R.A.I.D. & OS imaging

[synctek]

I have 2 questions regarding RAID and OS imaging at the server level.

Is it possible to capture an OS image (Server 2016) on a Dell R730XD and be able to restore it to a new drive in the event of a software glitch or hardware failure? I tried with Acronis but when I tried to restore it to another drive the machine locks during boot. I was able to get into safe mode but unsure what to troubleshoot so I reinstalled the OS. Odly enough when I put the original drive back in, it also locked up. Haven't been able to figure that issue out. I had to reinstall the OS. The OS drive is a stand alone but im going to setup a RAID once I figure out the OS imaging question

Which brings me to my next question. The OS is on an SSD that is setup as a virtual drive. Is it possible to put another drive in the system and setup a RAID 1 config with the current OS drive without wiping the OS?

 

[CyklonDX]

if hardware is much different from original, you won't be able to boot.
To boot, you will need to preload drivers for the new box on original box.

To transfer windows systems onto much different hardware like from intel to amd the best tool is old p2v from sysinternals or any alternatives.

Disk2vhd - Sysinternals

Disk2vhd simplifies the migration of physical systems into virtual machines.

learn.microsoft.com

They typically cut custom registry paths, and changes into basic driver mode - so it can boot as hyper-v vm, its useful for transfers between very different hardware - it doesn't always work, but alternatives might do a better job, sometimes they will allow you to preload drivers you want.

Best low level disk cloning is clonezilla. It requires you to boot into their disk img, and have another vd ready.



To your next question
Yes, its possible.

 

[gregsachs]

FWIW. I was able to 'move' a server 2022 install from an old intel e5-2600v2 with LSI RAID to an R740 with BOSS/Raid-1 via clonezilla, and I think it was pretty seamless.
Boot intel box with usb, clone to USB SSD, boot R740 with USB, clone USB->BOSS disk.
In theory you could do a network clone, but that crashed and I went with simpler.

I had to install all the new drivers, but that was about it. That is SATA drive->SATA drive, via raid implementations.
Regarding non-Raid to Raid, it should work if you have a bootable disk, and clone to a raid virtual disk.

 

[synctek]

if hardware is much different from original, you won't be able to boot.
To boot, you will need to preload drivers for the new box on original box.

To transfer windows systems best tool is old p2v from sysinternals or any alternatives.

Disk2vhd - Sysinternals

Disk2vhd simplifies the migration of physical systems into virtual machines.

learn.microsoft.com

They typically cut custom registry paths, and changes into basic driver mode - so it can boot as hyper-v vm, its useful for transfers between very different hardware - it doesn't always work, but alternatives might do a better job, sometimes they will allow you to preload drivers you want.

Best low level disk cloning is clonezilla. It requires you to boot into their disk img, and have another vd ready.



To your next question
Yes, its possible.

Clonezilla sounds like the way to go. For clarity, the image is a backup of the current OS on the server (not VM as of yet) for the purpose of disaster recovery. This a home lab server that is hosting my Plex library and an Instance of Home Assistant. When I deployed the image I took from Acronis to the new drive in the server, it wouldn't boot....hard lock. When I put the original SSD back in the server it locked as well. I dont know why but that drive was in the server working 20 minutes beforehand. I used the same drive bay for both drives.....no clue why the OS quit working.

 

[gea]

I use Aomei backuper to image bootdisk from a running Windows to external USB disks or SMB shares.
For a (disaster) recovery to same or new bootdisk you can either start restore from Windows (starts restore app after reboot or you boot Aomei from an USB stick (included is a Linux or Windows PE version) to restore the image.

Windows can handle hardware changes very well and installs missing drivers on bootup.

 

[CyklonDX]

When I deployed the image I took from Acronis to the new drive in the server, it wouldn't boot....hard lock.

I can only presume but the software you used might have used strategy to migrate data after reboot with both vdisks present. But there can be all kinds of issues.

 

[kapone]

I don't understand this strategy of "cloning" boot disks...especially with Windows. Either:

- Install on a RAID-1 mirror to begin with
- Have a proper backup system in place that can do bare metal recovery
- Just reinstall the system. It doesn't take that long.

You're trusting whatever *zilla that they got it right when cloning a disk and even after that, that Windows doesn't throw up all over the place.

 

[CyklonDX]

I don't understand this strategy of "cloning" boot disks...especially with Windows. Either:

most common reason for cloning boot disks on servers is:
a) Moving from spinning rust to ssd/nvme
b) ssd/nvme endurance is low, denomination *size/sector dimensions no longer available - or/and its cheaper to move onto newer sata or sas ssd's.
c) need more TB, don't have enough slots in backplane

Typically redoing whole setup that isn't automated can take a decent while depending on application; even more so with used as desktop system.

 

[synctek]

most common reason for cloning boot disks on servers is:
a) Moving from spinning rust to ssd/nvme
b) ssd/nvme endurance is low, denomination *size/sector dimensions no longer available - or/and its cheaper to move onto newer sata or sas ssd's.
c) need more TB, don't have enough slots in backplane

Typically redoing whole setup that isn't automated can take a decent while depending on application; even more so with used as desktop system.

It takes over an hour to reinstall the OS, drivers and apps then of course configuration of the network and fine tuning each app. Imaging allows the user to deploy an operating system that is customized all the way down to background on the desktop and serves to quickly restore after a hardware failure or a system crash from a bad driver or program that can't be fixed with a system restore. The issue I wasnt prepared for is the virtual disk variable. I have a Dell R740 at work that I will need to image as well so getting this figured out on my home lab needs to happen so I can duplicate the processes at work where it really matters

Thanks everyone for the info so far.

 

[CyklonDX]

clonezilla should do fine, vd or not are no different as long as you allow your raid controller to boot from those disks. If you swap their places they will likely appear as foreign until you import them or something. Just keep that in mind.

 

[gregsachs]

Interesting side note, which I was unaware of: For at least LSI 2x series controllers, the raid format is layered in a way that a raid boot disk will still boot, even without the raid controller!

 

[synctek]

Interesting side note, which I was unaware of: For at least LSI 2x series controllers, the raid format is layered in a way that a raid boot disk will still boot, even without the raid controller!

Question related to that....... my OS disk for the dell is a Samsung SSD. Its a virtual disk but not setup as RAID capable. If I select the option to "Convert to RAID Capable Disk" will it wipe the drive? I'd like to do that and setup a mirror if possible.

 

[gregsachs]

Question related to that....... my OS disk for the dell is a Samsung SSD. Its a virtual disk but not setup as RAID capable. If I select the option to "Convert to RAID Capable Disk" will it wipe the drive? I'd like to do that and setup a mirror if possible.

I don't know tbh. This suggests that is LSI land it may be possible:

Convert single disk raid0 to raid1 on an LSI megaraid controller

I have a server with an LSI Megaraid raid controller which has a single disk for the OS configured in raid0 What i want to do, is add a second brand new disk for redundancy and convert the raid0 to

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