suggest you consider a good backup solution. Given the limited budget I would rather invest in a good backup software which will give you more than just a "transferable server installation" but also backups. It will come at a cost of course if you ever need to restore and that cost is time and you can only recover from the most current backup available. Just my two cents.